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Mortgage Express & LPA receiver problems

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  • Mortgage Express & LPA receiver problems

    Hi Peeps

    I hope I am posting this in the right place, I am new to this and not really too sure of the protocol.

    I will do my best to keep this as short as poss but please be warned I may go on & on & on...

    Hubby, myself & brother have some 'buy to let' mortgages with MX (Mortgage Express) part of Bradford & Bingley. We've had properties we let out for about 15 years & we've had mortgages with MX for about 7 years.

    We have a mixture of houses and flats, old and new.
    We have always had good relationships with our tenants, some have now been with us for over 10 years.

    As these are 'buy to let' mortgages they are not regulated & do not afford the same protection as residential mortgages.

    I mid 2008 we realised that interest rates were creeping up & that we may start to struggle to pay a few of the mortgages.
    We approached MX and asked if they would allow us, for a short while, to just pay the rent we received as mortgage payments for the properties (at this point we had no arrears or late payments) and we offered to send them copies of the tenancy agreements as proof of the rent.
    We asked that they work with us to allow us time to sell a couple of properties which would then allow us to come back up to date with the mortgage payments.
    MX catagorically refused to negotiate with us in any shape or form. they actually said that they do not make any special kind of arrangements on buy to let mortgages.
    We tried to speak with MX again on several occasions, all to no avail.
    We continued to pay all of the mortgages in full except the few where the interest rates had greatly exceeded the rent, on these we paid what we were receiving as rent.

    In Sept 08 Bradford & Bingley were nationallised by the government.

    At the same time MX informed us that as we now had arrears on some of our properties, they were instructing LPA receivers to take over the management of those properties, the cost to us for instructing the receivers was £1000 per property (even though the arrears in some cases were as little as £120). MX still flately refused to negotiate with us, even though the appointed receiver would simply be collecting the rent, deducting their fee and then paying it to the lender.

    In Oct 08 we received letters from MX stating that to protect their security, they were enforcing their right to apply an 'all monies charge' across our whole property portfolio.

    We realised that we needed proffesional help and at the end of Sept 08 we instructed a solicitor to try to open the channels of communication with MX.
    It took a while to arrange, but in Nov 08 our, then, solicitor & partner, a mediator, met with with a Mr Hugill who was at the time head of credit & fraud stratagy at MX.

    Our solicitors were told that MX were 'sympathetic to our plight' as Bradford & Bingley had themselves been affected by the global financial downturn.
    They said they had to leave the properties alone that were already being managed by the receivers but providing we worked through our solicitors they (MX) would not place any more properties into the hands of the LPA receivers.
    It was explained to us that computer generated letters would continue to arrive but that we now had an agreement to workour way forward.
    Unfortunately non of this was ever put formally in writing, all we have are the solicitors hand written notes.
    As you can probably imagine we were very relieved.

    As had been explained, letters from MX did continue to arrive throughout November & December. We did speak with the solicitor about these but he assured us that the letters would continue to arrive & we were not to worry.

    On the 24th December we received lots of letters from MX stating that all of our remaining properties were being placed with LPA receivers,a different company to the 1st receivers.
    We again made contact with the solicitors who tried to contact Mr Hugill but he had left for the Christmas break.
    Again the solicitor tried to assure us that they had an agreement with Mr Hugill and we were to try not to worry (easier said than done)

    In Jan 2009 we again asked the solicitor to make contact with Mr Hugill of MX.
    Eventually we heard from the solicitor that Mr Hugill no longer worked for MX, we later found out that he was now a director of the very same company of receivers who had been appointed to manage our 1st lot of properties.

    Our solicitors finally made contact with the group solicitor at MX. They were told that there was no evidence of an agreement between Mr Hugill & our solicitors and that he doubted Mr Hugill would have made such an agreement.
    Our solicitors did not appear to argue or debate this statement, and at this point we realised we had very little faith in their ability.

    In the letters we received from the receivers informing us of their appointments & the letters we received from MX informing us of their instruction appointing the receivers, it does seem that the receivers accepted the appointments before they were formally instructed by MX, sometimes there were differences of up to 2 months. Again we brought this to the attention of our solicitors, but they dissmissed it as typing errors, even though they were all dated differently.

    In feb 09 we had totally lost confidence in our solicitors and stopped using them.

