Down & Out Vs Kensington

[down&out]

Hi Guys,

Found this site today and hope it will be the answer to my problems.

I re-mortgaged with Kensington about 18 months ago and all was well until the fixed intrest rate term finished.

Since june 2006 my interest rate has gone from 6.80% to 8.40%!!!!!

I have fallen behind with my payments and have recieved a summons for repossesion.

I have put forward payment plans to clear my arrears, but these have been rejected as "inadequate".

I am due in court at the end of this month, and just wondered if anyone can advise me about what i can do??

[Bona]

How long will it take you to pay off the arreas and what is left on the Mortgage, The Judge has to allow adequate time.

Bona

[down&out]

Depends on how much i pay back each month.

If i pay 100.00 extra a month it will take 18 months.This is what i offered but they refused.

There is still 121,500 on the mortgage & the ERC of around 7000.00

Oh and im still getting the 50.00 a month arrears fee added!!!!

[Bona]

Is it an interest only or repayment mortgage

 

In My expereince the Judge would be happy with that as long as the arreas are going down you can explain thast they are putting on a 50 pound arreas fee No judge will take your house away if he thinks you can repay . there is case law or guidence that the arreas can be paid back over a reasonable time , he will grant them possesion then suspend it for you to pay the arreas over a fixed period as long as you do you will be allright you may well get two years . You need to go to court with a income and expenditure sheet which shows everything and that you can do what you say

Hope that helps when is the hearing

Bona

[down&out]

Ive changed from a repayment to an interest only so that the payments come down which will help me afford to clear the arrears.

Ive done the expenditure sheet and im right at the limit of what i can afford,and ive got a family to support!!

i hope i get a reasonable judge.

[Bona]

When is your hearing

[mrsfoot]

HI

 

Having read your thread with some interest, i just wanted to guide you in some small way.

 

1. Re possesion hearing. Take with you your offer and rejection letter. Explain to the Judge you have already applied for a repayment schedule and this has been refused, even though it will claer the arrears in 18 months. (Judges dont like time wasters so he wont be too impressed they have refused this)

2. Complete you income and expenditure with just basic money. DO NOT add in expected overtime as this can stop and you will be in a worse situation. Be realistic with your offer. If you can afford the £100 then dont be pressured into paying anymore.

3. Bring the £55 charges up. Explain to the Judge that you are willing to pay XX amount but half of this is going on admin fee....sues35 had a similar case with SPML and the Judge had SPML deduct the fees added and ordered no further charges to be added to the account whilst her arrears were being paid off. With sues35 her case was adjourned for SPML to justify the charge of £50 per month (i think) and this was not done so she went back on her next date, explained what SPML had given her (just anohter set of figures and a leaflet showing the charges set out) and so they were deducted. I think it was somethign like £700 in total from ehr arrears.

4. Be assertive. It is your house and the Judge wont be impressed if you turn up late, scruffy, not prepared and look like your not bothered. My sister kept her house even though it took her 5 years to pay arrears off all on the basis that she was prepared, assertive and had shown initiative.

 

Good luck

[Bona]

If they have rejected an offer that you have made and the Judge upheld it you can argue that thier not excepting it was unreasonable and if they had and the judge thinks is is reasonable you would not have inccured the costs they have to attend the hearing therefore you believe those costs to be unreasonable and you should not have to pay them

Bona

[down&out]

Thanks for all your advice,much appreciated.

I am going to the citizens advice on tuesday morning to see somebody to put my case together.

I will take all the letters and the expenditure forms and see what i can actually afford to pay off extra each month now,as its probably less that what i offered before.

I have a bit more peace of mind now,thanks again.I will keep you updated on how i go on on tuesday and what happens at the hearing on the 27th of this month.

[Sue_de_Nimm]

Try not to panic. Kensington took me to court THREE times & I won every time. Mrsfoot is 100% right, if you can pay towards the arrears there is NO way they will give possession to Kensington. Just take all your supporting paperwork & look like a respectable member of the public.

Having said that I ended up with a suspended possession order on my property, which was a nasty feeling so it might be worth trying to see if theres an argument against it on here somewhere.

Oh, & the Kensington lawyer will want to talk to you before the court case. They will be ever so friendly, & then will use what you tell them to construct an argument against you. So appear to cooperate, & tell them you dont know how youre going to handle the arrears. When you get into court & they start going for you on that basis look perplexed & say 'Thats not the case at all! Here is my proposal in writing, & supporting evidence' - hand to judge & watch their lawyer get REALLY p*ssed off.

If you dont feel up to such tricks then tell them NOTHING & I mean NOTHING.

[down&out]

Thanks sue,

well up for using them tactics,anything to get one over on them.

I went for financial advice today and we are going for having the arrears spread out over the term of the mortgage as my fiances are really tight and thats all i can afford.

In my defence form we have stated the high interest rate rises that keep being added in spite of the fact i had arrears,and also questioned the arrears fee returned direct debit fee that are added each month.

