London House Top 10

For our clients we undertake a mixed variety of work that covers the full remit of investigative services. Our client base, which continues to grow, know that they can come to London House with a business problem and they can be confident of our professional help and advice. At the end of the year we thought we would have a look at our most popular services provided in 2012 and these are listed below. 

Clicking on the service will provide more information

• Tracing missing persons/absconded debtors
• Process Serving
• Evidence of means interviews/status reports
• Discreet Enquiries/investigations
• Pre-Repossession Reports on properties
• Property Repossession (Residential & Commercial)
• Surveillance operations
• Commercial Debt Collection
• Debt & Mortgage Shortfall Counselling
• Insurance Claims Investigations

Focus On.......Property Visits

We are often asked by our clients to visit a property and provide information relating to it.Typically our clients - banks, solicitors, landlords - ask us to provide a range of information and the purpose of our visit could be to find out any manner of detail. For instance, our clients may ask us to :

1. Confirm the details on an Ordnance Survey Map 
2. Report on its condition 
3. Confirm what the property is used for 
4. Find out who is living/working there (as opposed to tracing somebody) 
5. Advise them what is actually on the site 
6. Ascertain if the property has been divided into flats 
7. Confirm if it is owner occupied or if it has been let/sublet
8. Provide an up to date valuation

An Open and Shut Case

One of our solicitor clients asked us to attend at a property that they had repossessed using another agent. The property was advertised for sale and the estate agent had visited to make sure everything was okay. He found that his keys would not give him access.It seemed that the doors may have been screwed shut from the inside.The curtains were closed but he thought he saw them "twitch". We were asked to visit and find out what was going on.

On attending at the address we had a look around the front of the property and whilst the curtains were indeed closed, we saw that one of the lower floor windows was closed to but not shut properly or locked. On opening the window and the curtains we found that the living room was full of someone's personal possessions.

We then spoke to a neighbour, who was not aware of the repossession, and told us that the former occupant was still living there. She gave us access through a shared locked gate to the rear we saw that one of the windows had been broken. He had therefore broken back into his former property and was coming and going through the front window, while telling our client he was having to live at a local hotel.

 

You asked us

"The Council of Mortgage Lenders have released figures showing that the number of repossessions has fallen. Nice to see some positive news!" 

Indeed, as recently reported by The BBC, the number of homes being repossessed has fallen to a five year low. The CML reported that there were 8,200 repossessions during the third quarter of 2012 which is the lowest quarterly figure since 2007. 

There are, though, some underlying concerns. Whilst the number of borrowers in arrears is stable at 159,100 and the number of repossessions is falling, this is reflective of record low interest rates and lenders showing restraint with those borrowers in difficulty. Lenders have been under pressure not to repossess properties unless it is genuinely a last resort; they also have to jump through many hoops to successfully obtain Court permission to seize a borrower's home.  

Long term arrears have risen but Banks won't be able to go on absorbing arrears into their balance sheets indefinitely, and they also have a duty of care to ensure borrowers don't build up too much debt by allowing them to stay in a property if this is unsustainable.

Focus on....Customer Interviews

Latest statistics from the financial education charity, Credit Action, show that 1,552 people a day reported that they had been made redundant between May and July 2012 and that £53,706 is the average household debt including mortgages.

The estimated average outstanding mortgage for the 11.2m households that carry mortgage debt stood at £111,793 in August.

The figures also tell us that the CAB are dealing with 8,465 new debt problems each working day, while 93 properties are repossessed each day. Staggeringly, in Q2 2012 UK banks and building societies wrote-off £1.15 billion (of which £567 million was credit card debt) amounting to a daily write-off of £12.52m. Click here for the full report into the UK Debt Statistics

Here at London House we interview many individuals on a daily basis on behalf of our clients in an effort to get their up to date financial position. Wherever possible we meet them at home and complete a detailed income/expenditure/assests/liabilities breakdown. If our client has asked us, we will also negotiate a repayment programme on their behalf within agreed parameters. 

You asked us

"The Credit Action Debt Statistics were published on 3rd October. Any thoughts?" 

I have touched on these figures above. Whilst there are some encouraging signs, such as the total amount of credit card debt continues to fall and outstanding unsecured consumer credit was down £9bn at £156bn on the previous year, there are still causes for concern. 

Every 15 min 30 sec a property is repossessed and every 4 min 49 sec someone will be declared insolvent or bankrupt. 904,000 people had been unemployed for over a year between May and July 2012 and total outstanding personal debt stood at £1.412 trillion at the end of August which is up from £1.407 trillion last year. These are depressing figures. 

Clearly as a country we have some way to go to get out of this gloom and reach growth as suggested by Ernst and Young. There are still some tough times ahead. 

