I was repo'd in Sept 1995 and the property sold in Dec 1996. The first contact from the Nationwide was in November 1999 asking for #28729.95 (the property was purchased for #26,000 and sold for #10,000!)as the total debt was apparantly #37411.15 less the profit from the sale of the property. Incidently the selling agent charged 8% plus vat! I requested a breakdown etc and served DPA. The lender has now written to me saying that they hare happy to supply a 'full breakdown' but before they do they require me to 'confirm the reasons you request this and to what benefit it will serve'. I have written back basically requesting the same info again and stating that the reasons seem fairly self explanatory. Am i correct in assuming that I have the right to request the info regardless of any reason? I don't know if it makes a difference but I was banking with them at the time of the sale but never rec'd a notification of sale etc....

-- (Linda.Northampton@csc.com), June 20, 2000

Answers

You do not have to explain why you are serving the subject access rights order on them (unless the Data Protection Act now contains a clause that I hadn't noticed).

You are exercising a legal right that you already have, and you are exercising it to try to resolve the Nationwide's claim without either of you having to bother the courts by taking your dispute there.

So I suggest you send a copy of their letter to the Data Protection Registrar (see its site at http://www.dpr.gov.uk for details.) and ask the DPR to investigate (They will send you a complaint form to fill out.)

In the meantime, write to the Nationwide politely pointing out that they have 40 days to comply with your request and that you await their response to your original request. There's no particular need to threaten them with a complaint to the DPR - no lender is frightened of the DPR but you should make sure your letter says that you are using the DPA to try to resolve the Nationwide's claim without either of you having to bother the courts.

You may find that the DPR is unwilling to upset your lender but any letters you have that show the Nationwide was unwilling to comply with Data Protection law or was obstructive to your attempts to sort the issue out when you tried to use the law to resolve their claim without having to go to court - will make them look like oafs in front of a judge.

Judges hate plaintiffs who have obstructed the other party's attempts to resolve the issue out of court and can award costs against them. This will likely reduce Nationwide's willingness to actually go to court over your claim - despite what their letters might say.

You clearly have concerns about the Nationwide's numbers so you are absolutely right to seek more information - you don't have to tell them exactly what your concerns are. You only need to say that you are seeking information in order to deal with their claim as quickly as possible.

In short, the more resistance Nationwide puts up to your attempts to resolve the claim outside of the court, and the more it does it in writing, the better for you.

Incidentally, lenders routinely submit high sales agent costs as part of shortfall claims but 8% is among the highest I have yet seen. You have every reason to be concerned and to seek more information.

I would also love to have copies of the Nationwide's letters to you.

Lee

-- Lee (repossession@bigfoot.com), June 23, 2000.

With regard to the Answer given by Lee This is similar to the same Question you asked on the 20/6/2000 which i replied to on the same day being 20/6/2000

I do not disagree in many points re the DPR but were i made the statement -make a formal complaint to the DPR this has to be done as they will only work on official written complaints Yes i agree many Lenders are not afraid of the DPR but at the same time many Barristors -Solicitors and indeed Courts also take no notice! They just tend to look at the Shortfall and amount owed under the deed or charge!Yes there are it appears movement in some courts re Further Questioning on Figures and Shortfalls on Behalf of the Borrowers but alas not all courts yet

They tend to rely on disclosure stage of the documents and appear to dismiss the DPR stage it is like a hand being waved in the Opera House-not noticed! You still need a good Solicitor and possibly a good Accountant to go over the figures -this a tactic not used very much but the Lender having to report his figures to an Accountant can be very interesting- like when it comes to the 8% and other odd amounts-His report can then be given to the Solicitor unless you go as litigants in person a stage i would not advice unless you feel able.

The point Lee is getting at is to avoid Court-yes I agree if this can be done-so you now have raised two Questions and got three answers all in the same route though -so lets see were you go from here-with a positive mind!!!!

wish you well

Charles Twford

-- charles twford (charles.twford@lineone.net), June 23, 2000.

Complaining to the Data Protection Commission is very slow and cumbersome at present. They tell me they are taking 3 months to deal with complaints due to high volumes and lack of staff to cope with it.

Better to tackle the Nationwide. The 40 days does incidentally start from the date they are satisfied it really is you requesting the information. They can delay matters by seeking documentary proof of identity and many organisations now do this, to be sure they are releasing information to bona fide individuals and not mischief makers (foe example: divorcing couples stirring up trouble for one another by pretending to be the data subject to get information they can use against the other)

-- James Simons (james_2999@hotmail.com), June 29, 2000.

I had a look at the DPA on the web this morning. The only way they can stall you legally is by asking you for their fee, and making sure of your identity. The fact that you are already involved in a correspondence with them means that they have accepted your identity! Good luck.

-- Eleanor Scott (eleanor.scott@btinternet.com), July 15, 2000.