Failed mortgage fee repayment request

tyke001

Hi All,

Well I sent the MSE letter template for the MEAF difference after reading this forum and the successes that people where having.

I had a mortgage with Abbey (Santander) which we paid off Oct 11. I found my charges breakdown for when we took the mortgage out in Apr 2003 and the repayment charge was for £65. The wording for these charges was:

“preparing and checking all the documents required by the Land Registry, the preparation and sealing of the deed which discharges your mortgage. We also forward the deeds to you by recorded delivery”

When last year we paid it off, we were charged £225. So I sent the letter and their reply was as follows:

We took out an additional loan, this was to make home improvements and they say that because of this the redeeming fee was £225. Now as far as I was aware this extra loan was separate from the mortgage as it was always shown as that on any statements.

In addition to this we have never received the deeds to the property. They said that in Oct 2003 all deeds are held electronically by the Land Registry and we can pay for a copy of that entry if we want.

So my questions are:

Can this extra loan invalidate the original MEAF?
Can the sum be increased so vastly when the statement regarding the deeds has not been adhered to?
As for the deeds as we took out the mortgage in Apr 2003, would someone still have the paper deeds?

Hope this is not too long winded.

Nick

dunstonh

Can this extra loan invalidate the original MEAF?

Yes. The FSA ruling was that it was the original contract or later signed one, whichever was the latest.

Can the sum be increased so vastly when the statement regarding the deeds has not been adhered to?

yes

Land_Registry

tyke001 wrote: »

In addition to this we have never received the deeds to the property. They said that in Oct 2003 all deeds are held electronically by the Land Registry and we can pay for a copy of that entry if we want......

As for the deeds as we took out the mortgage in Apr 2003, would someone still have the paper deeds?

The Land Registry record for your property will indeed be held electronically - take a look at our FAQs re the information we hold and how you can obtain it.

As far as the 'paper deeds' are concerned I will assume you mean the original title deeds used to register the property for the first time. The specific FAQ 'Where are my deeds kept?' is relevant here and explains how they are not held by Land Registry.

Where they are now can vary depending on how long you have owned the property, whether any deeds were handed over when you bought it and then held by the mortgage lender and how long you had your mortgage with the lender. The more times a property is sold/mortgaged after first registration the less likely it is perhaps that the original title deeds will be passed on each time.