Swift Advances. Secured Loan Charges reclaim

[JOES MY LANDLORD]

I have not been on the site for a while, but it seems to me that things are starting to move, good Luck to everyone who is involved with these monsters Swift. I was recently in court Swift trying to repossess my house. I was lucky I got a decent judge so have a suspended order. But again their solicitor went on about the cost of borrowing when the judge questioned him about their high interest rates. I feel as if I am on a stay of execution, Swift will eventually get me. But I don't want to go down without a fight, so any information anyone has would be really appreciated.

I struggle to find my posts but at my court case swift's solicitor gave the judge detailed information about their interest rates which I copied into a post. It seems to bear no resemblence to what others have been told. It might be useful for you if you can find it.

[Smarterchick]

I struggle to find my posts but at my court case swift's solicitor gave the judge detailed information about their interest rates which I copied into a post. It seems to bear no resemblence to what others have been told. It might be useful for you if you can find it.

 

Click on your name on the left and it will bring up your posts and thread links, you can find all your posts then...

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/swift-advances/212789-swift-advances-facts.html#post2336885

 

SC

[Guest blackie]

Has anybody heard how the Heath case went. Well done Sparkie, I really admire your staying power. Let's hope this time you get the result you deserve.

[dazpen]

Has Heath case finished yet with judgment handed down? If not when will it be.

[Guest blackie]

I'm not sure I thought I read on this thread that it was early October, wonder if the press got involved.

Anyone know anything

[Smarterchick]

Has Heath case finished yet with judgment handed down? If not when will it be.

 

The case was heard 12th and 13th October but the Judgement has not been handed down yet I don't think...shouldn't be too long.

[Guest blackie]

I assume that no press or television crews got involved, otherwise we would have heard something on the news. Anyone any thoughts.

[Marky1701]

Even more worrying for UK mortgage lenders as a whole is that 17,565 possession actions were entered into court in the single month of February after a staggering 22,082 in January*. As a direct comparison, (vis a vis 2007), during the fourth quarter of 2007 a total of 35,662 mortgage possession claims were issued on a seasonally adjusted basis in that three month period. 46% of these mortgage possession orders were suspended.

If the trend for the first two months of 2008 continues this would suggest that the first quarter of 2008 could see an approximate rise of 30% in possession actions versus 2007 comparisons. Analysing this trend further, on the basis that approximately 50% of possession claims lead to repossessions, the UK could experience a huge jump to close on 90K total repossessions in 2008.

The top 20 lenders account for 32% of repossessions

125:kensington mortgage company limited

143:swift advances plc

144:db (uk) bank limited

146:ge money home finance limited

156:birmingham city council

159:bank of scotland plc (t/a halifax)

161:blemain finance limited

181:southern pacific mortgage limited

189:ge money secured loans limited

261:bank of scotland plc t/a birmingham midshires

279:ge money mortgages limited

293:gmac rfc limited

293:kensington mortgages company ltd

299:gmac - rfc limited

299:gmac-rfc limited

382:ge money home lending limited

475:abbey national plc

484:lloyds tsb bank plc

523:bank of scotland plc

690: northern rock plc

*Jan 2008 saw 22082 actions Northern Rock with 665 actions,Southern Pacific 923.

Claims Issued are were a Lender after approx. 3 missed payments seeks a possesson order. Suspended Orders are where the Lender is granted possession but not an Eviction Order, this is where the Defaulter comes to an agreement with the Lender on making the payments and clearing the arrears. This agreement would be Legal Binding and if the Defaulter breaks the agreement the Lender can return to court to get an Eviction Order.

[JOES MY LANDLORD]

What is the "Heath" case about?

[Smarterchick]

What is the "Heath" case about?

