Mortgage Fee Help!

Mafchez

Hi

I took out a mortgage with the Abbey in Jan 2004 when their mortgage exit fee was £99. I repaid my mortgage when I moved house and was charged the following:

VDC - Variable Discount Charge - £1912.68
DHF - Deeds Handling Fee - £225.00
MBF - Mortgage Bonus Fee - £236.00

I understand the VDC was a early redemption fee but not sure of the other 2 - is the Deeds Handling Fee the Mortgage Exit Fee??
Should I claim for the difference on this charge only?

Any help much appreciated.

JoeK_3

I suggest that you contact them and ask them for a detailed breakdown of each fee.

JoeK

*EssEncE*

When I worked for a Conveyancing Firm I used to read Mortgage Redemption Statements on a daily basis *yawn*, lol. I recall noticing alot of lenders increasing their 'Exit Fees' and Abbey been the one that increased more than most. I think Abbey realised their £99 fee was probably the lowest out of the main high street lenders, so thought !!!!!! this we'll increase to £225, and this was without notifying their existing mortgage borrowers.

I'm sure you can do something about this, ie claim a refund. Look at other posts on this forum for further details.

I personally find these fees, like most a rip off. The lenders defend themselves by saying, its admin cost / deeds handling etc. What a load of rubbish. It doesnt cost £200+ to simply click a few buttons and send a few documents. The only document most lenders will complete and send, would be a DS1, thats a discharge document, which is sent to Land Registry advising them to release their charge on the said property. Even the DS1 can be completed electronically, hence hardly any cost.

Also most Freehold Properties are Registered, hence the deeds are 'Dematerialised' which basically means no longer in paper form, Land Registry instead hold electronic copies of the most important documents required in a conceyancing transaction.

Documents which might be held by a lender could be the original lease along with other possible 'Pre Registration' documents, ie existing planning permissions / convenants / building regs etc.

But even those documents named above are generally not sent to a lender when a transaction is completed, they are sent to the borrower. Why is this? It's beacuse the lender has no need to hold them, takes up space etc.

Not so sure on your bonus fee, it must have been some help with cost possibly when you took out the original mortgage, hence now your redeeming they are clawing back.

Good look anyway...

Mafchez

Thanks - I spoke to Abbey yesterday, nice friendly woman said I might be entitled to a £126.00 refund on the Deeds Handling Fee - she is sending me a form to complete and return.

JoeK_3

Mafchez wrote: »

Thanks - I spoke to Abbey yesterday, nice friendly woman said I might be entitled to a £126.00 refund on the Deeds Handling Fee - she is sending me a form to complete and return.

Well done!

Don't forget to question the other two fees.

JoeK