Hi all, my property was repo'd approx 7 years ago I have never had any contact from the lender at all. I have no idea when and what they sold the property for. I have been getting on with my life and to be honest had forgotten all about it, I had assumed that the indemnity policy had covered any shortfall or that they achieved the right price from the property. However, I recently received a copy of my credit file from experian and the lender has been doing 'unrecorded enquiries' on me for the last two years. I am really puzzled by this, the lender has obviously tried to find me, has found me but still has not contacted me. I don't know what to do, should I contact them or sit tight and wait for them to contact me. Is there anything they can do after this length of time? I've had another mortgage for the last two years with no probs, can they put a charge on this property? How can I find out what they sold the property for? Answers to these questions would be much appreciated.

-- (bagpus90@hotmail.com), August 20, 2002

Answers

Hi there

If your repo'd property was sold more than 6 years ago and there has been no contact from the lender, under the CML (Council of Mortgage Lenders)agreement of Feb 2000, they should not now pursue you for the shortfall.

The lender must of course be a CML menber - all building societies and banks are, as well as some of the other lenders.

You say that the repo was 7 years ago- for the CML it is the date of sale that is important.

This CML agreement is completely different and seperate from any limititation issues (such as have been recently been decided by the Court of Appeal). It is only a voluntary agreement but it seems to have been adhered to by lenders.

The lender may claim to have contacted you - if they have written to an incorrect address, that does not count as a contact. If they have written to a corect address but the letter has been ignored, thrown away etc., contact will have been made.

I hope this helps

All the best

Guy

PS if an insurance policy - a MIG (mortgage indemnity guarantee) covered the loan, the insurer is allowed to chase the borrower to get its money back - very unfair as the borrower paid the premium, but true i'm afraid.

-- Guy Skipwith (guy.skipwith@nacab.org.uk), August 21, 2002.

In a perfect world they would not pursue given that most have agreed to a voluntary code, unfortunately we do not live in a perfect world and it has been proved time and again that most move the goalposts and tell lies when they are trying to excuse their behaviour. In my own case National Home Loans/ Paragon are still trying it on over eight years on from repossession even though they failed in their duty of care and sold me an endowment mortgage with no policy ever being in force. I for one would be very careful about relying on the six year agreement as it seems most do not adhere to it!!!

-- Steve. (powerhousesteve@aol.com), August 25, 2002.