House Repossesed + £96,000 !!!

ekimnas

I am placing this post here in the hope that someone may be able to help me. I could write a book about what has happened but think it better to just present the facts as they are (sorry that it is a bit longwinded) My life has been ruined by this and I am hoping that someone will help me put this right.

Everyones reaction when they hear or read my story is one of disbelief but I swear that every word is true, incredible though it is. Everybody says it isn't right but the only people that have offered any help have only been interested in what they can get out of it and I can't afford to pay a barrister to sort this out!


08/09/1989 Remortgage taken out with West Bromwich Building Society on my house for £50,000. Mortgage was a 5-year capped mortgage which meant that the interest rate was guaranteed not to go above the ‘cap rate’ regardless of prevailing interest rate fluctuations.

November 1989 I defaulted on the mortgage within the first six months, went to talk to WBBS but was met with a brick wall attitude. Clause in contract, which we were unaware of, came into effect. Interest rate went to 2% above normal rates - @ 16%. This meant that repayments doubled from £444 to £888 per month.

1990 -93 West Bromwich apply for repossession @ six times, on each occasion I applied for a stay of execution which was granted every time until..

09/1994 – House repossession granted by Nuneaton Magistrates Court.

11/02/1994 - Possession order enforced

08/1994 - House is sold by WBBS for £50,000 even though they had valued it 2 years previously at £62,500. (I would estimate that its true value in 1994 would have been @ £85,000.

1994 – 1997 We spend three years living in rented houses until we manage to get another mortgage in 1997 and just as we are beginning to get our lives back together..

1999 - Having heard nothing at all from the West Bromwich since 1994 a letter drops through our door informing us that we still owe £96,000, this being the figure that we would have paid had we continued the mortgage for its’ full term !!!

4/10/2000 – Judgement in favour of WBBS – I could not afford a solicitor to defend myself.

01/2002 – Attachment of earnings orders made. £250 + £75 per month.

A copy of all files relating to our mortgage was requested, the WBBS took every one of the 40 days it has to supply us with the documents, even then vital documents were missing. It took a further year to persuade the WBBS to release these documents, they were finally sent one day before we were due in court for pre-action disclosure.


Documents obtained from the West Bromwich show applied fines & charges totalling £24,000 (£7,000 being charged before possession took place) in connection with the repossession of our house, I wonder whether the judge would have granted repossession of our house if he had known the scale of fines and charges being applied.

Below are some of the fines that were charged before repossession took place (these are fines imposed for missing monthly payments of £444. (The following is exactly as it appears on West Bromwich statements that I first saw TEN YEARS after the fines were imposed!!)

02/04/93 Fine £572.04
02/05/93 Fine £593.14
01/06/93 Fine £614.24
01/07/93 Fine £635.34
03/08/93 Fine £620.44
01/09/93 Fine £641.54
01/10/93 Fine £662.64
01/11/93 Fine £683.72
01/12/93 Fine £704.80
01/01/94 Fine £725.88
01/02/94 Fine £746.96
01/03/94 Fine £770.31
01/04/94 Fine £793.66

I cannot afford a solicitor and everyone we have spoken to so far has only been interested in what is in it for them even though they are astonished at what has happened.


The West Bromwich Building Society repossessed our house in 1994 and sold it shortly after for a little less than the sum of our outstanding mortgage. We heard nothing until the building society contacted us in 1999 to let us know that they were pursuing a debt of £96,000 made up of £24,000 in charges and £72,000 of lost interest !! The case went to court and was not contested because I could not afford to do so. I would like to state in writing that my belief (and the whole reason for pursuing this matter) is, purely and simply :

How can it be right that a Building Society can get away with doing this ?

I have been unable to pursue this matter as vigorously as I want to because I have been too busy trying to make ends meet and keep my head above water.

I am prepared to do whatever it takes to sort this out but I can’t do it on my own. If you can help me please do. My biggest concern is that I will go to my grave with this issue unresolved, leaving my wife with a frightening debt to deal with.

Everything in this post is factual so I have no problem in naming the West Bromwich Building Society, in fact the figures in this post have come from thier own records.

I have written to the building society ombudsman my M.P and Martin Lewis, I am waiting for replies. I have been so wrapped up in bringing my kids up and keeping my head above water, that the years have just rolled by. But I am not going to let this go. I've started so I will finish !! I am going to bring this to the attention of as many people as I possibly can.

I went to the CAB some years ago and was referred to an unscrupulous firm who talked the talk but did nothing because they realised there was nothing in it for them. I was contacted by a researcher from Trevor McDonalds programme a few years but they never followed up on it. You would have thought that the TV would be interested in my story considering the recent rise in repossesions. So if there is anybody out there who can give this some publicity, please get in touch.

Payments of £325 are taken from our wages every month by court order.The court have been in touch requesting a statement of means. I have refused because the West Brom have refused consistently to reply to my requests for an outstanding balance. I have been told that I may go to prison if I refuse the information - that is fine by me as it would be great publicity !!


Mike.

hypno06

just bumping this up for the morning crew. Sorry I don't have any ideas on reposession, but hopefully someone will be along soon with some ideas.

Broken_hearted

Wow huge hugs.

mummytofour

Just want to keep this bumped maybe cross post it to the mortgage bored?

bathgatebuyer

Sorry that's happened to you - it must have been awful.

Did WBBS actually describe the charges as 'fines'? I thought only courts could make punative charges - is that not one of the arguments of the bank charges debate?

ekimnas

Yup they are described as fines !!!

G-G_4

BUMP - I don't have any suggestions, but someone will x

jjduk

Hi Mike....wow...ermm firstly don't let the B******S grind you know, but I am guessing you really have been through the mill. Is the any kind of ombudsman you can talk to? I am guessing you have tried all the free advice routes. remember "seek and you will find" all best J

Pobby

This is unbelievable.I knew quite a few that got repossesed in the 90s.When the build societies sold the properties at less than they had lent for they came after the lender to make up the shortfall.Except in one instance,no one paid the full amount.Some ignored it and some paid a very small fraction of the amount demanded.

So they reprosessed in 1994.Lets say it took 3 months to auction it off.So maximum owed would be 3 months mortgage and any shortfall and it seems that the shortfall would be very little.

How in the world can they claim for lost interest over 9 years.Fines,how the heck can they claim that?I really think you need to talk to citizens advise pronto.This honestly sounds wierd to me.

ekimnas

Hi

I have written to the building society ombudsman my M.P and Martin Lewis, I am waiting for replies. I have been so wrapped up in bringing my kids up and keeping my head above water, that the years have just rolled by. But I am not going to let this go. I've started so I will finish !! I am going to bring this to the attention of as many people as I possibly can.

Regards...Mike

craftycaz2008

good luck, hope someone on here can help.