We will see what the judge says about these.

[down&out]

Just been looking through my paperwork and think they are overcharging me!!

Just found my original quote to go to interest only and they quoted me a figure 130.00 less than what i am paying now.That was in october!!!

The interest rate has only gone up 0.25% since that quote.

Does this make sense or are they pulling a fast one because i havent been on the ball??

[Bona]

You will pay more interest as the arreas will be added to the capital and also any cost they might have put on ask them for a breakdowm

Bona

[down&out]

Thanks Bona,will do.

[down&out]

Went to court today for my hearing.

The solicitor representing Kensington approached me before the hearing and asked me what i was going to do,and what proposal i was going to offer.

I told her that she would find out soon enough,as i had aready made an offer that was rejected,i thought the element of suprise was best.

Got a suspened reposession order against kensington who wanted an immediate reposession.

On top of that i am only paying 20 pounds a month back to pay off my arrears of 2800.00.

The look on the solicitors face was priceless,and it got better as the judge also denied leave for appeal against his decision.

He was well aware of Kensington and was sympathetic to my case,but warned me to be careful as this lot fight dirty,and wished me the best of luck as i will need it.

Unfortunatley,he didnt do anything about the 50 pound arrears fee each month.So in effect im paying 20 pounds off but getting 50 pounds added.

Can anybody advise on this,can i get these arrears charges stopped??

[Bona]

In my experience what they will do is wait for some months then write and tell you that your arreas are getting higher and if you dont pay then they will take you back to court the best bet is pay 50 pounds extra if you can not 20 a month that way the arreas wont go up also if they put on other charges try to pay those as well then if you get into further trouble you can say you paid over what was ordered as you were determined not to let the amount go up any more. it may be that in a few months or a year you can afford a bit more or pay a small lump sum of or even get the 50 pounds back when some one wins or the OFT say its wrong but at least you have your house and you can relax Im very glad for you

 

Bona

[Bona]

what happened over the costs

[zootscoot]

Hi Down & Out,

 

You need to get out of this mortgage if at all possible. There are lenders who will lend to those in arrears and even with a suspended possession order and on terms more favourable than Kensington.

 

Make sure you get a fixed rate as the variable rates offered in the sub-prime market, as you've experienced, are particularly harsh and aggressive.

 

I pressume you are still within the tie in period and would occur an ERC if you were to end now. So that is also something you would need to take into account if moving mortgage but the benefit of lower monthly charges and being free from the suspended possession order may well outweigh the burden of the ERC.

 

If you stay with Kensington, the combined effect of the arrears charges and interest rates are likely to cripple you and you may well end up losing everything. The best thing would be to get out even if it means paying the ERC. Hopefully in the future the position regarding claiming back ERCs will be more secure.

 

It may be possible to get an injunction to prevent the levying of unlawful charges although this is discretionary and at present unchartered territory.

 

If you are brave enough to tackle your current lender at this point you may be able to reclaim the charges that have been added and could perhaps seek an injunction to prevent future charges. Unfortunately there is nothing you can do regarding the interest rate.

 

If you are going to tackle these charges do be aware that Kensington do have a legal indemnity clause which they have been using to claim their costs in defending claims from the borrower. So you could end up paying more than you are actually claiming.

 

Best wishes

 

Zoot

[down&out]

Thanks for all the advice guys.Although i got a favorable decision i still feel trapped by these cowboys.

Phoned them today and guess what?? Yep interest rate gone up again,day after they got the ruling.I asked how they could keep putting it up and i was informed that it went up when Bank Of England increased theirs!!

We all know that they put them up whenever they want and this is a prime example.

Not sure about the costs Bona,will find out though.

Really want to do something to get back at these legalised loan sharks, because its unfair how they take advantage of people in an already vunrable position.

Going to have to cancel my broadband to save money so might not be on here for a while but please keep sending advice as i will try to access this site at work.

Thanks again.

[down&out]

Hi Zoot

how do i go about getting an injunction about these charges??

[rubber duck]

Thanks for all the advice guys.Although i got a favorable decision i still feel trapped by these cowboys.

Phoned them today and guess what?? Yep interest rate gone up again,day after they got the ruling.I asked how they could keep putting it up and i was informed that it went up when Bank Of England increased theirs!!

We all know that they put them up whenever they want and this is a prime example.

Not sure about the costs Bona,will find out though.

Really want to do something to get back at these legalised loan sharks, because its unfair how they take advantage of people in an already vunrable position.

Going to have to cancel my broadband to save money so might not be on here for a while but please keep sending advice as i will try to access this site at work.

Thanks again.

 

Hi there..

first of all we all are aware what kind of an extortion racket these people are,but don`t despair...

keep writing to them in a polite way-as they say keep your friends close but enemies closer!-and try to appeal to their humane side-ok..i know they have none of that..but just for arguments sake!-and keep asking for these charges not to be added on in a nice way...keep chipping at the old block of granite..sometimes-and it is very rarely-they may conceed rather than keep getting letters to deal with every so often and may cross out a charge or two..it happened a couple of times to me but not very oftehn..as they say every little helps...inthemeantime,we are all trying to take them to court!

