calling all Mortgage Express customers

[dehowletts]

Hi peeps

 

Can anyone with a mortgage with Mortgage Express (or Bradford & Bingley) please respond to this thread....:-?

 

I would just like to know if their lack of communication, history of 'losing' important paperwork & generally quite obstructive behaviour pattern is unique to me or if it's the 'norm' for all their customers....??

 

thanks in advance!

[Shanidev]

No, you are not alone.

 

Just over years ago, I wrote to them of my possible pending financial difficulties 'Recorder delivery'

 

>> No response

 

Month later sent another

 

>> No Response

 

Another month later

 

>> No Response

 

Another month later, I phoned only to be told that they have not received it. Then I faxed it. Over 3 days of talking to them, when my phantom fax appeared and disappeared of their screens, there advice was extend the term and ask for top up loan. 3 weeks and £40 later was told they could not do it because my original mortgage was Status and now I would need non-status.

 

>> So No

 

Last year, I lost my job and missed a months' payment and then for the next 2 months could not pay full amount. They offered to suspend DD until I told them it was OK to present it. In April they presented it out of the blue without any communication to me. Bank charged me £20 ME £35 plus they cahrge me £30 every month for arrears.

 

There is a whole catalogue of arrogance.

 

In summary, There is no continuity.

 

Every time someone writes to you it is the first time they are writing and have absolutely no knowledge of what has gone on previously.

 

They never listen just shout patronisingly.

 

They never respond to letter except when you put a formal complaint to Customer Services and then it is more arrogance.

 

Harassment, bullying and psychological torture runs through their blood.

 

Would I employ them selling ice cream on a sizzling summer day in a fairground?

 

>> Not even if they were the last and only candidates in the world.

>> They would shut McDonalds down in less than a quarter.

 

So, you are not the only one. Ironically, my solicitor did warn me against them saying I would be better off with a bank but ME offered the best deal on paper.

[dehowletts]

Thank you sooooooooooo much for taking the time to write this response you really don't know how much it means!!:D:D

 

I was beginning to doubt my own sanity as much as anything!!!

 

Not only have I had the paper trail, denial of receipt of paperwork etc etc they've also been ping-ponging to say the least with what they will / won't to

 

(- a fair analogy would be to tempt a small child with a sweet then as it approach whack it with a big stick instead! ok maybe not a good analogy but u get my drift)

 

Arrogance and incompetence must be how their trained I think as this seems to be the 1 common thread with most post

 

 

But thanks again 4 this!!

[mungos mum]

Hi Guys

 

Yes we are having/have had awful problems with MX.

You certainly are not alone we know of at least 30 other people who are struggling to get MX to listen.

 

It seems that since they have been nationalised they have become even worse, probably because most of the staff will eventually be out of work.

 

Hope this helps a little, maybe we could try to draw some strength from each other on this forum and take the fight to MX rather than allowing them to use their 'bully boy' tactics of being a big faceless entity picking on the little guy, sorry for outburst but they do infuriate me with their

'We are right, you are wrong, we are bigger and stronger than you, so we will do whatever we want'

 

Good luck with your fights, please do keep us posted

 

Thanks

Mungos mum

[Redfish]

I wrote to my MP, saying as the government was now 100% shareholder there was an obligation to do something, the MP wrote to the Managing Director, and lo-and behold, a response within days.

 

However since then I put the whole thing is with the FOS, so that is taking forever...

[dehowletts]

Oh peeps thank-you thank-you for your responses!!!

 

I will add some more of my blurb with them after Monday (when I'm defending against tham in court - again!)

 

Please PLEASE encourage anyone you know whose ME customer (or even Bradford & Bingley) to input anything here even if it's along the lines of "& me" as little or as much as they want....

 

Then along the lines of Redfish's entry I think a collective letter/petition or whatever we all deem appropriate needs to be sent both to government and to the CEO of B&B (whose details I have)

 

what are your thoughts??

