Where a mortgagor is subject to the appointment by the mortgagee of a receiver over the mortgaged property the receiver owes a duty to the mortgagor to look after the property if and to the extent that the mortgagor retains an interest in what remains of the property after the mortgage debt and the receiver are paid off {the equity of redemption).
Where the mortgagor becomes bankrupt, the mortgagor ceases to have any such interest. The equity of redemption becomes vested in their trustee in bankruptcy. Though the mortgagor retains a legal liability under the mortgage, that is limited in nature and duration. Upon his discharge from bankruptcy it is automatically extinguished. The mortgagor walks free from the mortgage and the benefit of the equity of redemption stays vested in the trustee in bankruptcy for the benefit of the general creditors.
In the event of a surplus in the bankruptcy, then under section 330(5) of the Insolvency Act 1986, the trustee must return that surplus to the bankrupt: But the bankrupt has no right to the mortgaged property as such and his interest in any possible surplus can be and is protected by the duties which both the receivers and the mortgagee will owe the trustee in bankruptcy as to their management of the property and its realisation.
The creditors and the bankrupt mortgagor have a shared interest that the property should be managed and disposed of for the best price reasonably obtainable but that does not mean that they are owed any duty by the receivers.
In the Court of Appeal case of Purewal v Countrywide Residential Lettings Ltd & Anor [2015] all the foregoing factors were in play. The residential property had been subject to water damage but the receivers had failed to take timely action to stop the problem, which the mortgagor had told them about, or to claim the insurance proceeds in time. On getting the property back the mortgagor had spent £16000 fixing it.
The court said no legal precedents suggested the receivers’ duty being owed to a bankrupt mortgagor nor was there any justification for imposing such a duty. The mortgagor has ceased to have any interest in the equity of redemption and his ultimate entitlement under s. 330(5) to any surplus in the bankruptcy did not require the imposition of a duty to anyone beyond the trustee in bankruptcy so the receivers were not liable to him.
This blog has been posted out of general interest. It does not replace the need to get bespoke legal advice in individual cases.
Original article: Receivers owed no duty of care directly to bankrupt mortgagor.