 

Whether or not the agreement she (Mrs Heath) had was a multiple agreement or not under s.18 CCA and therefore irredeemedly unenforceable as it was wrongly executed. She has the disadvantage of not having had the monies dispensed directly by the loan company (Southern Pacific) but by her solicitor who it is being suggested acted as her agent for the dispersal of the monies making the whole loan a single transaction and not the multiple agreement being argued. That's how Judge Purle saw it anyway. Those who have their monies sent directly by the new lender to pay off things like arrears to 1st mtgs, paying off other 2nd charge loans and then receiving the cash balance only have more of a chance of saying their loan should be a multiple agreement than Mrs Heath might. Also applies I believe if PPI has been added to the loan as that too should be a separate agreement.

 

Heath v Southern Pacific Mortgage Ltd [2009] EWHC 103 (Ch) (29 January 2009)

[Guest blackie]

Can anyone help, I think I have read somewhere that once an agreement is reached with the lender to clear the arrears, and the payments are kept up to date, then the lenders should stop adding charges, I keep on getting two £35.00 letters from Swift every month, even though I am keeping to the court arrangement.

[Sparkie1723]

Reference Marky1701's post this is a good example of how statistics and figures are all baloney...these are supplied by the lenders...according to the figures stated Swift applied for 143 possessions ....BUT in Northern Ireland alone the figure for Swift is an average of 20 per week...that makes in my sums 160 in two months there alone, someone is telling porkies..NOT YOU marky ...I leave folks to answer that themselves..

Ref the Heath case I would allways argue that a solicitor acts on their cleints INSTRUCTIONS and if Mrs heath did not give instructions to her solicitor to pay the money they did .......then she has also has a case against her solicitor for breach of duty to her as a client ...they did it off their own bat ...that's my penneth for all its worth.

sparkie

[Sparkie1723]

Will everyone who has had Mark White giving evidence for Swift in any possession claims taken against them by Swift....contact me either on this thread or by PM please.

 

sparkie

[dazpen]

Any news on heath yet

[Smarterchick]

Reference Marky1701's post this is a good example of how statistics and figures are all baloney...these are supplied by the lenders...according to the figures stated Swift applied for 143 possessions ....BUT in Northern Ireland alone the figure for Swift is an average of 20 per week...that makes in my sums 160 in two months there alone, someone is telling porkies..NOT YOU marky ...I leave folks to answer that themselves..

Ref the Heath case I would allways argue that a solicitor acts on their cleints INSTRUCTIONS and if Mrs heath did not give instructions to her solicitor to pay the money they did .......then she has also has a case against her solicitor for breach of duty to her as a client ...they did it off their own bat ...that's my penneth for all its worth.

sparkie

 

I think the point here is whether the loan company make it a condition that the clearing of any further advances already registered is part of their condition for supplying the loan. The solicitors are then instructed by the borrower out of ignorance...It's a fine line and will be interesting how Bradley Say and his arguments have been put to the court - being in Telford doesn't make it easy to attend these Appeals, (but I can keep an eye on RBS/NatWest Debt Management Centre )

 

SC

[Guest blackie]

I have been doing some digging myself Alchemy is a very wide ranging company, Kestrel holdings etc all tied up but look what else I have discovered

 

 

Terry Gateley is the senior non-executive director of the IMI Board. He began his career as a chartered accountant and was in private practice until moving into investment management in 1999. He is a member of the Industrial Advisory Board of Alchemy Partners LLP and his current directorships include Kestrel Holdings Limited, Everyday Loans Holdings Limited, Presentation Service Providers Limited and Leicester

Find out more about Simon Woolcott

Marchwood Associates.

