FirstPlus started Repo Action

itguy_2

Hi,

I'm after some advice...through no fault of my own, FirstPlus have instigated proceedings to repossess my home.

Is there anyone I could chat to privately about it? The whole situation is a mess.

Thanks!

tifnstav

isn't firstplus the one advertised by Carol Vorderman?
She was on a program recently (can't remember which) and they were taking the mick out of her doing the adverts, asking if she could lend them any money. She said on the program that Firstplus have never actually repossessed a property.
Don't know if this is true cos I haven't any way of checking it, but I know Martin & MSE in general have had a campaign to stop her doing the ads.
How about sending Martin a Private Message? I'm sure he'd be interested in it.

Dylanwing

Therew are a couple of Worst Plus threads on here. Check these out, there may be a couple of posters who can help you. Good luck, I had problems with them many years ago and still hate the b***ards.

mightymouse

Hi

I appreciate you say that you want to discuss your situation in private but you will get a better and wider response if you are able to discuss on line...

A number of contributors would like to help...........

SNTY

tifnstav, you are right.

When Carol Vorderman presented Have I got News For You, she said that First Plus have never repossessed a home.

itguy_2

Hi,

In a (large) nutshell, my wife was going through some emotional trauma and ran up a lot of unsecured debt. She eventually realised the scale of this and tried to fix it herself without consulting me or a debt advisor. After applying to, and being rejected by, one loan company, FP approached her and offered her a secured loan for £75K + £15K PPI.

She applied for this on her own, signing my name at the appropriate places on the loan agreement, direct debit mandate and standard security document.

The loan crippled us financially, as we couldn't afford the monthly repayments, and she ran up even more debt trying to keep us afloat (eg by paying FP by credit card).

All this came to my attention in March, when she finally realised the extent of the problem. After taking legal advice, I informed FP of the fraud. In my letter I also alleged that they had been more than a little negligent in approving the loan.

They wrote back saying they would investigate, and inform me when their investigation was complete. They also requested that I report the matter to the police and provide a certified copy of my ID.

I wrote back asking why they expected me to report the matter, as it was between them and my wife. I also said that I had been advised by the police not to give a copy of my ID to anyone, as it could be used inappropriately (oh, the irony).

Nothing further was heard from them until last week when we received a citation from their solicitors in Glasgow starting legal action to repossess the house because our payments are in arrears of 6 months.

So, I don't know if this is their reaction to the fraudulent loan application, or whether their arrears department haven't been told about the investigation.

I plan to defend the action, but obviously I don't know whether I'll be successful.

Thanks!

PS I saw that edition of Have I Got News For You. My comment at the time (it was before I knew about this) was that only an idiot would take out a FP loan...

silvercar

They wrote back saying they would investigate, and inform me when their investigation was complete. They also requested that I report the matter to the police and provide a certified copy of my ID.

Your identity has been used fraudulently, therefore the crime has been committed against you and therefore you, as the victim, need to report the crime.

I know its a toughy, as you are being asked to report your wife. The truth is that you have to make a choice between accepting the loan taken out in your name or accepting that your wife obtained money by deception.

For lenders the problem is, that unless they force everyone to report such crimes, anyone could take a loan out in joint names and then later on claim one of the signatories wasn't genuine.

Nothing further was heard from them until last week when we received a citation from their solicitors in Glasgow starting legal action to repossess the house because our payments are in arrears of 6 months.

They have given you time to report the crime or correct the arrears, having done neither they are now taking action to recover their money.

You can defend the action, this may give you more time to come up with a repayment plan. When you say in your defence that the application was made fraudulently, they will ask you why you didn't report the crime.

mightymouse

Hi

Your post will raise a number of questions.

When the advance was issued did it come from FP direct, it would have been in joint names therefore paid into a joint account.

I presume your property is in joint names which would mean that your wife will own 50% Equity.

Can you show that you did not benefit in any way from the advance.

it will be more difficult than saying that the application was not signed by you if you benefited from the advance.

itguy_2

Hi,

There are (presumably) 2 crimes - identity theft and obtaining money fraudulently. The first is against me, the second is against FP(?)...

The advance from FP was paid directly to the previous creditors, with a small amount left over that went into the bank account. I think I could say that I haven't benefited directly from the money, but even I could argue that I'd benefited from it indirectly.

Yep, the house is in joint names.

One of the big puzzlers for me is why FP won't/haven't reported the incident. Their website (and reply) say that they take fraud very seriously, and any case of fraud or suspected fraud will be sent to the fraud prevention service.

As for the signatures, you wouldn't need to be a handwriting expert to see that it wasn't mine.

The legal advice I've had suggests that I couldn't be held accountable for the fraud as I was not aware of it when it occurred. Whether that'll stand up in court I dunno.

Thanks for the advice :-)

mightymouse

Hi

It might be that none of the advance was used to benefit you but if it went to pay any joint debt ie mortgage, mortgage arrears or similar then FP are entitled to their money back.

They will persue your wife for an order for sale on your joint property to realise her equity and hold the sale proceeds (with sale solicitor) until the matter is resolved if necessary in the high court in chancery and your wife will be expected to pay all costs.(very expensive).

Can you say where the advance went and is it retrievable.

It is resolvable but only with your co operation, any criminal action is pointless and will not serve to prove things one way or the other.

These are just my thoughts of course.

jonesMUFCforever

Unless things have changed (I used to be a securities clerk for a bank) any joint lending had to be signed in front of a solicitor who is supposed to give you independent legal advice about the consequences of signing on the dotted line.
Do FP not use this practise?
There was a famous case in banking law (which I no longer remember the name of) which made this procedure compulsory as far as the bank was concerned and to prevent what has happened here.

Get urgent legal advice before you lose your house.
Mention the above to your solicitor and see what happens.