SPML/LMC anyone claimed for mis selling and unfair charges?

[Carptree]

I am new and found your site while trying to find out exactly who owns what in SPML/Capstone - it seems that the up to date information still states that SPML are still owned by Lehman Brothers although they have not filed accounts since September 2009. Any help would be appreciated as we are in court on Tuesday.

 

Thanks

[peterjm]

carptree

The companies house register shows spml are up to date with their accounts having recently submitted their latest in August 2010.

They are still wholly owned subsidiaries of Lehmans currently being administered by PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS are according to latest accounts active and solvent and not in administration themselves.A company is a seperate legal entity because their parent is in admin they are not necessarily so .

What is the purpose of your query,if its whether they have the legal right to bring the claim the answer is yes unfortunately.?although they will be doing it through capstone the administrators.

If you need help with this there are good successful defences I have swotted up, being fully prepared myself, on and which I am sure I could help you with and they are not too complex and have worked many times before.

This thread now appears to be the twilight zone?have the protesters of the past all been liquidated?

Edited October 1, 2010 by peterjm

[Carptree]

Hi Yes, I could do with some help with it - I am filling in form N11M and we are in court on Tuesday. We have almost sold the house - about two weeks away if that from signed contracts and we were told that they would not issue proceedings and then did. We have paid them over £40k in 4 years but the amount outstanding has increased by £5k. We did take an interest only mortgage but were told we could transfer this after two years and then of course they would not transfer it as they were no longer lending. Does that help?

[peterjm]

Hi Carptree,

you are filling in a defence form for tuesdays hearing right.

1)have you any written evidence that they would not take proceedings and/or that you could change the loan from interest and capital 2 years after it was taken out?

2)have you any evidence,estate agents etc that you are about to sell your house.

3)can you afford the current repayments on the loan?(in case sale falls through)

4)Have you tried to reach an agreement with them?

5)Would you have a rough idea how much they have charged you in arrears fees and have these been added to the actual payments you have missed?

6)What is your current arrears level ie the payments you have actually missed excluding their numerous charges.

7)What is the nature of the actual hearing repossession with no opposition to suspension of the repo so long as you maintain payments.

8)have you considered a complaint to the fos to reclaim your unfair arrears fees charges ,if not you must as the court will normally defer to the fos to sort out your true arrears figure

9)Don't worry we can get you through this,answering the above just fills in the details for me,you can pm me if you want privacy.

cannot edit smiley thing out but should be point 8!

[jasperpad]

Hi all

I have been reading these posts and am now wondering if those of us who have a mortgage or secures loan with SPML/Capstone should “get together” and become a self help group to stop this vulture in its tracks and as a group sue them for the excessive charges they have charged and make them work in the CML correct way.

Anyone interested?

[Carptree]

Count us in but we are hopeless at using this forum!! We have lots of info on them and how they operate but they seem also to have every legal loophole tied up in our case at least

[rocket1]

I have a suspended repo which has been suspended pending mortgage rescue scheme.

 

My Mortgage rescue scheme has collapsed because the Housing Association claimed it will cost them just £4000 more than their official budget to bring the house up to a proper standard. But that is a downright lie as they have completely inflated estimated costs and included completely fictitious ‘works’.

 

So they refused to complete the rescue.

 

Obviously the mortgage rescue scheme is a complete [problem].

 

So Capstone phoned me up up telling me they will be evicting me.

 

My solicitor says it will be difficult or impossible to set aside repossession order because two years has elapsed. WHY ?

What grounds could be used to set aside repo?

 

Any ideas anyone ?

 

Would the mortgage being mis-sold be one ?

 

I was on benefits when it was sold and told the broker and the lender quite clearly I was on benefits.

Edited October 7, 2010 by rocket1
to make clearer+

[bustthematrix]

Good old rip off Britannia!!!

 

French lenders put profiteering UK counterparts to shame In September, according to official figures released earlier this week, the average French mortgage rate (fixed and variable) fell to 3.30% - its lowest level since the Second World War.

