Engage Credit SAR request ignored

[red11]

Hi All,

need some serious advice here with the mortgage.

 

Situation as we stand today:

Mortgage company named (A)

it was a 100% mortgage issued to me for a flat

– back in 2007

– back then I had no real financial constrains since I had a high income job.

 

part of 2008 and part of 2009

– I was let off my job due to the recession,

I nearly spent a year making reduced payments to the mortgage company until I could secure a better job.

 

I have found a slightly better job so I increased the amount I was paying but I’m not still paying the full amount since I can’t afford it, it would mean detracting away from the basic needs of utilities, travel to work and so forth.

 

the mortgage company has been adding the arrears separately from the mortgage which now total a substantial amount,

now with the situation as it is the property is in neg equity as well, so even a sale of it would not get me out of the situation since I got the flat valued and it came at 20k short of what I needed to break even (assuming that is that you find the person that will pay the value of the evaluation)

 

Advice pls ;

How on earth do I turn this ship around?

I have gone down the re-mortgage route but no bank will touch me thanks to my mortgage company that have added a flurry of defaults to my credit file since I had my difficulties and continue to do so every month until I start to pay the full amount of the mortgage account is considered in arrears.

 

I feel as if I’m in a box here with no way out – the more I talk to the mortgage people the more they don’t listen.

 

the current deal I have with them for the fixed term interest only expires in august 2011,

I had serious running’s with the mortgage provider

– as they have been not helpful at all,

 

I had raised complains with the relevant institutions that are supposed to offer us advice on how to take on these people and try to keep you home,

but so far its been really tough since they keep sending me letters with regards to the arrears and also they keep charging me for 50 to 100 pounds for administration costs ( this to sent a sodding letter!!)

 

I’m at my wits end here stressed by this,

trying to keep the current job as you can appreciate with the current climate, we can’t take the job for granted.

 

If anyone can assist or offer any advice here it would be much appreciated.

 

ps one last point if i am forced to sale the property

- and left with the short fall i'm i responsible for that?

 

since i was told by the mortgage company that they would move for a bankrupcy order if any short falls are not taken care of.

in essence its like adding the cherry onto of the cake!!

Edited January 14, 2010 by red11

[frettful38]

Good Morning red11, sorry to hear of your troubles. There is a mortgage expert on here and her name is Ell-enn, I am sure she will be able to give you some good advice as to what to do next aswell as many others on here.

 

Hopefully someone will be along soon to help you, sorry I cannot be of much help, but wish you the best of luck.

[red11]

Any help pls - thoughts..

 

Thank you frettful38, i sure hope that they see my plight here and offer some much needed advice or help.

[ZillaK]

..the bankruptcy issue is intended to be a threat to scare you.. if you do not have any other assets then it would be to their loss if there is a shortfall.. do you have children?.. you said 'we' - so single/married etc?

 

ZillaK

[red11]

Hi Zillak, the "we" was a typo, its just me.. myself & I, to quote a song..

 

no kids, no other assets,

 

thanks

[frettful38]

Good luck, I hope all works out well for you.

 

Thanks

[ZillaK]

ok.. have you been communicating with the lender by phone only, or also sending in letters?

 

..always best to go down the letter route and, by all means, talk to them if they call but keep it to niceties only as much as possible..

 

..it's difficult to provide a definitive approach to dealing with such problems and I've felt it best to explore negotiations/arrangements with them in writing, whilst also making the usual complaints re: penalty charges/admin charges etc.. a polite request for them to stop applying these charges so as not to unnecessarily increase your indebtedness can sometimes have an effect..

 

..have you tried contacting Shelter?

 

..when writing to your lender it can also help to explain a little about the local property market being considerably depressed in terms of actual sale price realised for primary residential areas and that the situation for secondary area properties in need of refurbishment is much worse.. given that you're already in a position of negative equity, a substantial shortfall would result in your bankruptcy as you have no other assets.. could any of this apply to your situation perhaps?

 

..but get in there with some kind of suitable (ie affordable for you and leaving enough cash for your other priorities & a bit left over) offer/arrangement in writing.. they must reply in 10 business days either accepting your proposals or explaining why they won't.. keep repeating this process as politely as possible.. if they keep stonewalling you, then continually state a counter to that in the form of something like I am doing my best to come to a mutually suitable arrangement and can you please advise as to an arrangement that would satisfy them given current circumstances..

 

..definitely wait and see what other Caggers on here think too before doing anything though!!

 

..I don't intend to alarm or make you feel worse, but I fear that if you don't resolve this before the end of the fixed rate period then you are likely to face a very sharp increase in interest rate too..

 

..do you have any other options available such as renting your property out in order to meet the repayments?

 

ZillaK

Edited January 15, 2010 by ZillaK
correction..

