RBS Mortgage - Watch out, they will do anything!

jellygirl_2

Went BR in Mar 09 - I want my house repo'd (moved into rented a few months ago) - stopped paying RBA mortgage in Feb 09 - 7 months in arrears now - sent them a letter a few months back saying Im BR, not in a position to pay arrears and wish them to proceed with repo. Never had reply.
I switched to a Coop bank account last December and never told RBS about it - the OR closed my RBS account where the DD for the mortgage was set up.
A couple of days ago I checked my Coop account and theres a withdrawal transaction for RBS Mortgages for a month's mortgage payment!!! I never set a DD, never told RBS about my new bank account or indeed where I moved to.

Fortunately, I called the Coop bank and they said there had been a STOP put on the transaction and it would not go through - I also wouldnt be charged anything - I told them I had not given any authority for this transaction and asked how on earth it had managed to appear there at all - they didnt know but said, amazingly, that someone had called them earlier that day to put a STOP on it - they thought it was me, but it wasnt!!! How bizarre!!!

So watch out, it looks like RBS have ways to hunt us down (after all they are mostly owned by the governement now) - I dont know about the legalities of them attempting to sabotage someone's bank account like that, but it surely cant be right. Seems like they will do anything to get mortgage arrears back.

As I see it, a mortgage is a pledge, (mortgage means 'dead pledge') and so the pledge is the property, so if I stop paying the payments, then the pledge is returned to the bank - they cannot force me to make payments that i refuse to pay, they have to take the pledge back!

Anyway, the next day, the transaction had completely disppeared from my online banking - as if it never happened.

I was very shocked by this happening and would just like to warn others in a similar situation to keep a close eye on their accounts - dont tell RBS anything if youre moving from the property into rented whilst waiting for repo.

Cheers all
JG

fiveyearplan

It certainly doesn't surprise me - nothing like this does anymore. That is also why it is wise not to sign anything.

Thanks for sharing that!

jellygirl_2

Yep - its funny - I have a First Plus secured loan too on the house and that very day I received a letter from their 'representatives' stating that if I didnt pay my arrears or come to a payment arrangement within 15 days they would commence repo proceedings - I was really happy about this because its what I want them to do!!! So looks like FP are gonna bite the bullet before RBS
And Im not signing ANYTHING! Thanks FYP

miss_spooky

jellygirl wrote: »

Fortunately, I called the Coop bank and they said there had been a STOP put on the transaction and it would not go through - I also wouldnt be charged anything - I told them I had not given any authority for this transaction and asked how on earth it had managed to appear there at all - they didnt know but said, amazingly, that someone had called them earlier that day to put a STOP on it - they thought it was me, but it wasnt!!! How bizarre!!! Even more worrying that the Co-Op never asked security questions to stop a transaction on your acct??

JG

I would ask the Co-Op to trace both calls regarding the first transaction & the stop. T could either be pure coincidence that a person as a RBS Mtg who is banking with Co-Op & Co-Op mixed up acct numbers, someone else has access to your acct, or RBS did do this but I would want to know why Co-Op didn't ask for security on both occassions....

fiveyearplan

Are you still paying your council tax for that property? Have you informed the council that it is empty and asked for your CT reduction? They can still chase you for CT at that property.

jellygirl_2

fiveyearplan wrote: »

Are you still paying your council tax for that property? Have you informed the council that it is empty and asked for your CT reduction? They can still chase you for CT at that property.

Yes, I have until the end of the year until I have to start paying Council Tax again, so Im wanting it repo'd before then, coz I wont be able to afford another CT payment pm. Thanks.

jellygirl_2

miss_spooky wrote: »

I would ask the Co-Op to trace both calls regarding the first transaction & the stop. T could either be pure coincidence that a person as a RBS Mtg who is banking with Co-Op & Co-Op mixed up acct numbers, someone else has access to your acct, or RBS did do this but I would want to know why Co-Op didn't ask for security on both occassions....

Thanks very much I would be very surprised if it was a coincidence as the amount was exactly what I was paying each month to RBS. I will give the Coop another call tommorrow to straighten this out - I wondered if the OR office may have stopped it but it seems extremely unlikely that they would know about it. Weird tho, if I hadnt checked my online bank account that day, I would never have known about it.

alastairq

why not ask Co-op to give you a new account number?

Use the above affair as an excuse...??

tigerfeet2006

Just shows it pays to watch your accounts.

jellygirl_2

alastairq wrote: »

why not ask Co-op to give you a new account number?

Use the above affair as an excuse...??

Thanks:) To be honest, it would mean changing all my DDs over again and to be honest I feel like Ive had enough financial upheaval over the last year - dont think Ive got the will to do it! But if it happens again I will go down that route, albeit reluctantly. Thanks

Tinytim

As Tigerfeet says, it pays to check your account everyday.

I have had two companies who have agreed to continue supplying me with their services, but have both used new direct debit mandates to try and collect amounts included in the BR. In both cases, Co-op immediately reversed the entries