Focus on.....Commercial Property Repossessions

We do many repossessions during the course of our work but some of you may not know that we do commercial repossessions as well as residential. Our work in this sector is varied with us repossessing many types of property from farms, shops and warehouses to hotels, pubs, guest houses and even a whole industrial estate.
 

As with a residential property repossession we attend with a bailiff and when he has executed his warrant we take over. We take meter readings and liaise with the utility companies, drain down systems, change locks and make the property secure according to our clients instructions. A full schedule of anything left in the property is taken along with photographs. If required we also arrange for clearance of the site and then undertake weekly security visits. 

Water, water everywhere

One of our clients asked us to repossess a cold store unit on an industrial estate. The property had been empty for a little while and we had attended the site in order to obtain quotes for locksmiths, shuttering and alarm security. When we reattended to begin the work it had been raining for two whole days and we arrived to find the site under 3ft of water.

The electric had been turned off some time previously, and therefore caused the problem insofar as the pump that cleared surplus water away from a sump was unable to function. Whilst we ourselves did not have the equipment to deal with the problem we were immediately in contact with a suitable contractor who subsequently pumped 160,000 gallons of water away and then cleared away the tons of mud and sludge that remained.

It's all in a days work.

You Asked Us.......

"What is the strangest job you have ever been asked to do?" 

It has to be the chickens! 

As can probably be imagined we come across all manner of things to be dealt with on a commercial repossession. Normally potential complications are identified on a pre-repossession visit and solutions put in place ready for the day of the repossession. On occasion however, we are not asked to visit the property before the day and we don't know what we will find until we get there. For instance, we were instructed to take possession of a farm that was used for breeding chickens. On arrival the occupier had vacated the property but kindly left behind his stock of several thousand chickens. You have a limited number of options in such an instance but our local Franchise Owner saved the day (and the chickens) by getting them rehomed with another farmer in the region.

Pub Closures

According to figures released by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), more than 10 pubs are closing across Britain every week. Some 300 community pubs - based in suburban and rural areas - permanently closed between September 2011 and March 2012. Despite Britain's high streets showing "resistance" - recording a net loss of six pubs during the six month period - about 12 pubs a week are closing in less built up areas.

Focus on......Property Visits

On occasions we are asked by our clients to visit a property and provide information relating to it. Typically our clients - banks,solicitors, landlords - ask us to provide a range of information and the purpose of our visit could be to find out any manner of detail. For instance, our clients may ask us to : 

1. Confirm the details on an Ordnance Survey Map
2. Report on its condition
3. Confirm what the property is used for
4. Find out who is living/working there (as opposed to tracing somebody)
5. Advise them what is actually on the site
6. Ascertain if the property has been divided into flats
7. Confirm if it is owner occupied or if it has been let/sublet
8. Provide an up to date valuation

It's more than a house

We were asked to visit a two storey property that was located behind a small retail outlet. Our clients needed to know who was living in the property and what was the state of repair. When we arrived at the address we were met with evidence of damage to the door that was open. On entering the property we noticed that the floorboards had been removed and the flooring replaced with soil. Between the floor and ceiling were wires set in rows. Lots of them. All over the walls were numerous electrical sockets and cabling. When we went upstairs we had to remove squatters, but exactly the same modifications had been made as downstairs. It had clearly been used as a cannabis factory, and was not a pleasant sight. Needles, waste and filth were very much evident.

Having taken further instruction we returned the next day to begin a clear up exercise for our client and again had to remove squatters, before securing all accesses to the address. 

We later ascertained that the police had raided the address some days before our visit following a tip off from a neighbour, and had removed a considerable number of cannabis plants as well as connected paraphernalia.

All in a days work

As can probably be imagined we come across all manner of things to be dealt with on a commercial repossession. Normally potential complications are identified on a pre-repossession visit and solutions put in place ready for the day of the repossession. On occasion however, we are not asked to visit the property before the day and we don't know what we will find until we get there. For instance, we were instructed to take possession of a farm that was used for breeding chickens. On arrival the occupier had vacated the property but kindly left behind his stock of several thousand chickens. You have a limited number of options in such an instance but our local Franchise Owner saved the day (and the chickens) by getting them rehomed with another farmer in the region.

Similarly, we recently took possession of a livery stable and on this instruction we had visited beforehand. There was no livestock at the property. However, on the day of the repossession when we arrived we were greeted by a fully grown pig, weighing over 20 stone, that had been raised as a pet. Clearly the former occupier was keen to make our job that much harder. Legally the owner had 21 days in which to collect his goods and in the meantime the pig had to be looked after. You cannot move a pig without a carrier licence and our local manager arranged contact with a nearby farmer who was able to move it to his own farm. However, this could not happen until after we had the involvement of a vet, Trading Standards and DEFRA.