[red11]

thank you for the advice offered so far.. lets see what other caggers have to offer in terms of advice.

Also Zillak i did look into renting the property but you see the rent would not as much as i need to pay these sods.. i suppose i could rent it out and add ontop, but that would present me with a second issue..where do i live? Meaning renting which really defeats the purpose since a cheap rent here in London.. for a very basic place u are looking at 600 per month without the bills..

 

what is really a travesty here, is that the mortgage company has little to gain from all of this as well as me, its surely worth it having at list someone that is paying a very good part of the Mortgage. Instead they are keen to destroy me, with a repossession, which ok fine they are entitled to do so, but i had the flat valued and if they find a buyer ad the valuation price of the estate agent, it will not be enough to cover it the short falls - what does that achieve?? i mean good grief we've been and possibly still are in the grip of the worse recession seen in by mankind here, and instead of working with us jo bloggs in keeping us in our homes, they are hell-bent in ruining a person

 

I could see their view if i was just saying look, i'm not going to pay anything so tough.. but i'm physically doing all i can, and i see no compassion no understanding no grasp of the gravity of the situation.

that leaves me with a bitter taste in the mouth.

[ZillaK]

..actually, they can still gain by the time you consider mortgage indemnity insurance, offsetting losses against tax as well as possible sneaky accounting, bleeding you dry and selling off your organs, selling the debt on etc etc..

 

..recessions are very profitable indeed unfortunately.. boom and bust by design..

 

..hopefully there's some helpful suggestions from other posters later..

 

ZillaK

Edited January 14, 2010 by ZillaK
making addition..

[red11]

Any more thoughts ideas - help at all...

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, it must be a very worrying situation for you to be in and frustrating that the lender won't come to some arrangement. What interest rate are you on at the moment? what does it say in your agreement regarding the interest rate that will apply at the end of the fixed rate? you might find (as I did) that your monthly payment will reduce in line with the lower interest rates.

 

Another thing to consider if you have a spare room - what about taking a lodger? is there a work colleague, friend or family member who might want to share.

[red11]

many thanks for your reply on my Thread here,

ok well - the current interest is 4.3% considering that its interest only, the mistake on my part was to take out a 100% deal with them since i thought at the time i'm making enough money stick with it then change the mortgage provider at the end of the fixed interest only term. once this expires in August 2011, i will come down to a fixed 4% but that includes capital payments as well. As for a lodger - indeed but its a one bed property. I'm not sure if anyone has pasted experiences here but the company in question is Future Mortgages, a child of Citi group, my previous employer.

 

Sorry I forgot to add that in my latest communications with the Mortgage Company,

they have had the cheek to say that I’m not a client any longer and I should liaise with their legal department.

 

This solicitor is based in the north east of England as are the offices of the mortgage company.

Now I have written to this solicitor and provided the facts as they where put forward to their client.

I have raised complains all over the place

– the Office of fair trading

– FOB – and every other organization that I could possibly think of to try to highlight the plight here.

Edited January 15, 2010 by red11

[GuidoT]

If you have made the decision that you cannot afford it, then it is best you stay in control and sell the property yourself.

 

Once the banks repossess, they are in control and I would be concerned that they will sell it below market value and then add administration costs.

 

Unfortunately you are responsible for the shortfall either way, but it should be a lesser shortfall if you sell it. As an aside in the US you are not liable for the shortfall, maybe we will go that way, like we seem to with everything else.

 

Do not expect compassion or understanding from you lender, they have procedures to follow when you default and you are just a number to them.

Edited January 15, 2010 by GuidoT

[red11]

Understood where you are coming from here GuidoT, but there is such a thing as code of conduct – I mean what about all the rubbish the government gave as instructions to mortgage and finance companies to engage with their clients to find resolutions or alternatives to keep people in their homes?

 

if they employ such views of “pull the ladder up and sod the rest jack” I’m sorry but that is not the way to go. Not trying to be moralistic here just fighting to keep a roof over my head here.

[GuidoT]

I think you have hit the nail on the head when you say it is rubbish.

 

The government say one thing and the banks do as they please, in particular the ones they own (but cannot control).

 

I am sorry I am so cynical, you should try and reason with them, you have absolutely nothing to lose, if that fails at least it should buy you some time and you never know what is round the corner that may assist you.

[Ell-enn]

I think you should write to Future (copy the solicitors) by recorded delivery enclosing a budget sheet and referring them to the Civil Justice Council Mortgage Arrears Protocols which the government published last year. If you need help with the content of the letter, let me know and I'll draft one for you.

 

Ell

[Laywoman]

Understood where you are coming from here GuidoT, but there is such a thing as code of conduct – I mean what about all the rubbish the government gave as instructions to mortgage and finance companies to engage with their clients to find resolutions or alternatives to keep people in their homes?

