Mortgagee out of time

West Bromwich Building Society v Wilkinson and another CA TLR 5 October

The defendants defaulted on payment of mortgage instalments from July 1989 and the building society obtained a repossession order in October 1989. When the house was sold in November 1989 there still remained owing to the society nearly £24,000. When it commenced proceedings to recover the balance in November 2002, more than 12 years had elapsed from the accrual of the right of the society to receive the balance of the mortgage debt secured by the legal charge. Therefore the claim for the shortfall was statute-barred.