 

big love deh's x

 

p.s. it's soooooooooooooo nice to know i'm not alone

[mungos mum]

Hi Deh's

How did you get on in court today?

We'd be really interested to know as a few of us are just about to start fighting MX again, this time using a QC barrister.

Hubby & I have tried fighting MX on our own ( with help of a solicitor ), trouble is we just do not have the finances to continue, & MX were using stalling tactics, denying conversations & basically lying through their teeth etc etc.

As we all know, they have in house solicitors (we had been dealing with a Mr Paul Jorden MX's group solicitor) & they have the time & money to just wait until we roll over & play dead.

It really does feel as though they are trying to bankrupt us.

Anyway as I said it would be great to know how you got on, hope it went well.

Best wishes

Mungos mum

xxx

[mungos mum]

Sorry meant to say (hope you don't mind me asking) do you have residential mortgage or buy to lets?

Our fight & the other people we know all have buy to let mortgages

xxx

[Joe Strummer]

I am trying to deal with these muppets, we are trying to sell and have mortgage with MExpress, was originally told yes you can port and keep mortgage with us. I am selling up paying off £100K of mortgage and clearing all debt to tune of £60K so in all reducing liability by £160K and putting down deposit of about £40K on new home. MExpress now don't know if they can underwrite......

 

I explained look if you allow me to port mortgage to smaller house I no longer have to service other debt as all paid off ( have satisfied £6.4K off ccjs's this year ), will reduce monthly mortgaage payment by £500 a month and as I now have a job as against being self employed when I got mortage I will be a lot better risk........long silence from the other end of phone....

 

I then get a call THE SAME DAY from a company doing a marketing exercise for Mortgage Express looking at ways MExpress can get there customers to reduce their mortgage........

 

Is there any central point we can escalate issues with these muppets?

[goldy36]

Communication has always been very poor. They have got much worse since being taken over the government.

[dannyboy1979]

I got the letter... I was delighted as I have been trying to sell my house as my income has dropped by 60% over the last 18mths. With this in mind I dropped the asking price of the property due to the offer by mortgage express.

I got an offer on the house in early june and accepted it would clear the mortgage and pay the estate agent and solicitor and i would walk out with no money but the weight of the mortgage payments would be off my mind.

I have next to nothing left to buy my children things after the mortgage is paid.

Anyway due to the current climate it has taken the purchasers a while to get the funding in place which they have now... The sale is due to complete in 2 weeks.

 

BUT:

 

Mortgage Express wont extend the redemption offer for me. I have offered to get proof the sale was agreed in early June.. I have offered to prove my change in income.. They are not intrested... While I understand it was a limited offer it seems only the rich have been able to take advantage of it..

 

To add insult to it all they will waive it if i can get a mortgage with another company if i am borrowing and extra £2000 or if i buy another house and get a mortgage with a new company...

 

The way i understand it is that the tax payer now owns mortgage express and the company no longer lends money. The aim is to settle the loan book and repay the taxpayers...

 

If I just hand the keys back and leave the house they will no get the full loan paid off, in auction they would probably loose an extra 30k and then they would chase me for the balance... Then i would go bankrupt... would this be better for the taxpayer????

 

So why wont the help me, I can clear the loan it seems so stupid to me that they will waive if i get a mortgage for an extra £2k with a new lender... which i cant due to my drop in income...

 

Its a disgrace

[Redfish]

Did you try writing to your MP Dannyboy, like you say it is in the taxpayer's interest, they have a moral obligation to demand an explanation from ME.

[plshelp!]

Mortgage express are ridiculous in their approach, I have been to court and have a suspeneded order, pay for six months then capitalise the arrears, should be the agreement.

 

Very concerned they will change the goal posts at that point as none of the capitalisation is mentioned in paperwork.

 

I have made a written complaint, as I phoned to make payment and it took 40 mins of arguing before they would accept that I was not in arrears with the agreement. They try to bully you into paying more. Shouting down phone etc. I have received a response saying they have training issues.