 

if they employ such views of “pull the ladder up and sod the rest jack” I’m sorry but that is not the way to go. Not trying to be moralistic here just fighting to keep a roof over my head here.

 

Its difficult when you cant afford the repayments but sadly, sometimes the economics are against you.

 

It may be worth asking Futures to follow the principles of the Homeowners Support Scheme which encourages lenders to accept payments at less than the interest only rate for a temporary period:

 

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/1205889.pdf

 

Do you have other (unsecured) debts which you can negotiate on to free up more cash for this most important debt?

[moneytootighttomention]

If I were you and really wanted to keep my home, here's what I would do. I would get sacked and start claiming benefits. If you are unemployed you can get the mortgage interest paid after 13 weeks.

[Laywoman]

Getting sacked could mean benefits are suspended for six months.

 

 

Mortgage interest may not cover the monthly payments (the rate is due to go down in June) and another 3 months of arrears wont help the bigger picture.

[red11]

Its difficult when you cant afford the repayments but sadly, sometimes the economics are against you.

 

It may be worth asking Futures to follow the principles of the Homeowners Support Scheme which encourages lenders to accept payments at less than the interest only rate for a temporary period:

 

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/1205889.pdf

 

Do you have other (unsecured) debts which you can negotiate on to free up more cash for this most important debt?

 

 

Hi thanks for the advice – I have no other debts I only have one credit card which I only use in emergency.

I essence I need these guys a Future mortgages to agree lower payments. But that is proving impossible since they literally have stopped listening!

[red11]

Future mortgages / has anyone had any dealings?

 

Ok here’s the deal:

Property bought for 156k 100% loan

Interest payment for 3 years till the end of 2011 with future mortgage of £900 x month

 

Loss of job – that put me in a very difficult position – arrear where building up took a lowered paid job and after a long-ish battle with the solicitor of Future mortgages agreed to take a reduced payment of £450 per month in the mean time I managed to get a slightly better job and raised that reduced payment to £600 per month. Now I raised again to £700 per month

 

 

Problems here – arrears + the fact that after the credit crunch the property value has dropped leaves me with figures that are looking like this

 

At the start - outlay

 

156k +

Arrears +

Cost of having a 100% mortgage

The grand total outstanding right now is

179k.

 

Questions are my paltry £700 a month are not eve touching the sides they as in the mortgage company are not listening since they prefer me talking to the solicitor.

 

The property is in neg equity valued by the estate agent at 140k max – this is a one bed flat.

With the job I have now I can’t raise the payments past the £700 mark and these sods have been adding £50 pounds administration fees every month.

 

My fear is this – I need to know all I can on future mortgage – I need to stat challenging them and raise complains on how this all deal has evolved. They are clearly useless in helping their customers.

 

I fear that they are preparing a repo order against me since I have now been making reduced payments for 1 year and they have not engaged in talking with me at all,

 

The economy is still recovering but well paid jobs are still far and few in between in my sector which is banking. every job advertised is at list 25 to 30% lower in terms of salary because of the banking crisis.

 

So any advise is very welcome – I just need tangible steps to turn this ship around and gather control.

 

Many thanks for this site which is a gold mine.

[Killerschick]

Hi Red,

 

I would suggest starting with data subject access requests to both Future and the broker who placed your mortgage with them. This should get you full copies of both of their files which should arm you with information to find any problems.

 

You may uncover legal challenges such as a secret commission paid to the broker.

 

Alternatively there may be things you can raise with the FOS, such as poor advice from the broker in not pointing out the potential to end up in negative equity with a 100% mortgage, the broker selling an interest only mortgage with no investigation of how the mortgage would be repaid (these first two assume the sale was on an advised basis rather than execution only) or Future continuing to charge monthly arrears administration fees when you are making agreed payments.

 

Hope this helps as a starting point.

 

KC

[red11]

Hi all, need some urgent help regarding reposession - i've been sent a letter by the solicitor acting on behalf of future mortgages proceeedings have ben issued with CPR order 55.10

 

the short back ground is that the mortage is in arrears by 8k -now and i'm still paying the reduced ammount that was agreed back last year when i was in financial dire straights - the solicitor and future mortgages have not been that helpful.

 

bottom line is that i have now reached the end of the road here, they want to take the property the full monthly payment is 901 and i paid 700 right now also they are came out with a letter saying that my arrangement of lower payments had been suspended, back last june but it took them nearly 1 year to send me a letter to say to me that!

 

i need help to mount a defence and to keep my property the court date is the 23rd of June.

 

please help i'm really stressed about this i need advice how how to fight these people i don't want to lose my home.

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, are you still not in a position to pay the full monthly payment?

[red11]

Hi - yes i can pay the 901 from June onwords