[insider1]

I read with interest about the comment about the BOE base rate.

However, it is likely to be the case that if your a KMC customer, you will be operating on a rate linked to the LIBOR rate. Which is the London Inter Bank Offered Rate.

This is the rate at which banks lend money to each other. KMC review this on a quarterly basis, and apply any increase/decrease accordingly.

[mrsfoot]

Hi Down and Out!

 

Well done on the suspended order. That was probably the ebst outcome for this situation. Now you need to get out of the contract.

 

I suggest you start contacting other mortgage providers and re mortgage like Zoots advised. Once you have a get out then you can consider claiming back the charges that they have added.

 

Also go to your local MP. Research on kensington and take it with you. Show him the paperwork and the evidence which shows the increase in rate for your mortgage. At the moment Kensington are not well liked with Government as they have evidence of bad buisness. This next section is from the Government, it might be a good idea to take it along t you MP and ask him for his views...

 

Kensington Mortgage Company

 

 

 

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with the relevant local trading standards offices concerning the activities of the Kensington Mortgage Company. [112783]

 

 

Dr. Howells: I have had no such discussions.

 

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry

 

(1) if he will order an inquiry into the lending practices of the Kensington Mortgage Company; [112782]

 

(2) if he will make it his policy to investigate the activities of non-status lenders in the mortgage lending sector. [112781]

 

 

 

Dr. Howells: Most non-status lenders hold consumer credit licences issued by the Director General of Fair Trading. The Director monitors the continuing fitness of licence holders. He also monitors lenders' and brokers' compliance with his guidelines on non-status lending.

 

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with the Council of Mortgage Lenders concerning the (a) commissions, (b) penalties and © other charges made by the Kensington Mortgage Company. [112779]

 

 

Dr. Howells: None. Mortgage Sector

 

 

 

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to protect vulnerable consumers from high levels of commission rates charged by non-status lenders in the mortgage sector. [112778]

 

 

Dr. Howells: The Office of Fair Trading published guidelines for lenders and brokers in the non-status market in 1997 include guidance on lenders commission structure and disclosure of brokerage and other fees payable by the borrower. The Director General of Fair

 

7 Mar 2000 : Column: 588W

Trading has indicated that lenders and brokers who do not comply with the guidelines risk licensing action under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

 

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what protection his Department provides to mortgagees in respect of the penal rates charged to consumers by mortgage lenders who fall behind in their payments. [112777]

 

 

Dr. Howells: If a mortgage loan is a regulated agreement under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, the lender cannot charge interest on arrears, when the borrower defaults, at a rate which exceeds the contractual rate of interest. The Act also contains provisions, not restricted to regulated agreements, which enable consumers to apply to the courts to have their credit bargains re-opened if they are extortionate. One of the factors the courts can take into account when considering whether a credit bargain is extortionate is prevailing interest rates at the time the agreement was made. Among other remedies, the court is able to alter the terms of the credit agreement or order the creditor to repay sums paid under the agreement to the borrower.

The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 provide that terms in standard form consumer contracts (other than terms about price or the subject matter of the contract) are not binding if they are unfair, and enable the Director General of Fair Trading and others to bring injunction proceedings before the courts.

 

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what guidance his Department gives to mortgage lenders on appropriate levels of charges to their customers. [112780]

 

Dr. Howells: None. However, the Director General of Fair Trading's guidelines for non-status lenders and brokers require charges on default to be reasonable and do no more than cover the lender's administrative costs. The Director General has also issued guidelines under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 which say that it is unacceptable for lenders to vary interest rates at will unless consumers can end the contract immediately and without penalty.

 

Ask you local MP to fight your case. Tell him you have proof of this lenders behaviour which supports Mr Sheermans argument.

 

Hope this helps, good luck

[down&out]

Thank you Mrsfoot,

I am in the process of selling the house,but still have an E.R.C of 6000 pounds to pay.

I spoke to Kensington today to see if we could negotiate this amount,as i am only selling the house due to their interest rates rises making me unable to meet the monthly payments.

I am not going to another lender for a cheaper rate so i asked for some lee way,but guess what? They wouldnt budge!!

The sale of the house is moving on so when i get sorted in my rented!! accomodation i will chase this up in earnest.The patr you quote ;The Director General has also issued guidelines under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 which say that it is unacceptable for lenders to vary interest rates at will unless consumers can end the contract immediately and without penalty stands out as something that could be followed up.

Thanks again fotr the info,will keep you updated.

[Bona]

Down and Out

We sold and are in rented am getting advice as to the erc I believe if there is a repossession order in force the erc is not valid when i get my advice i will Pm you with it if it helps me I think it may help you The papers go to the barrister on Friday Keep your fingers crossed

Bonaxxxx