 

I also have a buy to let with mx, not sure if I should be posting here but have a court date end of this month. I have queried the amount owing, it included a £2000 arrangement from GMAC on 55k loan. They tried to avoid telling me this, maybe wishfull thinking but is this dodgy in anyway ????

[dehowletts]

Hi Deh's

How did you get on in court today?

We'd be really interested to know as a few of us are just about to start fighting MX again, this time using a QC barrister.

Hubby & I have tried fighting MX on our own ( with help of a solicitor ), trouble is we just do not have the finances to continue, & MX were using stalling tactics, denying conversations & basically lying through their teeth etc etc.

As we all know, they have in house solicitors (we had been dealing with a Mr Paul Jorden MX's group solicitor) & they have the time & money to just wait until we roll over & play dead.

It really does feel as though they are trying to bankrupt us.

Anyway as I said it would be great to know how you got on, hope it went well.

Best wishes

Mungos mum

xxx

 

Hi MM

 

Thanks for your input & support

 

Sorry for the late reply but been in hospital (urghhh) still sorting through stuff with them now although I have had a random refund from them!!? (but still no SAR so no clearer really) This co-insides with the 3rd complaint gone into FOS about them though........

 

this does make me even more suspicious that they've boo-boo'd somewhere (polite term for what I really wanna say!) but as I'm still driving with my eyes closed wiv 'em still......

 

DeH's x

[dehowletts]

Sorry meant to say (hope you don't mind me asking) do you have residential mortgage or buy to lets?

Our fight & the other people we know all have buy to let mortgages

xxx

 

 

I have a residential mortgage with them sold to them by GMAC (they didn't even consult me I just a letter in the post to say my MC had changed)

[dehowletts]

Mortgage express are ridiculous in their approach, I have been to court and have a suspeneded order, pay for six months then capitalise the arrears, should be the agreement.

 

Very concerned they will change the goal posts at that point as none of the capitalisation is mentioned in paperwork.

 

I have made a written complaint, as I phoned to make payment and it took 40 mins of arguing before they would accept that I was not in arrears with the agreement. They try to bully you into paying more. Shouting down phone etc. I have received a response saying they have training issues.

 

I also have a buy to let with mx, not sure if I should be posting here but have a court date end of this month. I have queried the amount owing, it included a £2000 arrangement from GMAC on 55k loan. this worries me cos my mortgage was sold too & i still hven't reveived the documentation telling me what's what....They tried to avoid telling me this, maybe wishfull thinking but is this dodgy in anyway ????

 

Thanks for your input!

 

Peeps I really think we need to collate all our experiences and DO something because it's ridiculous in the extreme.....

 

What really naff's me off is that MC's generally and MEx especially seem to bank on the fact that their customers don't talk to each other.... (it's not like your bank account where at least 1 other person you know uses the same company etc...)

 

They make you question your own logic and sanity!!

[dehowletts]

I am trying to deal with these muppets, we are trying to sell and have mortgage with MExpress, was originally told yes you can port and keep mortgage with us. I am selling up paying off £100K of mortgage and clearing all debt to tune of £60K so in all reducing liability by £160K and putting down deposit of about £40K on new home. MExpress now don't know if they can underwrite......

 

I explained look if you allow me to port mortgage to smaller house I no longer have to service other debt as all paid off ( have satisfied £6.4K off ccjs's this year ), will reduce monthly mortgaage payment by £500 a month and as I now have a job as against being self employed when I got mortage I will be a lot better risk........long silence from the other end of phone....

 

I then get a call THE SAME DAY from a company doing a marketing exercise for Mortgage Express looking at ways MExpress can get there customers to reduce their mortgage........

 

Is there any central point we can escalate issues with these muppets?

 

We are so on the same page here!!

 

Thanks for helping me maintain sanity J!!

[plshelp!]

Thanks for reply, got lots more on MC's in general, mostly sub prime lenders. Totally agree with what is being said. Dont like the fact, but it is good to find others who have been or having same probs.

