Hi, have managed to sort out a lot of debt issues using this site and for that I am extremely grateful, all of which were unsecured however we now get to the mortgage and I need some advice concerning an SAR I sent to Birmingham Midshires (who the mortgage is with) along with a £10 postal order - this was sent on Monday 17th June 2013 by recorded delivery. Be advised of the following:
1) mortgage is in joint names with ex-husband - now divorced - (divorce finalised about 4 years ago and he has no financial interest in the property as per the terms of the divorce however BM would not release him even though he was out of work and ill) - he has never made any payments toward the mortgage whatsoever;
2) mortgage was a self cert as both of us at the time were self employed - mortgage taken out in May 2003 and is registered at the land registry - this was arranged through a broker at the time and was a repayment mortgage - it is due to expire in 7 years -
3) husband went off to live with another women and left me with three young children, a house to run in every sense and it was as if he never existed - with my sisters financial help and support I managed to obtain a divorce and keep the mortgage up to date as I had always paid it however this is when things started to go downhill as my business started failing, the recession hit it hard and no one seemed capable of paying me so I closed it and got a paye job in a local supermarket and of course income changed in a downward fashion. Had the interest only arrangement for a total of 37 months which is what BM have told me.
4) approached BM and asked for interest only payments having explained the above. They granted this for a time - this has been maintained and they kept telling me verbally,( as they do not deal with emails and always expect you to call them as they refuse to deal with payment arrangements in writing which is unfair I think or suspicious) that this can only happen for a maximum of 3 years (I have since had a letter stating that they refuse to accept this interest only payments offer as they are only offered for 24 months total which contradicts the verbal 3 years advice I was given) then it has to go back to the original repayment amount - which is more than I take home in a month however there is a fair amount of equity in the property - they have all my income and expenditure paperwork so they are aware of my position as well as my divorce and absence of ex husband.
5) the last interest only payment arrangement came up for review in December 2012. I made the interest only payment for 23rd December 2012 (note this was an interest only payment and not a payment concession so the only element missing was the capital) I got a letter from BM dated 28th December 2012 on about 3rd January 2013 stating that the interest only payments were due for review and that the payment would revert back to the full capital and interest payment after the next payment. This I understood to be from 23rd February 2013 and not 23rd January 2013. Oh no they insist it is from 23rd January 2013 so I made the interest only payment for January 2013 and got a screaming letter saying the payment was short which obviously put me in arrears for the first time ever and now since then the arrears have grown as I had to agree to pay a bit more for three months until they reviewed it again in June (3 months is their review periods which seems unfair). So now I am classed as being in arrears when I have paid them consistently the interest only payments as well as the C&I payments in the past, as they have changed the method that this account is operated by making it an arrangement and not interest only. They refuse to change it to interest only for the life of the mortgage and refuse to extend the 7 years left. They want my house and me and my children out of it. My children are all of adult age which does not help, one is working,one is part time and one is not working and they all help with running the bills.
6) Despite telling them that my ex husband is no longer in the frame and do not know exactly where he is, despite telling them that I cannot take calls at work and then rushing home from work by leaving early to get back in time to call them before 6pm as their letters advise, then being told that they are open until 8pm which contradicts their letters and being told they can only discuss payment arrangements over the phone and not in writing I feel there must be some regulation about all of this as I know they record all the conversations they have. Having insisted on having written confirmations they decided to pass it over to complaints who also wrote to me and said that they wrote to me on 5th January 2012 and that was a final response in which I could take it further with the FOS but as six months since January 2012 (yes 2012) that I have now lost the right to do so. Dont remember this letter they are on about hence another reason for the SAR.
7) anyway the next payment is due on 2nd July and they are expecting me to pay one half of the full repayment mortgage for 3 months and then in 3 months I am expected to take up the full amount for the life of the mortgage.....I can only pay the interest only amount plus the little bit extra that I have been doing for the last 3 months so they will have something - better than nothing I guess....anyway if I dont comply then they intend instigating repossession by way of litigation, this they have told me verbally as nothing comes in writing other than computerised letters with loads of figures on. The other option was to sell the house within 3 months and BM would send me a sale package which would exempt me from any further payments as long as the house was sold within 3 months - in this market and climate !!! again unfair and I know I am not alone either
8) I did visit the CAB in January 2013 and they kindly phoned BM who would not speak to them despite my presence until they had an income and expenditure list from me which I duly dealt with in writing. I then got a letter from the CAB telling me that they would prefer it if I went to Step Change, which I did and they told me to sell the house etc. The problem with that is that I would have to rent and then all if any equity would be eaten up in deposits, rents and then we would all be at the councils door
9) it occurred to me that I have no paperwork to hand concerning this mortgage taken out in May 2003 so I wrote to BM as previously mentioned on the 17th June 2013 by recorded delivery with £10-00 postal order and initialled signature which I always do and they have always accepted in the past, requesting an SAR which I thought could help me understand the mortgage fine print or the contract side of things (and I understand that they have 40 days to respond). Today, 28th June 2013 I get a response from BM which basically says that before they an respond they need all signatures as it is in joint names and that my ex husbands signature is insufficient on their system so they would require a copy of his passport etc verified by a certifier of standing to confirm his signature was true etc. How am I supposed to do this when I dont know how to get hold of him etc. They seem to be working the situation to their advantage and I am sitting here without any paperwork or knowledge as to what I can do about it. Not sure they need his passport etc., as the original documents would have all of this ....do I smell a rat or what.
Can someone please tell me what action I can instigate to get this SAR information or anything else that may help as I feel really angry, frustrated and tired so please accept apologies for typing errors etc. I also feel like taking them to court for effectively attempting to make my children and I homeless or at the mercy of the council in time....thank you for reading and apologise for the length of this post.....yes its one o'clock in the morning again ....sleep hunting ...thank you:mad2:
