Unreasonable arrears charges/nterest

MissTazim

Hi,
can anyone help me? Can my mortgage lender do this?
two years ago unfortunately I was in financial difficulties got I behind with my mortgage payments can I just mention my lender did nothing to help me?! How ever they kindly added £1001. 00 yes that’s right!! to my mortgage balance claiming these were a total of 3 months arrears fees. However after I contacted them and told them I kept up my end of the deal paying double each month for 12 months to pay arrears off never missing a payment so they were not allowed to add any charges during that time period. So what they have done is change these arrears fees to £767.00 Solicitors fees??!! These were added to my mortgage balance and calculating the interest each month they are charging me interest on the solicitor fees too. Can they do this as it seems so unfair.

Any help or advice be much appreciated. 

lonibra

Which lender? I'm guessing one of those sharks who took over the loan books of now defunct banks? Have you put in a formal complaint?

MWT

If you got far enough behind for them to be issuing notices of their intention to repossess or to issue collection notices then there may well have been solicitors fees involved.

All of the charges should be in line with their published tariff of charges, here is the one for Halifax for example:

https://www.halifax.co.uk/mortgages/charges.html

If you were paying double for 12 months to catch up it sounds like this was more than just getting 3 months behind...

MissTazim

Yes I was more than 3 month in arrears, I was receiving a 3 month statement which had arrears charges for the 3 months £40. Which is fair enough. However one of those 3 month statements said arrears fees for this period £1001.?? I contacted the FCA and they said if a payment plan was in place and I kept to the agreement then no arrears fees can be added. So I contacted my lender, they tried to tell me i was seeing things?? And they couldn’t see this amounted had been added.  I then received my yearly mortgage statement the £1001 had been removed and the Solicitors fees had been added instead? Basically because I was vulnerable at the time they thought I wouldn't notice the £1001 that they were charging me. I could write you a list of how they were incapable and unwilling to help me. Taking into consideration they returned on direct debit mortgage payment because I would be going £5 over drawn?? I rang them to make a payment having enough to pay it they told me it was too late as the payment date had passed. Because my mental health was suffering at the time I believed them?!

MissTazim

I was lead to believe I only pay interest on my mortgage balance and the Solicitor fees should be deducted from the balance when apply the interest each month? 

MissTazim

Sorry to go on. Despite agreeing to a repayment plan to months into that I received papers from the court notifying me I did not attend? I rang them and asked why when they agreed to cancel the court hearing etc now a plan was in place there was not any need to go to court?? They told me “We never told you it wasn’t going to court!” I told them “Yrs you did other wise I would of most certainly attended!!

MWT

It sounds like you had an eventful period of time there and if things had got as far as a court date before they agreed to cancel it, I wouldn't be surprised for there to be solicitors fees involved.

If you still feel that the fees should not be there then raising a complaint would seem to be the way forward...

Thrugelmir

MissTazim said:

Sorry to go on. Despite agreeing to a repayment plan to months into that I received papers from the court notifying me I did not attend? I rang them and asked why when they agreed to cancel the court hearing etc now a plan was in place there was not any need to go to court?? They told me “We never told you it wasn’t going to court!” I told them “Yrs you did other wise I would of most certainly attended!!

Was this evidenced in writing to you. 

A couple of hours of solicitors time plus disbursements soon mounts up. The lender will wish to seek recovery of their outlay. 

csgohan4

Solicitors i have seen can charge 300 an hour for their time, it soon mounts up, with letters here and there needed e.t.c