It seems to be the week for landmark court cases. It was great to see justice prevail in the case of Paul and Amanda Jackson who have beaten a company called Repossessions Stopped in court this week.
The couple entered into an agreement with the sale-and-rent-back company after falling behind in their mortgage in 2005. The agreement was that they would sell the company their home, which they had occupied for twenty years, and in return the company would allow them to live there indefinitely. The problem is in 2007, less than two years after the arrangement was set up the family were served an eviction notice. The story is that the company had defaulted on the mortgage payments after taking them over from the couple.
The judge showed good sense in my opinion when he ruled that the family were entitled to stay in their home for life, either taking out a new mortgage themselves or renting the property from the mortgage lender who had reposed it.
A spokes person for Shelter ,the charity that bought the action on behalf of the family, had this to say
“This is a huge and important victory for not only the Jackson family but everyone who is tempted by sale-and-rent-back schemes.
I would urge anyone having mortgage difficulties to seek independent advice from Shelter, a Citizens Advice Bureau or other debt counselling organisations before contacting these kind of companies.”
Very sound advice and well worth following
