I was unable to pay the mortgage for about 10 months, but then I got a new contract and was able to set up a standing order which was larger than the statutory amount. I decided to pay this larger amount in order to gradually reduce the size of the shortfall in a way that I could sensibly afford.

Prior to my first default I was actually overpaying over a number of years, so that my 10 months gap was actually only 4.6 months on the balance sheet (this is acknowledged by the lender).

I have already given Mortgages 2 my assurance, several times, that I will be able to overpay them every month over the full term of the mortgage. Despite this they have started legal proceedings to repossess my home.

The really odd thing is that they started their proceedings against me after I had set up my standing order to pay them more than I needed to!

They have now had 3 uninterrupted monthly payments and still have not stopped proceedings. They are using Moore Blatch and the court case is in early July.

Mortgages 2 are no longer in the mortgage lending business, and are obviously keen to recover all of those pesky mortgages and get their hands on the money for whatever new venture they have up their corporate sleeves.

My defence is based on exactly what I have told you here. But what can happen? Will a judge really allow me to be made homeless when I'm regularly paying a larger sum than I need to? This is crazy!

Does anyone have any views on this?

If you are able to prove you have made overpayments and can continue to do so, there is no way a judge will allow the property to be repossessed. Please read the link in the post above and then come back if you need any further help.

It would be a good idea to write to them stating how disappointed you are that they have decided to bring repossession proceedings when you had already reached a payment arrangement to clear the arrears. If you need help with the letter please let me know and I'll be happy to draft one for you.

You can then add a copy of the letter to your defence so the judge can see that you were already in discussions with them and had made an arrangement which you have stuck to.

Thanks for getting back to me.

I can produce evidence that I have been making payments over and above - from my bank statements, etc. That's easy.

The problem is that they will say that they never agreed to this. So that this isn't a formal arrangement!

Mortgages 2 are a funny lot.

They refuse to use email.

Instead they phone me up a lot.

I had already asked them NOT to phone as my mum was in the last stages of Alzheimer's in a care home and a phone call would signify the worst.

everyone else agreed not to phone me (including friends) and use email instead, but Mortgages 2 insisted on phoning.

I had to block their number.

I think they took issue with that.

There was never an actual agreed arrangement.

I just gave them my word and they said they wanted a list of income and expenditure which was impossible for me to supply because my income was not fixed, as I am self-employed.

Another matter:

I was dealing for years with a company called Mortgages plc.

what it said on their letterhead.

But now I'm being taken to court by a company called Mortgages 2

Presumably they are trying to pass themselves off as the same company

Will the judge be impressed by this, I wonder?

A third matter:

Mortgages 2 is not in the mortgage lending business any more.

They do not provide mortgage lending and have not done so for a number of years.

Therefore I think that they will use any excuse to repossess their customers' properties in order to re-liquidate their assets.

If only us pesky people hadn't taken out a mortgage with them in the first place!

So it's a bit unusual for several reasons.

Hi,

Just wandering if you have been able to settle your arrears?

What, in just three months?

No. But the money I am paying over and above the statutory monthly repayment is designed to do exactly that and will reduce the outstanding arrears amount to zero in about 30 months.

Just for the record, I attended the repossession hearing today at my local court.

The lender's request for repossession was thrown out (the judgment was "suspended").

It is ironic that today was the very day that my third consecutive OVER payment went through to the lenders.

I showed the printout of my bank statement to the lender's counsel and to the judge.

Would you believe that the lender, Mortgages 2 Ltd (aka Mortgages plc) would not believe that the money went through as

- in theory

- it takes 24 hours to clear.

The judge was fairly convinced, though!

So thank you, Ell-enn and other CAGgers who correctly predicted this outcome.

well done

now get an sar running to them and get back any unlawful fixed fee penalty sums and any stupid extra insurances and PPI they made you take out.

the only thing that must be inplace is building ins

and if you already had that they cant charge you for 'theirs' too.

