If your property is at risk, there may still be options.

A property repossession is the legal process through which a creditor — usually a bank, although increasingly an investment fund — seeks to recover an unpaid debt through the courts. The process may ultimately lead to a court-ordered auction of the property.

This process can begin for different reasons: mortgage arrears, an unpaid personal loan, revolving credit-card debt, or even outstanding community-of-owners fees. In many cases, the original bank is no longer pursuing the debt because it has sold it to an investment fund — sometimes referred to as a ‘vulture fund’ — which often continues the proceedings more aggressively and with less room for negotiation than a traditional bank.

The process of mortgage foreclosure goes through several stages — claim, demand for payment, attachment and the scheduling of an auction — and different courses of action may be available at each stage. Identifying exactly where your case stands is the first step towards understanding the options genuinely open to you.

The sooner you act, the more room there is to manoeuvre. Ignoring notices or simply waiting will not stop the process; understanding your options early may change the outcome.