Still holds shares in Alchemy

Career Summary:

o Simon has a BA (Hons) in Accounting and qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant in 1981, becoming a fellow in 1991. His early career spanned the consumer electronics, utilities, heavy engineering and ports sectors.

o He joined the then Woolwich Building Society in 1986 and held a number of senior finance positions before assuming responsibility in 1996, as Managing Director, for Specialised Lending (including consumer finance and commercial lending), growing the business and starting a number of new ventures. He took on dual roles in late 1999, heading up Retail Products and Asset and Liability Management, subsequently leading Group Finance in the crucial period prior to the acquisition of Woolwich plc by Barclays Bank in October 2000.

o On joining Barclays he became Director, Lending and General Insurance and a member of the Woolwich Executive Committee. His responsibilities included surveying, general insurance, the FirstPlus secured lending business, and the relationship with a joint venture mortgage outsource provider. He also led the complex but successful integration of the Woolwich and Barclays mortgage businesses. In 2002 and early 2003 he was Business in Transition Director finalising mortgage and general insurance integration and disposing of a number of non-strategic parts of the Woolwich business portfolio.

o Simon has been an FSA Approved Person, member of the Management/Executive Committees of the Finance and Leasing Association and the Council of Mortgage Lenders, a management committee member of Woolwich plc's French and Italian banks.

o In 2003 he set up Marchwood Associates to offer his wide experience at Board level to small and medium sized companies mainly in the retail financial services sector. After several successful assignments, he went plural by becoming CEO of Kestrel Holdings, a company set up to acquire Swift Advances (a sub prime secured lender) by private equity house Alchemy Partners. After a successful period of transformation with significantly higher profits, larger and cheaper bank lines, relocation to modern offices and achieving FSA authorisation, he exited the business retaining a shareholding. Marchwood Associates continues to provide advice services to a growing number of firms whilst also seeking new investment opportunities.

Q4:

What types of arrangements could be made and how are they reviewed?

A:

· CHL will do everything they can to help you keep your home/property. We will ask you to see one of our Field Managers to get a better understanding of your problems and then try to get an arrangement in place according to your current circumstances.

· This arrangement may mean you making the full monthly payment plus an amount towards the arrears that you can afford.

· It could also mean making lower payments than the full monthly payment, if we can see that you cannot afford to pay the full amount due (this would be for a set time to be agreed between you and CHL). Where you make lower payments, the difference will be added to the balance of your mortgage and be charged interest at the same rate as the loan.

· We will review your financial position every 6 months (or more often if you ask us to).

· During the time you have an arrangement with us, and you keep to the agreed payments, we will treat you fairly by not adding any arrears charges to your account.

· You may be trying to sell your home/property to pay off the mortgage and cannot make the full payment due. We will again try to help you by accepting a payment that you can afford during the sale process.

· We will ask that you provide documentary proof that your property is being sold for a price that is achievable in the current market. Your Estate Agent should be able to write and confirm this for you. We will also need your solicitors’ details and we can then keep in contact with him to make sure the sale is progressing.

back to top

Q5: What are the additional costs and charges?

A: If you are in arrears, we may charge you for reasonable administrative and legal costs. We will tell you the amount you will have to pay.

 

Q6: What happens if CHL cannot contact you and/or agree on a solution?

A:

· We may send a debt counsellor or one of our Field Managers to see you to discuss your financial circumstances. This will give us a better understanding of your problems and help us put a suitable arrangement in place with your agreement. The cost of this visit may be charged to your mortgage account. Our Field Managers’ visits are free.

· We may go to court to start proceedings to repossess your home. If proceedings take place, we strongly recommend that you attend the court and that you seek independent debt advice.

· We do not have to go to court to appoint LPA Receivers for Buy to Let properties.

· Starting court proceedings does not necessarily mean that we will repossess your home. We will keep trying to solve the problem with you. Possession or appointing LPA receivers in the case of a Buy to Let mortgages is a last resort.

· Before we repossess your home, we will give you advice about getting in touch with your local authority to see if they can find you somewhere else to live.

THINK MONEY IS SERVICED BY MARCHWOOD ASSOCIATES.

NOTICE ALCHEMY NOW HAVE ACCQUIRED IT.

·

· THINK Money Group, one of the country's leading debt management companies, has changed hands in a hush-hush £110m deal.

