A PENSIONER who is facing the threat of homelessness after a 13-year legal fight to keep her house says she has been forced to live off money she makes in car boot and craft sales because of the case.
Divorcee Joan Hoblyn, 69, said her battle to prevent Barclays from evicting her from the eight-room property where she has lived for 35 years had left her penniless and in despair.
Judge Lord Drummond Young at the Court of Session in Edinburgh last week ruled that Mrs Hoblyn was unable to stop the repossession of the home in Clarkston, East Renfrewshire.
He expressed his great sympathy for her plight.
Now the grandmother has spoken about her fears for her future.
Mrs Hoblyn said: "I am frightened because, in my opinion, I have lost [the case].
"I know people will say I have wasted all those years but I just want peace."
The house in Carolside Avenue is owned by Mrs Hoblyn's former husband Michael, who initiated divorce proceedings in 2000 and was declared bankrupt after their divorce in 2004.
He fell behind with the mortgage payments, forcing Barclays bank to take action.
Mrs Hoblyn argues that Mr Hoblyn arranged his sequestration to avoid paying the debts he had accumulated.
The former tax investigator was left to foot the mortgage after her husband moved out, initially using her savings to pay £4000 in arrears.
Her financial problems mounted after she suffered injuries in a cycling accident in Australia that required her to undergo several operations and left her unable to work.
She won an interim interdict to prevent the eviction from going ahead in 2010 and again in 2012.
It was recalled at the Court of Session last week.
Lord Drummond Young recognised that Mrs Hoblyn had suffered serious psychological and emotional distress from the eviction proceedings and Mr Hoblyn had left her little means of serving the loan on the house.
Mrs Hoblyn, who claimed she was forced into bankruptcy by legal fees, said she had been treated like dirt. She added: "This is my life we are talking about.
"Surely there is someone who can help me?"
Mrs Hoblyn now lives off of her pension and the money she makes from sales.
She claims she has been living without heating for two years, has been forced to cut back on food and has been forced to watch helplessly as the house she once described as her pride and joy deteriorated.
She added: "I am living a frugal life. I have suffered for a long time. I look forward to going to bed at night because I think I am safe and nobody can get me. Nobody can phone me."
She said she dreads the post every morning in fear of more bad news and worries a knock on the door could be sheriff officers.
She added: "That is what I have lived with all those years.
"That is no life."
She said she is not aware of the amount left on the mortgage or the arrears because it is not in her name and the information has not been disclosed to her.
She added: "The bottom line, for me, is justice.
"I want somewhere to stay, in my community, and not necessarily this house. But there are no local authority homes available and I cannot afford a private let or to buy anywhere."
"I never in a million years thought this would happen to me.All I want is a roof over my head."
Last week, the court heard that Barclays were willing to prevent Mrs Hoblyn from being evicted, and the bank would be "quite content" if the debt could be repaid without the sale of the property.
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