You asked us

"The latest UK Debt figures have been released this month. They don't make for pleasant reading. Any thoughts?"

The figures do indeed give reason for concern with a number of startling statistics. There is obviously nothing we at London House can do to influence them, but the information can help when it comes to considering the way ahead. The industry can use them when lobbying or for just raising awareness. I am a firm believer that personal finance should be taught at school, in depth, and the younger generations made aware of the consequences of poor financial control. Alas, the current parlous financial state of many individuals means that there will always be plenty of work for London House and its clients.

If you have not seen the figures, here are some highlights:

Total UK personal debt at the end of July 2011 stood at £1,451bn. Individuals currently owe nearly as much as the entire country produced between Q2 2010 and Q1 2011.

UK banks and building societies wrote off £8.0bn of loans to individuals in the 4 quarters to end Q2 2011. In Q2 2011 they wrote off £2.06bn (£1.15bn of that was credit card debt). This amounts to a write-off of £22.54m a day.

Average household debt in the UK is ~ £8,055 (excluding mortgages). This figure increases to £15,491 if the average is based on the number of households who actually have some form of unsecured loan.

Average household debt in the UK is ~ £55,814 (including mortgages).

Today in the UK

• 334 people every day of the year will be declared insolvent or bankrupt. This is equivalent to 1 person every 59 seconds during a working day.  
• 1,391 Consumer County Court Judgments (CCJs) were issued every day during Q2 2011 and the average judgment amount was £3,345.
• Citizen Advice Bureaux dealt with 9,072 new debt problems every working day in England and Wales during the year ending March 2011.
• The average cost of raising a child from birth to the age of 21 is £27.50 a day.
• 99 properties were repossessed every day during Q2 2011.
• 112 new people became unemployed for more than 12 months every day during the 12 months to end June 2011.
• 1,688 people reported they had become redundant every day during 3 months to end June 2011

197 mortgage possession claims will be issued and 154 mortgage possession orders will be made today.

What's in a name?

Following a bank repossession of a property, we were instructed by the bank's solicitors to trace the former owner and ascertain whether she had any other assets as there was a shortfall following the sale.

In trying to locate the subject, enquiries into the name given became difficult because the bank's understanding was that she was married and that all correspondence was in the matrimonial name. It subsequently became apparent that the subject wasn't married and only used the name as an alias. We therefore tried to trace the subject using her maiden name and established several people in the UK as possibilities, from which we narrowed the list down to 3.

Further extensive enquiries followed and after a series of discreet investigations at the appropriate locations we managed to obtain a positive match. Our enquiries tell us that she owns the property (in her maiden name) as well as other assets. The bank can now consider their position in light of this information thanks to the strengths of a field force investigation.

Focus on... Repossessions

London House Franchise Owners undertake many instructions to repossess property. Of course, the national number of properties being repossessed is a general reflection on the economy but we find that our numbers remain fairly constant. We are well versed in properties of all types and undertake both residential and commercial repossessions. We arrive on site and after the bailiff has executed his warrant we take over. Working to a detailed report form we make all the arrangements to ensure the property is suitable for our clients needs. From reading the meters, advising the utility companies, changing locks, securing the windows, clearance, repair etc we organise it all to leave the property safe, hygienic, secure and ready for resale.

Repossession service

A Tale of Two Cottages

We were asked to locate an individual and recover a shortfall of £50,000 following repossession and sale of the property by our banking client. Our only starting point was the property sold but following our motto of "Never Assume", we visited the property, "Rose Cottage", one of a pair of semi-detached cottages in rural Oxfordshire and a lady came to the door saying our man was not there, wrong address, he was next door.

Finding this strange we conducted further searches including recent planning applications and there we had our answer.

Once upon a time, he owned the whole house but when his business started to fail he divided it into two and the bank sold only half the security they had - he was still living in the other half!

Property Pre-Repossession

Pre-Repossession reports are undertaken to advise on property condition and whether occupied or not. Opportunity for final negotiations.

Property Repossession

We undertake both voluntary and bailiff appointment repossessions. Our services include lock changes and generally making the property secure and dealing with the utilities. Our report will provide a full inventory of items and can include maintenance work, site clearance, liaising with selling agents and periodic security inspections of the property whilst empty. Residential and commercial work undertaken.

Property Repossession

We undertake both voluntary and bailiff appointment repossessions. Our services include lock changes and generally making the property secure and dealing with the utilities. Our report will provide a full inventory of items and can include maintenance work, site clearance, liaising with selling agents and periodic security inspections of the property whilst empty. Residential and commercial work undertaken.