Engage Credit SAR request ignored

[carpe73]

"Repossession really is a last resort. That's it."

I'm sorry Hypothecation, but that has got to be one of the worst, most unkind deceits ever perpertrated upon the general public by the financial & legal institutions.

 

There are so many, so many documented cases where reposession has NOT been sought as last resort. ~ far from it. Don't believe me ? Go and talk to the myriad of volunteer organisations that strive to prevent unnecessary reposessions - there are a great deal, each and every year. Why do you guys continue to peddle this such blatantly untrue propoganda ?

 

There is rarely any loss in monetary terms for lenders reposessing, especially where there is plenty of equity which they will be keen to eat into (and solicitors acting on behalf of the lenders). It's a real money spinner for both of them, which many on this forum are already experiencing. I doubt your words of reassurance in this regard are any match whatsoever for the actual actions lenders and their solicitors are already engaged upon.

 

Whenever I hear that phrase " reposession is a last resort" it reminds of the other propoganda dished out frequently, "lenders have a duty to ensure they get the best possible price for a reposessed property". Again, utter nonsense, for the pure & simple reason there is absolutely no penalty for any lender failing in that duty.

Ive exp hell with fm for the past 6 years been to court too many times and now ive rec solicitors fees bill of £16500.00 yes tht is the correct amount im hoping someone out there is going to help oint me in the right direction on where to go to chalenge this, this bill is for 6 years worth of work which they have jyust decided to bill me for the costs are unbelievable, phone calls letters courth app for them n telephone calls ive made to them as fm refused to speak to me this company is an absoulute joke how they manage

 

wht do we need to do im worried now of losingmy home i have 6 children and have really struggled to keep my home i work f/t and do my best to pay wht i can

[Blossomandebony]

Carpe73,

 

I guess they have been charging you the arrears fee of 50.00 a month along with many other charges that can be challenged?

 

In fact, would you reckon the charges amount to even more than the solicitor's bills you have been given?

 

If so you could go on the offensive and either complain to the FOS or take a claim to the small claims court. There are lots of people on here who will guide you in the right course.

 

BAE

[fred1362]

Carpe73,

 

I guess they have been charging you the arrears fee of 50.00 a month along with many other charges that can be challenged?

 

In fact, would you reckon the charges amount to even more than the solicitor's bills you have been given?

 

If so you could go on the offensive and either complain to the FOS or take a claim to the small claims court. There are lots of people on here who will guide you in the right course.

 

BAE

 

bae - can you explain the basis for being able to challenge the £50pm charge and how clarify whether a challenge is likely to succeed

 

fred

[fred1362]

I can guarantee you that I am not and nor have I ever been employed by Future Mortgages or Engage!

 

I'm just someone who has experience with this sort of transaction - that's all there is to it - and all of this information can be found if you look hard enough - Google shows you some things but there are other places such as Reuters, PA, etc.

 

I'd also say look at the principles involved more than the detail since these are the rules that lenders have to abide by.

 

H

 

I'm an experienced user of search engines and financial information but cannot establish a link between Deutchse Bank and ECL

 

Hypo - please reconcile the two by way of clear explanation or posting an attachment of you google findings

 

thanks

[BobTheCrate]

wht do we need to do im worried now of losingmy home i have 6 children and have really struggled to keep my home i work f/t and do my best to pay wht i can

 

Well first of all carpe73, name and shame the solicitors - who are these crooks (let's call a spade a spade shall we ?)

 

Secondly, insist they send you a BREAKDOWN of their charges - I doubt any court would find this an unreasonable request prior to any attempt at negotiation/settlement.

 

Thirdly, I'm not remotely qualified to advise you how you challenge these self centred, greedy individuals. Try a google search and also talk with the citizen's Advice Bureau, CCCS etc, etc. They will have some advice and should also be able to point you in the right direction for more focused advice.

 

Experience has demonstrated so many of these greedy organisations, feed off of apathy amongst the general population. Remember it was not YOU who instructed these solicitors, none of their excessive fees were to represent your interests. They were instructed by FM who maintain under the T&C are not liable for any such costs.