Thanks dx100uk.

Would a SAR be appropriate?

They did say they'd charge me £35 each for each month that went by without an agreement being in place.

But I believe that they refused to put an agreement in place

(in other words, agree to my agreement to overpay them every month)

so they could charge me this amount every month.

But if their small print says that they are allowed to charge me £35 every month that the agreement was not mutual, then surely that means they are justified in charging that.

How do I justify getting that back?

OR are ANY such fines defined as "unlawful fixed fee penalty sums" as construed by consumer law?

If that is the case then how could they possibly justify charging them in the first place?

(I'm a bit confused here!)

fines no unlawful penalties under FCA rules

arrears fees

letters fees

phone call fess

debt management fess

all need to be removed from the outstanding balance & at THEIR int rate compounded too!

any fixed sum [£20,£35 etc - its a fixed sum not varying ..so MUST be a penalty] are considered unlawful.

Right. I'm owed a pretty penny, in that case!

Thanks.

Well done, you must be be very relieved

I wouldn't go antagonising them just yet...they will still be licking their wounds...let the dust settle and stick to your agreed monthly payments.

Andy

https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?296108-Hot-news-for-anyone-who-has-suffered-mortgage-arrears-charges-irresponsible-lending-or-other-unfair-lender-conduct

read up 1st let things settle

But not when you have just avoided a Repossession Order

The lender's request for repossession was thrown out (the judgment was "suspended").

Are you sure they weren't granted a Suspended Possession Order?

The order was suspended, which I'm told means that my home will not be repossessed.

Are there two different types of "suspended"?

I was told that the order was suspended. As I wrote in my earlier post, the judgment was "suspended".

So that means I get to stay in my home and that the lenders, Mortgages PLC, lost their case.

As far as I'm aware, that's what it means.

There is no Judgment.....its an Order and the Order can either be dismissed or suspended......suspended as long as you maintain the agreed payments...if you default then the claimant has provision to take it back to court.

There are Outright Possession Orders.....the court has decided that your mortgage lender can repossess your home.

Repossession Orders .....which can be suspended providing you stick to the agreement set by court

Money order......This means that you have to pay the lender the amount set out in the order.If you don’t make these payments money could be deducted from your wages or bank account

bailiffs may take away things you own

Possession order with money judgment.....A money judgment is usually added to a possession order. It means you owe a specific amount of money usually made up of:

your mortgage arrears

court fees

your lender’s legal costs

A money judgment won’t apply if: you pay your mortgage arrears and any amount set out in a suspended order

You should have, or get, something in writing from the Court.

In short a suspended order means that the repossession is put on hold as long as you keep paying in line with what is agreed in court. Although if you miss just one payment or even make it a day late, then the lender can apply to the court for an eviction order without a further hearing, as you had broken the terms of the suspended order - you would then have to apply to the court to have the eviction stopped.

The paperwork from the court will most likely state that The Order for Repossession has been granted BUT is suspended on terms i.e. that you make payments of xxx each month in addition to your contractual monthly payment.

That's exactly what is was. The court agreed that I was making overpayments which were acceptable and which would reduce the arrears.

I haven't had anything in writing yet.

dx100uk, Hi. I got a response from Mortgages PLC today saying that they don't think that the signature in my SAR letter is mine because, according to them, "the signature/s provided do not match our records".

Well, that's a new one! I have a copy of the original mortgage agreement and a copy of the SAR letter and it seems to me to be incontrovertible that they are by the same hand.

They go on:

"Under the General Data Protection Regulation we are entitled to a period of one calendar month in which to provide the information. The one calendar month period does not begin until we receive the following:

"Proof of identity [as cited above]. An original or certified copy of a passport or driving licence is acceptable."

Cheeky monkeys! Are they right, do you think? And what does "certified" copy of a passport mean?

Typical...id send them a copy of any of their court papers

They cant argue its you then!!