Nothing left to loose, is it worth going after GE?

[bricky]

:?

Hi all,

 

I am faced with a challenge, any and all advise is much appreciated.

 

 

GE took some friends of mine to court on 29/07/2005, at which time a possession order was granted against my friends in favor of GE Money. This order was not to be enforced so long as my friends paid GE the arrears on the account at that time in addition to the monthly installments.

 

Sadly my friends were unable to comply and within 3 months they fell behind again on both payments. GE holds the only charge on the property.

 

GE was on the phone daily and eventually my friends moved out of the house in 05/2006 as they were led to believe by GE that they were going to be repossessed at any moment. My friends put the property up for sale, found a buyer but the sale price was insufficient to clear the charge on the property and thus the sale fell through. Since then my friends have not heard much more about this till it came up in conversation with myself a few weeks ago. As neither of them are to sure how all this works, I spent the evening with them looking at the paperwork which they kept about the house and the next day I phoned GE to find out what is going on and I was promptly told that there were no new developments on file as it's the computer that has not decided to repossess the house yet...

I expressed my concern at the fact that the property is vacant and that interest and charges are still being added to the account but GE was having none of it. They can not tell me when or if at all a warrant of execution will be applied for and could not give me any information about the state of the account.

I asked what we can do, as there is clearly a situation of negative equity which is getting worst by the month and I was told that a letter will be sent out shortly explaining what the options are.

 

This arrived in this morning's post from GE.

 

" So that we can consider your request to release the Charge on your property, at less than the full repayment figure, we require:

 

1) Your proposal to repay the shortfall following repayment.

2) Your forwarding address and confirmation if this is rented or purchased.

3) Completion of the enclosed income and expenditure Form, copies of pay slips...

4) Your agreement to us obtaining an independent valuation with your cheque payable for £140.00

5) A proposed completion statement drawn up by your solicitors.

 

In addition to receiving this information, our consent is conditional to no other costs, except those previously agreed by us, being deducted from the proceeds."

 

Signed, GE Money, Litigation department. No name.

 

Is it just me or are these people from another planet?

 

The current arrears now stand at over £10 000, there is an additional £7000 ERC which is increasing monthly. In fact, every month they get an arrears statement and the settlement figure is increasing by over £1000 per month!!!

 

Is it just me or is there grounds for taking GE to court for being in breach of contract for/or failing to comply with the conditions of a court order? I can not for one minute believe that this is in the customers best interest...

 

Looking at the letter sent, what is the point in sending them £140 and all that info? Why should my friends have to proof how they are going to pay back a shortfall largely generated as a result of "the computer"? Surely there is a duty of care on the lenders behalf not to let matters get this far out of hand?

 

The way I see it, and correct me if I'm wrong, my friends should take GE to court for being in breach of contract, claim back all charges and interest added to the account, claim that due to GE being in breach of contract, the ERC should be classed as null and void due to the breach or that it is unjust/unfair term in contract, plus claim all compound interest added to the account from the time when they fell behind following the court judgment in 07/2005.

 

In the T&C of the mortgage, there is a clause about Delay in Enforcement that states: " Our rights under this agreement will not be affected by any delay in enforcing them." I understand that but, how long is a delay? Surely this is another unfair term in contract?

 

There is also no mention of a Warrant of execution either!

 

If we can get the ERC and the arrears taken from the account, there will be just enough to sell the property at the price offered last year, there is no chance of selling at the current settlement figure.

 

I have read on here that people are being advised not to pursue claims against ERC at this time, but as I mentioned in the title, my friends have nothing further to loose if there claim is unsuccessful but a heck of a lot to gain if they win. All they want is to get rid of this now.

 

What should I suggest to my friends?

 

Yet again, thank you for any and all advise.

 

 

B

[Erica_The_Penguin]

I think they should seek free legal advice at the Citizens Advice Bureau.

[brecken]

I think they should seek free legal advice at the Citizens Advice Bureau.

 

I agree,

Sorry to hear about this situation your friends are in, it cant be easy, Im sure they are glad to have a good friend in you.

Wish them all the bset from me.

Brecken.

[Parkvale]

bricky,

Get some legal advice. Phone around and most solicitors will give you a free 30 mins. Duty of care is sometimes very difficult to prove.Duty of care in English law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Good luck and see a solicitor pronto.