8 October, 2010

The average mortgage rate in the UK, by contrast, is currently 3.63%, despite the UK base rate being 50 basis points lower than the euro area base rate of 1%. In short, the margin the UK banks are making is considerably higher than that of their French counterparts.

The profiteering of the UK banks is only part of the problem, according to Athena Mortgages. In France, some three quarters of mortgage holders have long-term fixed rate loans of 15-25 years, while variable rate mortgages have a +1% cap, meaning they cannot rise by more than one percentage point.

Quite the opposite is the case in the UK, where there is no cap on variable rate mortgages and the majority of fixed rate products are 2-year loans, meaning additional regular arrangement fees for the banks and a market structured around re-rating for maximum profits.

John-Luke Busby, director, independent French mortgage broker, Athenamortgages.com, commented: "These official figures highlight the extent to which UK banks are profiteering on the back of borrowers relative to other countries.

“Whereas the French mortgage market is structured to reduce borrower exposure and offer fair rates, the UK market reduces security and is built to churn.

“I am sure UK borrowers would like to have the same peace of mind provided to the French through low rate, long-term loans.

“In France, you can secure an 80% LTV 25-year fixed rate loan for 3.70%, even as a non-resident, whereas in the UK a rate fixed for just four years comes in at just under 4%."

http://www.mortgageintroducer.com/ccstory/238658/5/French_lenders_put_profiteering_UK_counterparts_to_shame.htm

[peterjm]

CAPSTONE MORTGAGE SERVICES EXPOSED AND NAMED AND SHAMED IN THE NATIONAL PRESS AT LAST

 

Capstone accused on repossessions

 

By Richard Dyson

10 October 2010

Capstone, the secretive business that administers thousands of mortgages taken out with banks that went bust in the crunch, is seeking disproportionate numbers of repossessions.This is the claim made by an online support group for Capstone borrowers, consumeractiongroup.co.uk, which says the firm has sought 141 repossessions in the past fortnight alone. The national total for repossession orders in a week is about 700

Capstone administers mortgages formerly lent by brands such as Preferred and Southern Pacific. These targeted less well-off homeowners before collapsing in 2008.

Debt charities fear that such 'closed book' administrators are harder on borrowers than mainstream lenders still open to business.

The Financial Services Authority does not comment on individual businesses but it has received numerous complaints relating to Capstone, Financial Mail has learnt.

Capstone refused to confirm the figures but insists it 'makes every effort to engage with borrowers and resolve the situation throughout the process, but repossession always remains a last resort.'

 

Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/mortgages-and-homes/mortgages-features/article.html?in_article_id=516191&in_page_id=58#ixzz120RgTN5u

 

For some reason the credit for this report which should go to capstone action group as reported in the above reverts to consumer action group?

How is this?

Although both should take credit.

 

[Gallahad]

By Liz Pulliam Weston

MSN Money

 

Questionable paperwork has halted foreclosures across the country -- and may give some troubled homeowners the leverage they need to stay in their homes.

• Find the best home mortgage rates
  

A few borrowers have already used lenders' faulty documentation to get their mortgages legally erased in bankruptcy court. Others hope to use the problems as a crowbar to force lenders to reduce their principal or payments.

 

Bankruptcy or foreclosure?

"You can challenge not only the foreclosure, but (the legitimacy of) the mortgage," said attorney Stephen Elias, the author of "The Foreclosure Survival Guide: Keep Your House or Walk Away with Money in Your Pocket." "You make the allegation that 'we don't think you're going to be able to prove the ownership and the paperwork' . . . that's the thread that, if you pull it, the whole thing will unravel."

The problems stem from the way modern lending is done -- and the way lenders have struggled to keep up with a tidal wave of defaulting homeowners.

Many mortgages were sliced up and sold to investors shortly after they were made. Some pieces changed hands several times. Loan servicers -- the companies that actually accepted borrowers' payments to forward to the investors, and that are the ones to begin foreclosure proceedings -- don't always have the paperwork to prove who owns the loan.

In some extreme cases, banks foreclosed on the wrong homes, including some that were owned free and clear.

