Many borrowers don’t realise that they are entitled to some of their equity back, once repossession proceedings are finished.
When you take out a mortgage, you put down a deposit and borrow the remainder. You and your lender therefore each own some equity in the property. As you gradually pay off your mortgage, your equity in the property increases and the lender’s equity decreases, until the mortgage is paid off in full and you own the entire property.
If you can’t keep up repayments and the lender repossesses the house from you, you temporarily lose all your equity in the property. The courts ensure that the lender is paid what is owed to them, after which your remaining equity should be returned to you.
However, if you’ve moved away or, for some other reason, can’t be found easily, the money owed to you is often paid into court until you come forward to claim it. There are therefore many cases where large sums of money – often several tens of thousands of pounds – sit in court, unclaimed.
Sometimes, when a property is jointly owned by two people, one of the owners may be declared bankrupt, while the other is not. Again, the partner who was not declared bankrupt often doesn’t realise that, once their partner’s bankruptcy proceedings are concluded, they themselves are still entitled to half the remaining equity.
At Origin, we trace missing people whose money is tied up in the courts, and help them put forward their claims to it. Sometimes, they know they’re entitled to the money and have tried and failed to claim it themselves because the process can be long and complicated. However, we work with solicitors who are experienced in repossession law and who will spend the time carrying out all the legal work to bring the money back to its rightful home.
We will never make any moral judgments about you or your situation. We are simply concerned with helping people to reclaim money which is rightfully theirs.
How do we charge for the work we do?
We work on a contingency fee basis – more commonly known as “no win, no fee”. In return for our work in identifying you, locating you and providing information to prove your claim to the funds, we ask you to agree for us to be paid a small percentage of what you receive. Percentages vary depending on the type of case and the amount of research involved; generally, the most we charge is 25%.
We will never ask you to pay any money upfront! The entire contingency fee system is designed to protect you: you never write us a cheque; we never get your bank details; our fee is simply deducted from the funds you receive, before you receive them.
Ok, so what happens next?
We ask you to sign some paperwork and return it to us:
Agreement: This document awards us our percentage, and allows us to compile your claim to the funds. Of course, you’re welcome to take legal advice before signing this, and the law allows you 14 days to change your mind after you sign, too.
Power of Attorney: This form allows our lawyers to deal with all the legal processes on your behalf. This ensures that the proper expertise is used and that there is full insurance cover at all stages to protect both you and any other beneficiaries. Our lawyers, who are experienced at this work, make applications to the courts, deal with judges and even attend court hearings on your behalf if necessary. Having said this, you’re still welcome to be as involved in the process as you wish. The Power of Attorney refers only to this case and doesn’t affect your other financial interests at all.
Proof of your ID and your address: This helps us to prove that the people we find really are who they say they are. We will only use your data for purposes relevant to your claim and do not share it with others for marketing purposes. Our full privacy policy can be found here.
Proof of your previous connection with the property: This could be correspondence sent to you about the property, such as from your mortgage lender or the courts. But it could also be simple correspondence addressed to you at the property. We need this proof to show to the courts that you are the same person who owned the property.
How much do our lawyers cost?
We work with award-winning expert lawyers from well outside the South-East, meaning that the cost is much lower, yet the standard of their work remains of the highest quality. They are entirely independent of us, to avoid any suggestion of conflict of interest. Our long-standing relationship with them and the volume of work we give them means that they can afford to charge less for their work on each case than they might otherwise. Again, this benefits you, as more money is left for distribution! You’re welcome to contact them directly at any time if you wish, to discuss the case.
The lawyers’ fee, like ours, is deducted from the money you receive, before you receive it so, again, you never have to pay them directly. Typically, for freehold cases, they charge less than £2,000.
How long does it all take?
This often depends on which court dealt with the repossession, and how efficient that court is in dealing with our application. We would normally expect the funds to be released within 6-12 months.
You may well have other questions about your case, so please feel free to ask us.
Aren’t there other companies who do this work?
Yes. Probate genealogy is a very competitive field and the chances are you’ll be contacted by several other genealogy companies at the same time. So why should you choose us and not them? Find out here!
If you have any other questions not covered on this page, feel free to get in touch here.