 

Lenders of all types from well respected banks to the loan sharks all seem to have about the same morals in my book, no personal experience but if loan sharks use physical, banks use mental, its all bullying.

 

I am having the issues with Mx, another one at moment is Platform, looking to find info on LPA enforcement have searched but struggling to find any posts.

 

New to this, so if anyone can help be much appreciated.

[dehowletts]

T

 

I am having the issues with Mx, another one at moment is Platform are they known by any other name or do they have a parent co? , looking to find info on LPA what does this stand for please (sos if i'm being dull!) enforcement have searched but struggling to find any posts.

 

New to this, so if anyone can help be much appreciated.

 

You'll defo get help that much i know so just hang in there! (soooooooo nice 2 know you're n ot alone though eh??)

 

DeH's

[mungos mum]

Hiya plshelp

 

just a quick reply for now to reasure you that you are not alone & you have not lost your sanity (yet) but MX are probably working on that one!

 

There is very very little info out there regarding the slugs that call themselves LPA receivers, we have been told by our solicitor that LPA's seem to be one step ahead of the game constantly and as they are all run by either solicitors or surveyors they know how far they can push. Someone we know was told by a receiver (Mr Jorden of Jorden Salata LPA) who is also a solicitor, that if he thought that his company or MX were likely to be taken to court by the borrower for mal practice, his company would drop that particular clients properties like a hot potatoe & hand them back to MX to manage. This has yet to be put to the test.

 

The only time we can see that LPA's have had their knuckles rapped by a judge was a case several years ago when a farm was taken to be managed by a receiver and despite being told by the owner that one particular brand of food was financially the most viable, the receiver decided to purchase the most expensive animal feed thus causing the farmer to amass even greater debt. I cannot recall the full outcome but as far as I can recall the receiver had to 'back down'.

 

If there are any receivers out there who are reading these sites it could prove to be very helpful to us mere mortals to have some input from your side.

 

I will try to dig out any more info we have found on LPA's and then post again soon.

 

Keep your chin up!

Mungos mum

[pigland]

Hi all, Without Prejudice

 

Yes we're all sane! We are just all becoming angry with banks preying on individuals going through hardships and penalising this hardship with more charges. I think we are beginning to realise that the government owned banks are now the worst offenders. I'm glad to see some of us are now fighting this situation!

 

ME is part of Bradford and Bingley which is Government owned.

 

I'm sure when we all took out our buy-to-let mortgages on our properties we did so on the basis that we would always be happy to pay back what we owe, at the agreed rate, as quickly as we could reasonably afford. However circumstances have lead some of us into arrears. The credit crunch has had an effect on us all. New legislation is affecting our income, tenant job losses affect the rental stream, we are having our businesses closed and some of us are losing our jobs. We all have to be flexible and quite rightly look at the government and the banks to be flexible also. This in reality is not the case: As buy-to-let landlords if our tenants can't pay and we temporarily can't make the mortgage payments up within 2 months, lenders like ME 'On our behalf' instruct LPA receivers to collect the rent. We are then charged a fee of £1000.00 for a service we neither want or need. This charge is the same even if we are in arrears of only £250.00. We are also charged an admin fee! Not only is this £1000.00 disproportionate but it appears we are being charged this for the total mismanagement of our properties. A member of ME's staff told me today that they pay this £1000.00 to the appointed LPA receivers.

 

It appears senior ex members of staff of ME are Directors of certain LPA receivers that they have instructed! These individuals also carry out other roles in advising the mortgage industry.

 

Through my own experience and through reading others peoples experiences, it is evident that many properties that have had these LPA receivers attached are going further into arrears. This is either through lack of activity by the receivers in finding tenants, or by existing tenants being frightened away. The arrears then mount and the property is then repossessed. The mortgage is then repaid and the Government get their money back! I can see this pattern now happening with some of my properties. I have been told by Mortgage Express that the properties that are now empty I cannot put new tenants in. I have not appointed and LPA receiver, they have! If I contact and acknowledge the LPA receiver I am charged even more!

