Unique Mortgage Issue/Query??

epsonsx435w

Hi All,

I believe this may be fairly unique and after trawling through the forum couldnt find anything related or similar.

The query is two fold so I have split them to enable a response for each (I have limited the info provided for fear of being located by them before I receive advice!):

Issue 1:
A couple of years ago I had a dispute with my mortgage lender regarding the interest rate I was paying on my main mortgage account. Bizarrely no-one could tell me each time I phoned and it rumbled on for a month or two. I then informed the company that I would take legal action if this could not be divulged. Eventually they came back to me with the rate but as a gesture of goodwill said they would stop interest on my account.

Now, some 24 months later, interest is still not being applied to my account! As I was in arrears I was making overpayments to catch up the deficit however all this time this has just come off the balance.

Do I confront them? Do I just keep paying and watch the amount reduce by what I pay each month? Legally could they "whack" all the interest back on after I catch up the arrears (about another 6 months)? What are my rights, what are their rights?

Issue 2:
I also have a secured loan with the lender, last month I received a letter that they had not adjusted their interest rates when they should have over a period of time, meaning my monthly amounts would not cover the balance each month with interest applied. As a gesture of goodwill they deducted a couple of thousand off the balance. Does this seem normal practice?

Summary:
My account has been nothing short of problems (90% their end) but clearly at present I feel like I am winning (i.e. interest not being applied to the main mortgage). What do you think I should do?

I have settlement figures for both accounts and both just show the low value (i.e. no interest on the main account, so wouldnt think they are adding it back anytime soon).

Any help much appreciated with my dilemma and clearly I would be more than happy to provide further information off this thread to anyone who could help me.

Many thanks

Epson (clearly not my real name, my printers!, but no clues I understand is the aim here!)

Wutang_2

Right, so neither of you knew your rate (you didnt??)? then they stopped interest on your repayments as a result of this?? You were already in arrears at this time and you still are? And now, you have not been paying back enough on the secured part?

How do you conclude that this is 90% their fault?

I feel there are missing pieces of information here!

opinions4u

Sounds unlikely to me. Who is this lender?

epsonsx435w

Hi,

I meant 90% of the problems were related to letters not being sent, calls not returned and so forth - not all related to this incident.

Yes I was heavily in arrears back then but one account is now up to date (has been for many months) and the other is almost clear.

GE is the lender.

Thanks for the comments thus far, any future ones most welcome.

bundance

This does seem unusual.
Sorry I cannot figure out who GE are.
What about citizens advice bureau?
We need more specifics, I can only try to help on the information given.

Issue 1

1. You have a dispute with mortgage lender re: interest paid on main mortgage.
2. For a month or two each time you rang, no one could tell you the interest. (rate/amount paid, percentage-unclear from original post exactly what interest query it is)
3. You then informed the company that you would take legal action if they could no tell you.
4. They gave you the rate, and as a gesture of goodwill said they would stop interest on my account.
5. Now some 24months later, interest is not being applied to your account. As you were in arrears you were making overpayments to catch up with the deficit, however the payments have just come off the balance with no interest.

You don't say what type of mortgage you have.
Did you manage to get any documentation from them?
Or do you have online access to your account?
Have you tried contacting them to enquire about this?

What does the documentation say?

Issue 2:

• You have a secured loan with the same lender.
• Last month you received a letter saying that they had not adjusted their interest rates in error, over a period of time.
• This means your monthly payment would not cover what you owe each month including interest.
• As a gesture of goodwill they deducted a couple of thousand off the balance.

This to me does not seem normal practice.
To be honest, it sounds a bit dodgy.
Have you got documentation from all of this?

You say that you feel like you are winning, but if interest is not being applied to the main mortgage, yet you owe this money (arrears) then I would not be calling you a winner, because, surely, at some point, if the interest is owed, you are going to have to pay it.
You say your account has had problems, 90% of which are the fault of the lender.

What do I think you should do?

Go to your local CAB

The CAB should either be able to advise you how to deal with the lender.
I would see the CAB before contacting the lender, so they can tell you how to deal with it, or may even contact the lender themselves.
CAB should be able to adivse you, or refer you to someone to answer your legal queries, your rights, and thier rights.

Take to the CAB all mortgage and loan documentation, and records of phonecalls as soon as possible.
CAB are confidential, (exceptions to confidentiality vary between local CAB's-check online your local CAB or if required, ask to see their confidentiality policy)
You could write your queries down as they are quite complex to verbally convey. Try to be specific as you can.

I have settlement figures for both accounts and both just show the low value (i.e. no interest on the main account, so wouldnt think they are adding it back anytime soon).

I don't know what you mean by settlement figures.
I would not bank on the fact ('scuse the pun) that the lender will 'ignore' or 'forget' the interest.

Hope this helps

epsonsx435w

Thanks again for your replies.

To cover the queries I have dug out the relevant paperwork to give you further information.

Query 1 - Main Mortgage
After making a complaint back in 2009 about the mystery regarding my interest rate, they agreed to stop interest for three months (I have just received my latest statement and interest hasnt been applied since the date of this letter to current date).

My complaint was that I queried my rate on several occassions and each time I received a reply "this is unusual, I cannot see it, I will ask a manager", each time they still couldnt find the rate and said they would come back to me, they didnt each time.

Query 2 - Secured Loan
Letter received this month - i have taken the key paragraphs from the letter and provided below:

"We have recently observed your account and noticed your monthly payments have not always changed when your interest rate on your account should have changed.

As your rate has not changed to reflect the fluctuation, you have not been paying enough to make sure your loan is paid off within the agreed term.

Since you were last notified of a change, we have calculated the total underpaid to your account is £XXXX (just under 2k) and we have reduced your account balance as a gesture of goodwill.

Your monthly installment should be increased...." (I did call and they said it wouldnt increase??).

Any additional thoughts now please based on the above?

I did call a specialist Lawyer to get some feedback (from a large corp company) but he told me within his 30 years experience never heard anything like this!!

Please help!

Many thanks in advance.

Epson

epsonsx435w

GE money (formerly First National) - huge American company with a presence in the UK (mainly sub prime).

Settlement figures I meant redemption figures (as if I was to settle the accounts today).

Yes I have paperwork detailing this for both queries and full statements....

Any further thoughts or who I should turn to next?

Many thanks...

epsonsx435w

opinions4u wrote: »

Sounds unlikely to me. Who is this lender?

Hi,

It is certainly not unlikely as i wouldnt have posted it and I have any documentation relating to this matter to hand.

Lender is GE Money (formerly First National).

Regards

Epson

bundance

Hi

Thanks for providing further information.

Did the legal advisor you spoke to not suggest where you could go to get this sorted?

I looked up the website of your lender and you can lodge compliants there, but if it were me, I would go to the CAB with all of your documements and records of your calls.
You can write bullet points on a sheet of paper of things that happened in date order.

It sounds to me like an error.

You could see who else comes on to this thread or you could request more help.

Citizens advice bureau is prolly your best bet though, cos their advice is free and they can give you numbers for other agencies/financial advisors.

I dunno, others on here may, if such a thing exists as a free financial advisor, you could also look into this.