    For about 6 months following this I am sorry to say that we 'buried our heads in the sand'. We ignored letters & 'phone calls, we either wouldn't or couldn't deal with either MX or the receivers.
    Eventually we picked ourselves up, brushed ourselves down and started to fight again.

    We realised that the receivers were slowly intimidating our tenants to such a degree that one by one they were leaving the properties.
    The receivers were stating that they were marketing the properties & looking for new tenants. We have asked for proof of this but so far none has been provided.
    When the receivers took over the 'management' of the properties, only one small flat was empty, as of today only about 35% of the properties have tenants in them paying rent.
    Charges (again no proof in form of receipts) are being added to the mortgage accounts at alarming rates
    We now know that a few of the properties have been sold at greatly reduced prices. We cannot get confirmation of this from either the receivers or MX. No doubt we will know when they start chasing us for the 'shortfall'.

    We are fighting back, we have written quite a few letters to both MX & the receivers asking for explainations.
    We instructed a public access barrister to write letters for us saying (on his advice) that we hold both MX & the receivers liable for the income that has been lost.
    If all of the properties had been let and managed properly, the arrears that were outstanding would have been payed off early last year and with the low interest rates we would be bringing in a surplus of over £20k a month.
    There has been no response to the barristers letters.

    As it is, our only income is from hubbies disability living allowance & we can barely afford to put food on the table.
    We are not entitled to any state benefits as we 'own' property!

    Because the properties are empty & have not been re-possessed, the council tax is now down to us. We applied for the 6 month empty property exemptions but these have now run out & council tax is outstanding on all the empty properties. We now have several CCJ's due to this.

    We spend every day trying to find a way forward.
    We have pleaded with MX to sit down & talk to us about the stupidity of the situation, we've had no reply.
    We've asked the receivers to let us help let & manage the properties, they have not replied.
    We have written to our local MP, at least he replied but told us that as 'buy to lets' are unregulated there is nothing he can do to help.
    Our letter to Alistair Darling has been ignored.

    This situation cannot be in the best interest of the British taxpayer as their money will never be returned.

    And finally if this continues we will eventually be made bankrupt, we will not be able to start again as our credit rating has been 'slashed to ribbons'.

    We would really, really welcome any thoughts or ideas,

    Thank you for taking the time to read this long, boring account of our woes

    Kind regards

    Mungos mum
    p.s Mungo is a huge, soppy English Mastiff

  • #2
    Re: Mortgage Express & LPA receiver problems

    Hi Mungos Mum

    Firstly, a very warm welcome to Legal Beagles.

    I am not experienced enough in this field to advise you but I am sure that someone with more experience will be along soon.

    The one thing that struck me was that interest rates have fallen dramatically and I am surprised that your various mortgages do not come under the libor rates which are extremely low at present. You may want to ensure that MX and B&B have dropped your interest rates accordingly unless you took a fixed rate interest with the loan.

    Also, have you tried to sell the properties?

    All the best

    Tuttsi x

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Mortgage Express & LPA receiver problems

      Hi Tuttsi

      Thank you for the welcome

      They have indeed dropped most of the interest rates, but these only started to come into force after the properties were taken by the receivers to be managed. This would only reduce the arrears if the properties are actually let, which most of them are not.

      We did put some properties up for sale when we realised that we may start to have problems, this was mid 2008, unfortunately the bottom then fell out of the housing market and we didn't find any buyers.
      We even reduced the prices so they were lower than other similar properties in the area but they still didn't shift.

      Also with regard to selling, once MX had implemented their 'all monies charge' it meant that any property we sold & made maybe a profit on, then the profit would be off set to reduce the capital owed on the other properties in the portfolio. This is just not viable at the moment as the properties are being managed so badly, and the receivers do not want US to sell as doing so means that they do not get their 'cut'.

      We feel that the most sensible thing would be for the receivers to allow us to work with them, let and manage the properties properly for about a year, this would bring the arrears right down and then put the properties up for sale once the market has bounced back.

      Many thanks for your thoughts

      Mungos mum x

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Mortgage Express & LPA receiver problems

        Hi Mungo's Mum

        I have sent a PM to request some assistance for you. But being that Easter is approaching a lot of folk are away.

        Tuttsi

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Mortgage Express & LPA receiver problems

          Many Thanks Tuttsi

          I suppose I chose a bad time to ask for advice.
          There's no real hurry as this has been going on now for nearly 2 years.