 

Therefore such an arrangement is WIDE OPEN to abuse and therefore is abused as a matter of routine. These instances NEED publicity. Talk with your local MP too, write to your local press AND national press. If enough people fight back rather than roll over, it's amazing what can be achieved.

 

Question : Why is it that a small number of dedicated, principled people can change the world for the better ?

 

Answer : Because it's the only thing that ever has.

Edited November 6, 2010 by BobTheCrate

[carpe73]

i was wondering if anyone has had a letter yet off engage

[Mortgage]

For the attention of Fred362....

 

Instead of asking somebody else to do your work, why do you not just get on the phone and ask Engage Credit Ltd who owns them???

[fred1362]

mortgage - already done my homework, good sir..............was just confirming whether your mate hypo knows what he's talking about or just making it up.

 

in any event, not sure of the purpose your note intends to serve.... apart from promoting the above publications

 

hypo - still eagerly waiting your response

 

fred

[Maggie Vaughan]

I have spoken to Engage today. The gentleman was very helpful. I explained our situation. Our rate drops quite substantially in Jan. I have some arrears to address but hopefully we will get there. I also spoke with Future last week and found them quite reassuring.

[Shelby0702]

I have this morning spoken to Engage and the lady was very very nice.

 

They are sending out the Welcome Letters in the next couple of days and this should explain a lot of things.

 

I have arrears that are set at an agreed rate by the courts and I have sent a letter asking for a review of these

and she explained that they will reply to my letter.

 

I usually make my payments via a solicitors but Engage have advised me that I should no longer be doing this

and that payments should be made directly to them.

 

The solicitors have chased me for payments though - naughty Irwin Mitchell!!!

 

Also the cheque that I paid FM with for the end of last month is not appearing anywhere as yet!

 

But the lady was very calm and not at all threating like in the past with Future and Irwin, perhaps this will be a breath of fresh air.

 

I am interested in the last post where Fred states that his payment is coming down.

 

Are they changing the way in which they work out your monthly payment?

[BobTheCrate]

Shelby0702,

As discussed earlier, the reduced payments are as a result of certain borrowers like myself coming to the end of a fixed rate period. Future Mortgages currently charge approx 2.89% above libor currently at 0.73% creating a charge rate of 3.62%. Engage have to mirror FMs rates.

 

Now if your current fixed rate is around the 7.5% to 7.9% and your fixed rate period finishes this December, from January you'll be on (or should be on) approximately half the previous monthly payments.

 

And so it all depends on 'when' you reach the end of your own fixed rate period - unless you're already on a tracker in which case you're already benefitting from the much reduced interest rate.

[Shelby0702]

Yeah I am already on a tracker mortgage. My payments are a whopping £505 a month! I think this is really high and I think I might challenge them to find out why it is this high cause I am sure when I started I was on a fixed rate of 4 or 5% and my payment was only £380 for the first 3 years. However, when I spoke to them today they do seem easier to deal with than Future so here is hoping the relationship might get a bit easier to manage! Fingers Cross

[overworkeduk]

I too had a letter from future, saying they were selling my mortgage

 

i too had to go to court after they tried to reposess after shooting my mortgage from £550 per month to £1200 after my fixed term.

Then refusung to remortgage.

 

Ive had Almost 10k of charges added to my account, yes 10k by them,

they wont allow me to pay them directly and only through shoosmiths who have just added 900 pounds to my account for the joy.

 

I did manage to get a sale on the house but it was 20k less than what the mortgage owed after all the charges and the downturn,

so they refused to let me sell, now im deeper as house prices lower.

Theres NO equity in my house anymore at all.

 

Do i have to pay througfh these soloicitors or is this just another was of charging me up.

Shall i throw the keys in or continue to struggle on,

Oh what to do.

 

I am looking at where to go for someone to look at all the charges added to try and reclaim them so i may get a chance to sell,

 

Has anyone ever been on the mortgage help scheme with them which they stopped after a few months?

 

That was a bit [problem] too, there was no help to sell just charges, they actually blocked the sales i got.

 

I would appreciate any news Maybe a multiple action would do the job regarding the charges??

[Shelby0702]

Oh dear this is not good. I think that the new company are perhaps going to be a little more helpful. Write to them and see what they say to helping you out, its got to be worth a try mate! Have you looked at your local authority helping you out, perhaps they would buy the house from you. Dont know what the rules are in your area on this one. I am not an expert or anything of the sort ... these people are just muggers without the tights on their heads!