 

Venture capital outfit Alchemy has bought the Salford Quays business from another private equity firm, ECI Ventures, which acquired a 57 per cent stake when it backed a management buyout in 2002.

 

All parties have signed confidentiality agreements but a spokesman for Alchemy, which is headed by private equity grandee Jon Moulton, confirmed the buyout.

 

ECI had considered floating the business last year as its means of exit but decided against it amid turbulence in the debt advice sector.

 

Leading banks and other creditors became increasingly critical of individual voluntary arrangements because they were forced to write off large chunks of consumer debts in return for guaranteed monthly payments. Their stance prompted a decline in the number of IVAs being completed and sparked a series of profit warnings by listed debt advice companies.

 

Sources say Think Money Group, which is based in Pennington House, Carolina Way, South Langworthy Road, has been largely unaffected by the crisis because of its strong relationships with the banks, which made it an appealing target for Alchemy.

 

It operates several subsidiaries, including Gregory Pennington, Freeman Jones, Wilson Andrews, Friendly Mortgages and Loans and Think Banking.

· Range

 

Founded in 1993 by entrepreneur Nigel Warr, it has helped more than 100,000 people in financial difficulty. In 2002 it employed 250 staff and its core product was debt management.

 

Since then, the range has grown to include IVAs, loan brokering and mortgages and its workforce to more than 500.

 

Think Money is led by managing director Stephen Stylianou, 38.

 

According to the latest set of accounts filed at Companies House, the group turned over more than £27m in the year to January 31, 2006, and made pre-tax profits of more than £5.2m.

 

One source said: "It's a good business which enjoys excellent relationships with the banks and is trusted by its customers. Alchemy wants to grow it over the next few years and will then probably float it on the stock market."

 

Mr Stylianou is on first name terms with all staff and gives them a card and champagne on their birthday.

 

The Manchester office of investment bank Rothschild advised ECI on the sale.

It all seems to be one big happy family.

[Sparkie1723]

The main thing I got from Blackies good detective work is the link to Barclays Bank.............Myself and several others have certian views on this aspect but until we have absolute evidence of what we suspect must keep it to ourselves for the moment but it is concerning this link to Barclays but this is more than a little interesting.

 

sparkie

[sweetjane]

Blackie did you know that Jon Moulton has parted company with Alchemy - bit of a difference of opinion with Dominic Slade it seems:

Jon Moulton’s letter to investors

Dear Investor,

With Profound Regret

Alchemy is not what it was.

We have lost investment capacity from £400m pa a few short years back to a likely £100m pa within the next year. This loss reflects a number of factors – one is simply the general market where our Plan represents a readily reduced commitment in a market where over commitment is a major issue. More significantly team issues at Alchemy, very low new deal activity and a weak overall investment performance, with continuing losses and largely defensive investing, have drained confidence.

The firm has two better areas of investment.

In turnaround we have a market leading reputation, a strong realised record and a promising portfolio. The market is much slower than expected as the banks ”internalise” their portfolio issues – but a large market will appear shortly. Only yesterday our position for the current market was described as ”Perfect” by the global head of private equity of a big 4 firm!

In financial services we have 3 realised deals (all turnarounds) with very good outcomes and a large unrealised portfolio which seems likely to be respectable. We have done no new deal in this area for well over 2 years. It is a small component of the UK PE market and would justify only a small fund on its own. And a small fund would not have been able to do much of our past portfolio.

Dominic Slade now wishes to convert the firm to a specialist financial services firm.

I do not support this strategy. It’s contrary to the positioning we have created with investors and deal sources and wastes a spectacular opportunity in our area of perceived greatest strength. It likely adversely affects the partnership economically.

Dominic is supported in his view by three other partners. One has been with the firm for some years and has led several deals. He has a record of one write-off but as yet no profitable exits on deals he led. The other two partners have joined in the last year or so – neither has yet led a new deal.