          We are now wondering how we would be able to get someone in the government 'on side' especially as this all relates to public finances and there being an election looming?
          I don't suppose any of the m.p's would enjoy reading about how much money has been wasted when they pick up their morning newspaper.
          We know that Vince Cable is speaking up in parliment for the people who have been fleeced by the sub prime lenders, maybe we can find an m.p to be our hero!!!

          Mungos mum

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Mortgage Express & LPA receiver problems

            You could try writing to your MP and put your case forward especially as you say with a general election looming they will not want adverse publicity.

            In the meantime I am sure you will get some help here as well.

            Tuttsi x

            Originally posted by mungos mum View Post
            Many Thanks Tuttsi

            I suppose I chose a bad time to ask for advice.
            There's no real hurry as this has been going on now for nearly 2 years.

            We are now wondering how we would be able to get someone in the government 'on side' especially as this all relates to public finances and there being an election looming?
            I don't suppose any of the m.p's would enjoy reading about how much money has been wasted when they pick up their morning newspaper.
            We know that Vince Cable is speaking up in parliment for the people who have been fleeced by the sub prime lenders, maybe we can find an m.p to be our hero!!!

            Mungos mum

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Mortgage Express & LPA receiver problems

              Hi Mungo's Mum,

              Well I've read and re-read you're post and it certainly is very involved. Personally if I were in you're position I would google for a solicitor that deals with this type of case and visit them asap, you really do need a 'specialist' in this field.
              What worries me is that you're old solicitor didn't get anything done in writing and in my opinion this leaves you in a precarious position, I also believe that the receivers have acted unlawfully by intimidating your tenants, have you prove of all this ?
              Yes you can try writing to your MP and Alastair Darling but I'm sure you can appreciate there seems to be some kind of election coming up and I should think all their energies are concentrated on that a the moment, and besides I've written to my MP before and it took months before I got a reply to be honest. The other thing you could do is find out when you're local MP has his 'surgery' and pay a visit on that day and see him/her face to face. Take everything with you and plead his/her help.
              I'm only trying to help you hun, the person on this site who would be best to help isn't around at the moment and I have no idea when he will be.

              Oh by the way I used to have an Old English Mastiff called Ellie, she was an absolute darling. I then had a couple of Greyhounds and now have a Malshi (cross between a Maltese and a ****z Tzu) called Bailey, he will be one on Easter Monday.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Mortgage Express & LPA receiver problems

                Hi Sapphire

                Thank you for your reply and advice.

                The trouble is that we now feel we have very few options left open to us as over the last couple of years we have tried to approach this in so many different ways & we are now running out of ideas.

                We did write to both our m.p & Alistair Darling.
                Our mp did reply but said that as these mortgages are unregulated there was nothing he could do or advise. Alistair Darling did not respond at all.

                We do now have a solicitor who is far more 'on the ball' than the last bunch of cowboys we instructed.
                The trouble is we just cannot afford to instruct him to fight for us. At the moment we do all the 'digging' & research & he writes letters as & when we need & can afford.
                It would be great to have someone read through everything we have & then put something together (We really don't know how things work with solicitors) to make the lender & receivers realise that their actions are not good for us nor the British taxpayer.
                We are not entitled to legal aid as we 'own' too much property....it's a mad situation.

                We do have a couple of letters from tenants telling us that the receivers are useless, they have told us that they have been told by the managing agents that we have gone 'bust' & the properties have been repossessed, trouble is none of this is in writing & so very hard to prove. We did at one time speak to the receiver about this, their reply was that the management company would not have said anything like this, so it is my tenants word against theirs.

                On a slightly different note, we did a S.A.R on both receivers earlier this year, they have sent us some up to date info regarding the management of the propeties along with letters saying if we tell them what information we are looking for they will do their best to provide it. We spoke with the I.C.O who confirmed that we should be sent absolutely everything that relates to us or our properties & the receivers are in the wrong by not providing it.
                As their 40 days has now passed & we have sent reminder letters but still not received a fraction of the data we know they have on us, we have put in complaint to the I.C.O & have submitted papers through the small claims court to try to make them comply.
                There is one particular piece of information we think maybe completley wrong
                We are hoping, if this is the case, it will then put us in a stronger position to be able to 'persuade' the lender & receiver that a sensible way forward would be to sit down & talk about a reasonable way forward for all concerned.