[BobTheCrate]

overworkeduk,

 

Although it's past, I fail to see how FM could prevent you from selling when you had a sale. Yes it would have left a shortfall, but from what you say a substantial amount of that shortfall is made up of charges much of which can be disputed.

 

Now that your mortgage is being passed onto Engage Credit (or whoever - FM may be splitting their book between 2 or more different lenders) like myself, I'd have thought this is an opportunity to cut out the solicitors altogether.

 

Now I'm sure Shoosmiths won't be happy about this and will tell you differently, but you didn't instruct them, FM did. So if I were you I'd make the very next mortgage payment direct to Engage Credit (assuming it is them your morgtage was sold onto).

 

I think this is very, very important you pay the very first pay't to the new lender and NOT Shoosmiths. In doing so you are abiding by the terms FM set out in THEIR letter to you. That letter, albeit indirectly, is in effect terminating their instruction with Shoosmiths - at least it is most certainly a powerful legal argument against continuing to make payments to Shoosmiths. Additionally Engage Credit (or whoever) will be writing to us all as well, where no doubt they will be advising very similar things.

 

Now Shoosmiths may well seek a new eviction warrant or threaten to if you do not pay them. Personally I think this is blatant blackmail, but anyway it will be easy to defend that warrant in court because you can prove you are meeting your obligations. I shall post up more informed advice about all this toward the end of this month.

 

Being in a similar position to you, I'm already receiving salute advice that has served me well in recent times. And so I shall post up here more info toward the end of this month when I question continued payments through FMs solicitors. At the same time I'll see if I can get some good advice about how FM's solicitor charges can be challenged.

 

The fact you say FM blocked your sale (though how they could, I fail to see) is another legal argument used to attack the charges.

 

A common thread in all of these posts, are the self-serving charges being made by FM's numerous solicitors. Again, the borrower never instructed these solicitors and the solicitors are are not acting for the borrower. Therefore the charges which the borrowers are expected to pay are WIDE OPEN TO ABUSE and therefore are being abused as a matter of routine. Personally I think this is a matter which we should all report to our local MPs. Maybe then through MPs, a broader complaint can be submitted to the Law Society or Lord Chief Justice office. To my thinking these solicitors are not being held accountable for their charges and are attempting to make many £100,000s out of honest hard-working people who were merely struggling to meet their mortgage payments. The solicitors are making it more likely people will lose their homes, not less likely.

 

Daylight is a good cleanser, and the more these solicitor firms are named and shamed along with their disgraceful & shady practices, the better. They are worse than the worst loan sharks and people should read about them each and every day. They serve only to discredit the law.

[Shelby0702]

When I spoke to Engage yesterday they said that under so circumstances should I pay Irwin Mitchell (Solicitors), I am going to make all my payment directly to Engage from now on and cut out Irwin altogether as I have suspected from a long time that it is them who is using the strong arm tactics and NOT FM!! Who knows ... but cut out the solicitor altogether!!!

[AllyCorc]

We're in the same boat as many of you.

 

In arrears with our mortgage, struggling to pay the £950 per month via the solicitors to FM who dont always process the payment properly

and then get back in touch with us to say we haven't paid.

 

This resulted in us being taken to court and FM have added £700 to our mortgage account for solicitors fees.

 

Our fixedrate is currently 6.7% but ends in March.

 

We worked out that when we go onto the new rate of 3.62% (providing it doesnt change before then) we will be paying around £500 per month.

Is that right?

 

Hopefully if Engage stick to the agreement that will make a massive difference to us and we will be able to make some inroads into paying off our arrears

that we've accumulated over the last 2 nightmare years with FM!!!

Edited November 10, 2010 by AllyCorc
spelling mistake

[NIGEWILL]

Hi

After receiving a letter from Engage Credit I have finally after 2 weeks just spoken to 3 different people from there.

 

As they were cagey about the responses given to me regarding the questions I kept asking them,

I asked to speak to someone in authority, so

 

I finally spoke to a manager there who seemed to give slightly more answers!

All well rehearsed to deal with the bombardment of the questions from FM Customers!

