Mortgage not covered by CCA?

[T_A_B]

Hi Everyone.

 

 

I've been following the threads about having a default notice remove by virtue of the fact that an invalid notice was served or that no notice was served.

 

I need to briefly explain the history of the situation,

 

I purchase a RTB flat in Leeds, Yorkshire through Regency Brokers who placed the mortgage with Preferred.

 

The company I was working for went bust and I moved to London to take up a position there.

I informed my mortgage company and my bank etc of the change of address and received confirmation from both.

 

As you can image I had a lot going on at the time as I had to move to the other end of the country and only had a 2 weeks to do organise everything.

 

My mortgage DD was cancelled at the bank, either I cancelled it when i was cancelling my other DD mandates during the move or the bank cancelled it. Either way it was an honest mistake.

 

A few months later I noticed the error and contact my mortgage company and was told that due to the arrears they had passed this my account to their legal team and that I had a court date set. I was unable to attend this as it was in Leeds and I had work (at the time I was naive and didn't pursue this).

 

The mortgage company confirmed over the telephone that they had sent me several letters and that they had send them to the property address NOT the correspondence address. Obviously I didn't receive them as by this point I was living several hundred miles away and I only had a mail redirect for a month.

 

An agreement was made with the mortgage company prior to my court date, I cleared my arrears and my account has been in good standing ever since. (In fact I settled the arrears early due to an unexpected bonus).

 

Seeking to re-mortgage and buy a new house with my fiance I discovered that a default had been registered against my account and that I was unable to obtain a mortgage.

 

I sought to have this removed as I felt I had not been given any opportunity to resolve the arrears prior to the default being registered.

 

After several letters back and forth to Capstone the latest letter states.

 

"Please note that your mortgage account is not regulated by the Consumer Credit act 1974 (CCA). This is confirmed in the Mortgage Information & Loan Tems and Conditions provided to you prior to completion of the mortgage. A further copy is enclosed with the relevant section highlighted. We have no obligation to provide you with a copy of any default notice as requested under the CCA."

 

There is an attached "mortgage information" booklet with the following highlighted.

 

"Who regulates us?

We are authorised and regulated by the Fincancial Services Authority regarding Regulated Mortgage Contracts (RMC). Authorisattion Number 304343. Full details of our permitted business activities are held on the FSA register at http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register or telephone 0845 606 1234.

 

A Regulated Mortgage Contract (RMC) covers residential property only in the UK, where the property is used as security by way of a first legal mortgage (not any 2nd or subsequent legal charges) and the property is used as the main dwelling (at least 40%) by the borrower(s) or close family relative(s).

PLEASE NOTE: Most Buy to Let mortgages are note Regulated Mortgage Contracts and will not be regulated by the Financial Services Authority. You should note that the mortgage will not be regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 "

 

The underlined elements are highlight in the copy they sent me.

 

I believe that a notice was never served. I also believe that they did not write to me to advise me of the missed payments. They have failed to provide me with copies of the letters despite written requests and their reply to my second letter was over a hundred pages of prior correspondence + a letter to someone else that they included by mistake. But no default notice and no letters advising legal action was being pursued and no letters regarding arrears.

 

I have subsequently moved 3 times and each time they have failed to complete my written change of address on the first request. Luckily i have learnt my lesson and now set-up a 3 month redirect of all post.

 

Are mortgage companies allowed to "opt out" of the CCA regulations like this?

 

Do I have any chance of having the default removed?

 

Any advice greatly appreciated.

[littledotty27]

Hi TAB

 

The best thing to do is send Capstone a Subject Access Request,which will prove what information has been sent to you.

They are not the best people for corresponding, as you are probably aware with reading the other threads on here.

 

As for not being regulated by the CCA act,this is something we are all struggling to get our head around.

Maybe someone else will be along shortly to help you out.

Good luck

[T_A_B]

That is what resulted in the 100+ pages of prior correspondence...

 

The problem really comes down to the CCA regulation or not. If they are NOT regulated then it would seem they have no obligation outside of the terms of the contract that i signed. I'm guessing my only option then would be to pursue "unfair contract terms" but that could prove difficult.

 

One point of note. They do say "Preferred do have an obligation to report accurate information to the credit reference agency." an obligation imposed by whom? Perhaps something to look into further if the CCA regulation proves to be correct.

[cagger80]

1st Charge Mortgages

 

If the mortgage was provided before 31st October 2004 it is unregulated.

 

If the mortgage was provided after 31st October 2004 it is regulated by the FSA.

[T_A_B]

Thanks Cagger,

 

I've been in touch with the FSA today and they have advised taking the matter to the ombudsman as, in any event, they too require that a default notice be correctly served prior to applying a default record with the credit reference agencies.

 

A very helpfull chap at the FOS is sending me a complaints pack and suggested that he has seen this sort of thing before and its likely they will remove the default.

 

We shall see.

 

Thanks for all your help everyone.

 

T_A_B