Will foreclosures get worse?

 

 

 

How loan servicers handled foreclosure filings in court is the latest issue. One of the core problems is "robo-signers," or people working on behalf of lenders who signed foreclosure documents without verifying the facts -- or even reading what they were signing.

After admitting widespread problems with foreclosure documentation, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Ally Financial's GMAC Mortgage unit suspended tens of thousands of foreclosures in the 23 states where foreclosures go through the courts.

More loan servicers are expected to follow their lead, and the foreclosure freezes could spread to so-called "nonjudicial foreclosure" states where the court system isn't used. Meanwhile, attorneys general in several states have begun investigations, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has urged the U.S. Department of Justice to do the same.

The big banks that provide these loan services say the problems are mere technical issues that typically can be fixed by substituting new paperwork.

Some judges aren't so sure. They say lenders have long ignored complaints about faulty paperwork and that flawed foreclosure cases should be tossed out.

Lenders are now facing the fallout from years of treating borrowers "so outrageously," said bankruptcy attorney Ike Shulman, co-founder of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

"The banks have created a hostile environment for themselves by their cavalier attitude toward people trying to save their homes," he said. "People who have tried for six months, nine months, two years to save their homes . . . they were told the paperwork got lost or 'you're approved for a modification' and then they lost their home in a (foreclosure) sale the next day."

Some of the likely consequences of the scandal:

• A huge mess for the courts. Experts predict a blizzard of lawsuits over past and current cases, with attempts to get the courts to undo foreclosures and evictions. "This is a huge, mega-issue," Shulman said. Foreclosures that were thought to be completed may come back to life "like a hangar-full of dead bodies started to wake up," he said.
  

• A slower housing recovery. The longer it takes to resolve the foreclosure crisis, the longer the huge inventory of foreclosed homes will weigh on local real-estate markets. Buying a foreclosure may get tougher as title insurers get pickier about which homes they cover. The controversy could scare away potential buyers and lead to even lower home sale prices.
  

• More time for struggling homeowners. Nationwide, the average foreclosure takes nearly 16 months to complete, up from 12 months a year ago, according to LPS Analytics. The foreclosure freeze and attendant regulatory scrutiny are likely to lengthen that wait in many states.
  

[enoughisenough]

From the other place

 

Well done Richard Dyson of the Mail on Sunday. Well done for exposing Capstone. Well done for exposing their shameful repossession strategy which is not and never was a policy of last resort.

 

It is a policy of first resort. It is their business model.

 

They want to liquidate the mortgage book as fast as they possibly can. And that means charge, after unfair charge, after extortionate unfair charge, until they have the "grounds" for repossession.

 

Now that a journalist with the courage and integrity to run with this has exposed the shameless and disgraceful CAPSTONE MORTGAGE SERVICES for what they are, maybe others would like to follow his excellent example?

 

One thing's for sure though. They are not nearly so secretive as they once supposed.

 

The FSA's immunity from censure for these disgusting practices will surely now fall under the microscope.

 

CAPSTONE ACCUSED ON REPOSSESSIONS

[citizenB]

I know the following link is in respect of mortgages/repossessions in the USA. But there do appear to be some similarities ....

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/legal-chaos-forces-us-banks-to-halt-repossessions-2099879.html

 

oops, sorry just noticed someone had already posted this.

[andrew1]

I see this post popping up on a number of threads, but doesn't this take us straight back to the differences between UK and US Securitisation? We all know the morals and the workings of this [problem], but...the law is different in the UK to the US so can someone tell me why this keeps being referred to on these threads.

 

Carmel Butler, EIE, Suetonious (and No - he isn't me contrary to posts seen 'overthe road'!) superslueth and goodness knows how many others have been talking this through endlessly on this thread with still no clear distinctions, yet it is always US cases referred to. When are we going to see UK cases chucked out of court for the reasons being thrashed out 'over the road'?

[Gallahad]

Only when there is enough political pressure for this to come about andrew and it may be with savage cuts coming to the man in the street and the easy targets while the banks continue to pay them selves obscene bonuses will be the catalyst for this to happen.