 

Many of us spookily feel this is malpractice and is wrong. In order to confront this situation the following information would help;

 

ME are instructing Templetons, does anybody have experience of

Templetons?

Does anyone have any experience of Walker Singleton?

Which other LPA receivers are being instructed?

Are the LPA Receivers instructing Managing Agents?

Who are the Managing Agents?

Have these LPA receivers/Managing Agents found new tenants?

 

In addition, does anyone remember when having signed their mortgage deed the part where it says the mortgage company can appoint LPA receivers?

 

If so where was this signed?

 

Please share your experiences. If you wish for discretion, I'm happy for you to private message me.

 

Kind regards,

 

Pigland

Edited August 13, 2009 by pigland

[Joe Strummer]

Thanks for helping me maintain sanity J!!

 

Well if you know how to make any inroads I'd be pleased to compare notes. They have now sent me the application form and I will complete on the basis of what we hope to buy. If worst comes to worst i will sell and rent and then start afresh. It just strikes me as barking mad that there is no-one at MExpress saying "look these people here ( ie arrears possible repos etc ) have one problem that requires a different answer to people like me ( had a problem BUT can extricate myself from it with a little clear thinking from MExpress ).

 

To be clear I am not having a go at anyone with mortgage problems God with my CCJ's and everything I know what you are going through......

[tommy11]

Hi there

 

I have been reading all the posts regarding mortgage Express!!!

I too have had 22 properties taken over by LPA's (Jorden & Salata). They are currently being run by the very incompetent Connell's, Sequence and W H Brown, who between all four of them are running them into the ground after they have scarred the tenants away.

Am I taking this!! no I am not. Every day I am calling them getting them to check who has paid and who hasn't making sure monies are paid to the bank and how much. I have got to them that much half of them won't talk to me anymore.

I have recently had a meeting with the main boss at B&B every issue I had was voiced and believe me there were plenty. Met up with Mr Salata in London did the same with him, told him told them all I will not give up. As long as they are sending letters every month saying that I still owe them £2.5m plus I will fight. These LPA'S are not only incompetent but the managing agents are worse, they have been telling my tenants that I don't own the properties anymore and that I am bankrupt. I am playing these people off against the bank to show that this way does not work, since they took over they have lost the bank £31,000 this would have cleared half of my arrears and more. Everyday I get information and call the bank I am out to make these people look stupid, cos that is what they are, Some tenants have decided not to pay them either which is how I got into this mess, but th difference is after 2 months arrears they took them off me. But after they hav'nt paid for 6 months they are still getting reminder letters, not evicting them. They call this going through the right channels. I have paid the arrears on 1 house and I am now in talks with the bank to get this back. I will let you know how I get on. I will never give up fighting and they now know

[pigland]

Wow Tommy!

 

I do feel it would be an idea if yourself, Nuke em, Mungos mum etc all meet up and decide a plan of action. If any of you feel this is appropriate please Private Message me.

 

Kind regards,

 

Pigland

[plshelp!]

Hi Mungos Mum,

 

Sorry for delay, thanks for the response. The company in question were threatening repossession in previous correspondence. We had negotiated a repayment plan of £1000 per month but they did not like the fact we had also agreed payments to unsecured creditors. They asked for information that was impossible to obtain.

 

In the background they were being merged with the co-operative, the same day we had a letter explaining there would be no change to the way they managed our account, we also had a letter giving us 7 days to clear arrears or LPA will be instructed. We contacted them immediately but to be told it was not negotiable. Either pay over 3 months which equates to nearly £2500 per month or they change locks that simple.

 

This agreement is being forced onto us, even though they have an income and expenditure showing it is not possible. I am amazed that the Co- operative are putting their names to this action.

 

Mx and their solicitors both seem concerned with the 2k arrangement fee. To the point that the solicitor has sent me a statement without an opening balance.

 

I am trying very hard to keep chin up but as I resolve one issue another seems to follow each time the bar is being raised. Thanks for the info and support people !