                We are not the only people this is happening to; we are in touch with at least 15 other people who are all having the same problems with MEx & the receivers and we know that there must be many more other people out there.


                Sorry that this post is diss-jointed, it's just that we have so many small bits of information that build a bigger picture showing the total inadequacies & mis-management from these companies, and because it is now owned by us, the taxpayers, we know that politicians are alsoinvolved, we just do not know what to do next.

                Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read all of this,

                Mungos mum x

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Mortgage Express & LPA receiver problems

                  Hi mungos mum, firstly let me say i can't help with your problem I have not got any idea on this.
                  Well done about taking the lack of info on the SAR further do not let that drop what ever you do, you need that info.
                  I know what you are saying about sols you do habve to have a specialist one i feel with this.
                  May I suggest though if it's possible to get together with all the others in the same boat in a group litigation.
                  Enaid x

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Mortgage Express & LPA receiver problems

                    Hi Mangos's Mum

                    I am still waiting for the person I PM'd to take a look, but he could be on holiday being Easter.

                    If you as Enaid says get together with your group of peeps in the same position as you, one of the solicitors must know how to put together a group litigation which would then be shared costs and this should get you to a barrister who should be in the best position to advise and take forward as he will have all the facts.http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&sou...CKzFsbWaCkKofw

                    There does seem to be a case against the administrator for bad handling also according to what you have said, but how you go about proving this and taking action against the administrator is beyond me I am afraid.

                    Please let us know what route you will take.

                    All the best
                    Tuttsi x

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Mortgage Express & LPA receiver problems

                      Hi Mumgo's Mum

                      Thanks for replying hun, I'm in agreement with Enaid and Tutts, I really think this needs a specialist on this.
                      The person that Tuttsi has tried to contact is indeed away at the moment but I am going to email him, just in case he picks the message up.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Mortgage Express & LPA receiver problems

                        How far have you got with forcing the receivers to comply with your SAR? As you have issued a claim, when is the hearing date, if you have one?

                        Once you have full and complete information you will be in a better position to make a judgment on where you go from here. With regard to your tenants and what they are being told about you, have them request information in writing and if necessary, provide them with letters requesting such information.

                        You should also take a look at this link http://www.legalcomplaints.org.uk/home.page and make a complaint against your first solicitor. You may be entitled to compensation for the financial effects of his poor service.

                        Finally, do any of your mortgage contracts allow for the appointment of LPA receivers at all?

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Mortgage Express & LPA receiver problems

                          Hi Mungo
                          I Have Just Read Your Long Description Of The Problems You Have Had, I Understand A Little Regarding Lpa Recievers Etc...

                          Are All Your Properties In Joint Ownership?

                          Are They All With The Same Lender Mx?

                          Is Your Own Home Safe? I.e. Is It In Another Persons Name Or Have You Considered Transfering It -not Under Value- But In A Manner That An Insolvency Practitioner Could Advise?

                          I Do Know That Although Btl Mortgages Are Unregulated That The Financial Ombudsman Service Can Help With Issues Relating To The Unfair Way In Which You Are Being Dealt With, I Have A Friend In A Similar Postion Who Has Lending With Bank Of Ireland And He Is Fighting To Retain His Properties So He Can Continue To Rent Them And He Is In Negative Equity In A Big Way, Let Me Know Some More Detail And I Will Try And Find Out What I Can For You

                          Im Really Angry At The Way You Are Being Unfairly Treated....

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Mortgage Express & LPA receiver problems

                            hi MM i sent you a pm on another forum ,but here is some interesting data for you to research,
                            i think ive explained about the need to raise an objection with the land authority this will make it difficult for the sale of properties to go throu ime posting on here the land authority protocals...hope it helps
                            patrickq1
                            Practice Guide 19 - Notices, restrictions and the protection of third party interests in the register
                            Useful documents - Mortgage Express


                            Treating Customers Fairly - Mortgage Express


                            Mortgage possession claims

                            Solicitors Regulation Authority - Code of Conduct: Rule 10 – Relations with third parties


                            Pre-Action Protocol for Possession Claims based on Mortgage or Home Purchase Plan Arrears in Respect of Residential Property - Ministry of Justice

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Mortgage Express & LPA receiver problems

                              A second mortgage is a loan that is secured by the equity in your home. When you obtain a second mortgage loan the lender will place a lien on your house.
                              For more details try this link:
                              Shared Ownership Mortgages

                              Comment

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