Need some housing advice.

[AdamD]

Originally Posted by Maggy J

Make an appointment with your mortgage lender (make sure your uncle knows nothing about it)and ask them in advance to have copies of every correspondence they have already posted to your address ready for you to view at that meeting.Tell them the absolute truth that you suspect your uncle is defrauding you of your contributions to the mortgage and is there any way to leave him out of the equation such as you and your father pay increased contributions to cover what hasn't been paid.If it was me I'd have made sure I was first to the post man every time AND I'd have contacted the mortgage lender directly long before this.

I Agree, completely, of course

We didn't know anything about it till October, because all prior mail about it, had gone "missing"

We only found out because he happened to be out that one day, when the mail arrived, which had the letter about the prior two missing/late payments.

Gonna upload a floor plan of our home, so I can explain what's been going on prior to September of last year.

My uncle spends all morning (8am till the post arrives) in the Lounge at the front of the house

During August to November time, he would actually stand in the bay window waiting for the post man/girl to come down our street and when they were 2-3 doors away, he would wait in the porch way for the post.

Sometimes, I would say, 50% of the time, he would take random items out to his car parked outside, just so he could intercept the post before it even reached the house.

We had no idea what was going on, he's always been odd (see other thread here about that)

I spend most of my time in the rear bedroom (largest room), so, I can't see when the post is coming

My dad is in the 2nd largest bedroom, so up until now, we hadn't made a point of getting the mail first, especially considering it could arrive anywhere between 9am and 1pm.

My dad's repositioned his computer desk so he can see who's coming down the road, so he now gets the post.

I spoke twice to the mortgage company on the phone and they assured me, by law, every month the mortgage payment is in arrears, a letter is sent out, we only received one (The one when my uncle was out at the time)

We also should've received two updated statements, at my request, but again, they dissapeared to.

Uncle was confronted, he claims he has no idea what happened to them, nor has he seen any statements or mortgage related items.

So, with that said, I'm going to call them first thing on Monday as you suggested Maggy to make an appointment at our local branch.

[AdamD]

Santander are absolutely useless.

Called them up, explained that we didn't have any mortgage reference numbers/details, as we'd had a fire in our office/garage, so we were told to go to our local branch, with proof of ID, to get details from there

Went to the Goring branch today, was told, sorry, we can't give you any details here, you need to call this number.

So we go home, call the number (different to the original one) and was told exactly the same thing (Go back to the branch)

[Flyboy]

This doesn't make any sense at all. I can never remember what my mortgage account number is, they just ask me a few security questions and Bob's your uncle (no pun intended ).

[AdamD]

Heh yea, they're useless, we've always had problems with them.

The woman we saw today couldn't have been more uninterested in helping us if she tried.

I always liked dealing with Abbey but since they were taken over by Santander they have become the absolute pits in money grabbing attitudes that I never observed when they were Abbey.Sandander want to spend less on those stupid Lego ads.

[AdamD]

They haven't been to bad with us, I mean, the mortgage hasn't been paid properly since August of last year, because of my uncle.

We had a letter yesterday with our current arrears, he's failed to pay the last two months as well, so it's now upto £3000

House is going on the market next week.

[007stuart]

Originally Posted by AdamD

Thanks all for the advice.

My credit report now shows two late payments, not sure if there's any late ones this month so far.

But we've had numerous debt collection companies calling for my uncle of late, Amex, Albion, Risk Management Alternatives, Lloyds Gym and another who's name I forget.

Everytime they call here, he rushes to the phone and says "No David isn't here at the moment".

We had a call 10 minutes ago and the conversation went like this.

David: Hello?
David: No, who's calling?
David: Oh, no he's not here at the moment
David: I'm his brother...no, he hasn't told me about that.....really? No I had no idea
David: How did you get this number? Well he hasn't had email in years, so that can't be right, does he know what this is about?....well I had no idea, but he's not here, so you'll have to call back later.

He hangs up and usually repeats that type of conversation the next day when they call.

We've confronted him about it and he always has an excuse and it's usually someone elses' fault, be it his partners, the banks, or some "miscommunication".

So, I have a question

When we bought this house, the mortgage was 138k and my dad put down a 40k deposit.

If the debt collectors come calling, could they take (A) the house and (B) the original deposit my dad put down?

As long as the debt collectors are trying to collect unsecured debts then it is not possible for them to sell the house to repay your uncle's debts. Likewise you or your father are not responsible for these debts unless they are in joint names with your uncle. They should also give no information to any one other than the debtor when calling. (data security act)

Did you make provision for the distribution of the sale proceeds in the original purchase agreement as it may be that the equity now may have to be split equally between the three of you on sale of the property

Does Santander have a Head Office Arrears Department as nowadays the bulk of mortgage arrears administration is carried out in an admin/head office. location. Speak to them immediately, the branches are no more than shops so the staff get no credit for helping hence the total disinterest.

[Angua]

Worth posting your situation on Money Saving Expert. There are many people who would be able to advise on your situation - even solicitors pop in from time to time.

[AdamD]

Cheers, I might do just that.

I Still don't understand how he isn't able to pay the mortgage, he gets a pension of over £1000 a month from Lloyds and a private pension which is over £400 from another company.

Plus he works "cash in hand" with take away delivery companies, sometimes as much as 40 hours a week, all untaxed (Half tempted to report him, to be honest).

[Peter_]

Originally Posted by AdamD

Cheers, I might do just that.

I Still don't understand how he isn't able to pay the mortgage, he gets a pension of over £1000 a month from Lloyds and a private pension which is over £400 from another company.

Plus he works "cash in hand" with take away delivery companies, sometimes as much as 40 hours a week, all untaxed (Half tempted to report him, to be honest).

Half tempted to report him, I do not know him but would gladly do it for you.

[AdamD]

Heh yea, I may do so, especially considering he's claiming benefits (disability/ESA) now, since his "angina attack" and claims he can't work.

[Peter_]

Originally Posted by AdamD

Heh yea, I may do so, especially considering he's claiming benefits (disability/ESA) now, since his "angina attack" and claims he can't work.

He is taking everyone for a fool including you and ripping off the state to boot.

[AdamD]

Quite right
I probably wouldn't have cared if he were still paying the mortgage, but considering he hasn't in 6 months and has ruined all our credit ratings, I've decided to report him for tax evasion and benefit fraud, so we'll see how that goes.

This thread has reappeared three months on from your last update. Where have you got to with the mortgage arrears now? Is everything back up to date?

I don't know how these things work, but if you dob your useless uncle in to the authorities, it might be worth going to Experian or whoever and asking them to reconsider your credit score, using uncle's inevitable kicking at the hands of the authorities as evidence?

---------- Post added at 12:20 ---------- Previous post was at 12:19 ----------

/sudden thought

Might your garage fire have been a dim-witted attempt at burning evidence?

[danielf]

Originally Posted by Chris

This thread has reappeared three months on from your last update. Where have you got to with the mortgage arrears now? Is everything back up to date?

I don't know how these things work, but if you dob your useless uncle in to the authorities, it might be worth going to Experian or whoever and asking them to reconsider your credit score, using uncle's inevitable kicking at the hands of the authorities as evidence?

---------- Post added at 12:20 ---------- Previous post was at 12:19 ----------

/sudden thought

Might your garage fire have been a dim-witted attempt at burning evidence?

According to post #51, the house is going on the market next week.

This thread has the potential of Smicer-like proportions