LORD HOFFMAN
My Lords,
1. In October 1988 Mark and Lynne Wilkinson bought a house near Diss in Norfolk. We do not know how much they paid, but £35,895 of the purchase price was provided by a loan from the West Bromwich Building Society, secured by a charge on the house. The loan with interest was repayable by monthly instalments of about £484.
2. Disaster struck almost at once. The Wilkinsons appear to have paid only two instalments, in February and July 1989. On 25 July 1989 the building society obtained an order for possession which was executed on 9 October 1989. The property market was at that time in decline and it was some time before the building society negotiated a sale. More than a year later, on 14 November 1990, it sold the house for £34,000. That left, with arrears of interest, a shortfall of £23,921.92.
3. After giving up possession, the Wilkinsons moved into other accommodation. At some time they ceased living together and now have separate addresses. For over 12 years the…