 

He explained that they are a newly formed company only been going for 2 weeks

this is why nothing shows on search engines on the internet

(which explains why 2 weeks ago I could not get hold of them when Future Mortgages

said they were now dealing with my Mortgage and to wait for a letter from them),

 

They are a Glorified DEBT collector and anyone who has had up and down dealings with FM

and not kept to their agreement would have had their Mortgage passed to them.

 

After going to Court against FM in October where they had tried to get a judgement passed on the arrears they thought I owed.

 

After proving they had "lost" some of my payments (luckily I Kept all my receipts) FM figures were incorrect against mine

the Judge adjourned it as he told them to go back and get the correct figures!

 

So for all the Charges they gave me for their mistakes was a Joke!

 

Now all of a sudden they have fobbed me off to Engage Credit hence in the title to engage Credit!

 

They are technically not a Mortgage Company as they cannot do re-mortgages,

set payments or rates, sell mortgages or enter into discussion about the Mortgage terms,

so this means you do not have a mortgage company as this is now with a Debt recovery operator under a fancy name!

 

PS They said they were not part of any other Company as I did ask this and if they had nothing to hide

why would they not disclose they were part of another bank?????

[carpe73]

so if there not a mortgage company then how can they set our mortgage rates then,

this sounds like this is going to be a nightmare and we are not going to be any better off

just as i thought i could see the light at the end of the tunnel....

 

.I am sick of being harassed by fm for my mortgage payments over the pst 5 years

and nw with solicitors fees and everything else my £75,000 mortgage is now £105,000

is there any point anymore trying to save our houses from these greedy bastards!!!

[AllyCorc]

I have today received my letter from Engage Credit.

 

The letter confirms that our mortgage agreement is safe and there are no changes to the terms.

 

I can even set up a standing order to make the payment which will be easier than paying solicitors every month.

 

I disagree that they are debt collectors and can find no evidence of that at all.

 

I intend to continue to pay every month till my arrears are paid off and then when I'm sorted maybe look for a better deal.

 

We are hopeful that this company gives us a fresh start to sort things out. Maybe we're naive...time will tell.

[AllyCorc]

Further to my earlier post I have spoken to Engage Credit and they have confirmed that they ARE in fact a mortgage company.

 

They confirmed also that I can pay by standing order now and that their procedures are nothing like fm's.

 

The lady I spoke to was really nice and helpful and so I think that all this scaremongering about Engage should stop

and we should give them a chance.

 

In my opinion they cannot be any worse than FM!!!!!

[fred1362]

engage are owned by a company called oakwood based in the cayman islands. make no mistake,

 

they're not a mortgage company and are only interested in earning increased profits from available equity in the loans bought from engage

 

- see attached

10.11.05 Engage Credit offer to redeem mortgages.pdf

10.11.05 Engage Credit Hldgs Dec09 accounts.pdf

[blackkhorse]

Engage is only managing these mortgages on behalf of Oakwood.

 

They are just collecting debts on behalf of Oakwood and they are not interested in keeping our mortgages for 25years

but to disposs of these mortgages they got for a huge discount.

 

They aim to repossess as many of our houses as possible and sell them at a profit and then offer a settlement discount to those who hang on.

 

Thats what they do for a living.

 

They buy and sell mortgages.

[blackkhorse]

Someone mentioned it to me accidentally that these mortgages were actually bought by Oakwood. I phoned Oak and gave them my fm account number, they then told me to phone ENGAGE and they even gave me my new ENGAGE acc number

[fred1362]

Engage is only managing these mortgages on behalf of Oakwood. They are just collecting debts on behalf of Oakwood and they are not interested in keeping our mortgages for 25years but to disposs of these mortgages they got for a huge discount. They aim to repossess as many of our houses as possible and sell them at a profit and then offer a settlement discount to those who hang on. Thats what they do for a living. They buy and sell mortgages.

 

blackkhorse - you've got it one!!

 

attempted to allude to this last weekend but had to wait for engage to surface with their intro letter. we may need to mobilise group action and prepare a strategy if necessary down the road - see additional figures for the company itself for further evidence ("principal activities" in the directors report on page 1)

10.11.05 Engage Credit Dec09 accounts2.pdf