Reasonableness is Here to Stay: Homeowner & Debtor Protection Bill
3rd February 2010
Today Jon Kiddie of Renfrewshire Law Centre and his colleague, Angus MacIntosh of Castlemilk Law & Money Advice Centre, travelled to the Scottish Parliament to represent the Scottish Association of Law Centres at a consultation with Government and Opposition MSP's and civil servants on the Homeowner & Debtor Protection (Scotland) Bill.
The new law, which has already featured in articles on this webiste, will introduce important, welcome changes in the procedure for banks and other lenders applying to repossess the homes of mortgage customers. Court actions will require to call in open court, and lenders will require to satisfy the sheriff that they have followed a pre-litigation protocol and that it is reasonable to repossess the property.
Although the initial draft of the bill omitted a 'reasonableness test', this prompted SALC to take part in the government consultation process, pushing for the inclusion of reasonableness, which is a critical factor in landlord/tenant evictions and current mortgage repossessions where the Mortgage Rights (Scotland) Act 2001 presently applies.
After extensive discussions, the SNP Government and Labour Opposition have agreed that the reasonableness test should remain a feature of mortgage repossession cases.
The Bill proposes reforms to the Heritable Securities (Scotland) Act 1894, the Conveyancing & Feudal Reform (Scotland) Act 1970, the Mortgage Rights (Scotland) Act 2001, and other legislation.
It will also amend the procedure for applying for a Protected Trust Deed, making it possible to exclude the debtor's principal residence.
Debate on the most recent proposed amendments is due to take place in early course.