G

[peterjm]

CAN PEOPLE HERE UNDER THE CAPSTONE YOKE POST A FEW COMMENTS ON THE DAILY MAIL STORY,LOOKS LIKE NO ONES BOTHERED,ARE THEY?

AFTER 340 PAGES SOMEONE MUST BE, I AM BUT I'M RELATIVELY NEW HERE.

HERES A REAL CHANCE TO HAVE A GO BACK AT THEM.

SEE ARTICLE HERE.http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/mortgag...#ixzz120RgTN5u

[peterjm]

CAN PEOPLE HERE UNDER THE CAPSTONE YOKE POST A FEW COMMENTS ON THE DAILY MAIL STORY,LOOKS LIKE NO ONES BOTHERED,ARE THEY?

AFTER 340 PAGES SOMEONE MUST BE, I AM BUT I'M RELATIVELY NEW HERE.

HERES A REAL CHANCE TO HAVE A GO BACK AT THEM.

SEE ARTICLE HERE.http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/mortgag...#ixzz120RgTN5u

 

Great positive responses here,thanks to all who took part and are taking part,some really good positive stuff in the main.

We can make a difference and it requires little effort just your own story.

Thanks to all.

[andrew1]

Any idea how we can find out how many repossessions a company has made? It shows these guys found 141 of Capstone in that article, where does that information come from? Is there a general source?

[Crapstone]

I may be behind with the times as I don't check in as often as I should, but has anyone else seen that Capstone are changing their name?

 

http://www.mortgagefinancegazette.com/article/Capstone-Mortgage-Services-to-rebrand-as-Acenden-230171.html

 

Call it what they will but it's still going to leave a smell and a bad taste...

[Crapstone]

Must change my username to Arsecenden

[Crapstone]

Rocket..you'd need something new that has come to light, that you didn't know about. Have you sent off for copies of all the paperwork and the application? The reason is probably the length of time lapsed, I was told the same regardless of any wrong by the company or the agent. Problem is the legal companies know you are skint and they aren't prepared to take a gamble on complex contract law cases. Break your leg on a banana skin in a supermarket and they'd be all over you..

 

As for the repairs..get some independent free quotes from reputable companies. Trading Standards or Consumer Direct has lists and perhaps your local council may have one. Get as many as you can that come in less than the quoted price the Housing Association has given. My parents were aided by Warmfront..and then ended up with a bill for much more than any other company would charge..so much for helping the needy! More like assisting the greedy.

 

How much is the mortgage and why did they agree to it while you were on benefits?

 

They really are the **** of the financial world..spit..

[peterjm]

Any idea how we can find out how many repossessions a company has made? It shows these guys found 141 of Capstone in that article, where does that information come from? Is there a general source?

Hi andrew,evidently these repos are only a snapshot of county court listings so the real figure is probably double that according to overtheroad and the Mail article,51 replies so far mainly positive and extremely damming,a great response and an indication of the problem,not too late to get yours in andrew,every one adds weight and pressure for investigation.

[Crapstone]

It's probably more than double...I was amazed when I went to court how many were listed for that day (Birmingham) .. not just Capstone, how their 'solicitors' drifted from one room to another in block bookings, many undefended. And that was before our current economic crisis! Very disturbing that these executives get to know the judges day in and day out despite the so called circuit..they get admonished now and again but a ticking off doesn't equal the financial struggle and the dodgy paperwork they submit. It always seem to be an automatic win whatever they do. Contracts work both ways ..have they forgotten that? Silly me...I'm just a small time consumer and the companies have a few more pennies than us .

[Crapstone]

BTW..they've been pestering again for insurance documents since the beginning of September. It's not due until the end of December but they are doing their usual threats. ' Send it now or we'll put you on our mega-expensive block insurance'. You do that and I'll look forward to the compensation

[peterjm]

crapstone log it on the mail article theres probably many more in the same boat.Will take 5 minutes thats all.

[Crapstone]

Done