Dominic was appointed Managing Partner of Private Equity some two years ago. He was the best available internal candidate given the situation we were in. There were reservations and actions taken to try to deal with these – a mentor for example. There have been continuing concerns as to his performance shared with Dominic, the Advisory Board and the Plan Manager.

Events and performance mean that I am afraid that I am unable to recommend that Dominic succeed me. I very much wish I could. I hope he proves me wrong. He is certainly well capable of executing good deals.

As you are aware I had indicated that I would retire at my sixtieth birthday next October but given my unwillingness to support the investment strategy or Dominic’s role this is not sensible. I have today served my resignation upon the Partnership and am seeking the earliest possible release of my contractual obligations.

This action has been taken with considerable consideration. I will leave behind some good people and take away some great memories.

I feel I owe investors an apology for quite a few things. Together with my partners past and present I made too many investment and people errors.

The state that the firm is now in leads to the view that the best solution for investors and the partnership is an early orderly Plan termination. The Plan’s economics are no longer favourable. Investors need proper arrangements for portfolio work out. A proposal for this is under consideration by the Plan Manager.

I personally have very substantial – much more than the other partners combined – amounts committed and invested in Alchemy’s funds both as GP and LP. I am the largest carryholder in all investments and the only remaining significant one in some. So I can say with financial sincerity as well as paternal sincerity that I hope things turn out well for Alchemy. It may be that my action today will catalyse a better outcome than would otherwise happen.

I expect to be in further touch shortly.

Thank you for your past confidence and support.

I would do it again – but better.

Yours sincerely,

Jon Moulton

www.independent.co.uk/.../investors-could-close-alchemy-as-moulton-plans-new-startup-1782294.html

:D:D Are the cracks appearing?

[sweetjane]

Sorry about all that font business - why does it do that? I went advanced and previewed - what am I doing wrong?

Any way you can view the letter on:

www.independent.co.uk/.../investors-could-close-alchemy-as-moulton-plans-new-startup-1782294.html

[Sparkie1723]

HI sweetjane,

 

This is one of the reasons that Swift have suddenly moved to get possession of as many peoples property as they can by any means possible ......they have got to obtain as many assetts as possible but by doing this they have left themselves WIDE open for the sucker punch that is coming soon;).

sparkie

 

sparkie

[Guest blackie]

He can't recommend Dominc Slade, no I can not believe that. What is goig on here. Should we all email Mr Slade and ask him if everything is ok ah! Lets hope he finds out what is like not sleep, to worry constantly, to lose his job.

[Sparkie1723]

He can't recommend Dominc Slade, no I can not believe that. What is goig on here. Should we all email Mr Slade and ask him if everything is ok ah! Lets hope he finds out what is like not sleep, to worry constantly, to lose his job.

 

 

We could all ask him if our title deeds are safe and he's not going to lose them by any chance???

 

 

sparkie

[sweetjane]

Why isn't John Webster's name on the FSA Register anymore for Swift Advances and Swift 1st? I'm sure it was there before. Barwick, Brookes, Nettleingham & Slade but no Webster on Swift 1st and Barwick and Brookes on Swift Advances page . . . curiouser and curiouser . . .

[Guest blackie]

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and Girls, I have received the most interesting letter from Swift today. They advise me that my payments are up to date and the arrears letter they sent to me was just a matter of course. They hope they did not cause me distress and they have pleasure in enclosing an up to date copy of my account, showing all charges etc, however if I want more information I should send them £10.00. Fine no problem. But guess what, the statement they have sent me belongs to someone completely different who lives in Wakefield and is obviously in the same position as many of us with huge charges to their account. Any ideas what I should do.

[Sparkie1723]

Blackie do not do anything about this until we have seen all the docs ...this shows how we are all getting to Swift now they are is such of a mess due to all the pressure we have put them under they do not know what they are doing . I'll Pm you

 

sparkie