Banking fraud

[lifeafterdebt]

I am desperately looking for a solicitor who will take my case against HBOS on a no win no fee basis. I believe HBOS overvalued my house in 2006 at 925k making it impossible to sell in 2008 at 950k after a valution of 800k two years after the original one. HBOS refused the offer of a tenant to cover the mortage and instead forced a sale creating a £217,000 shortfall. At no point did they discuss or advise me of arrears saying they had no obligation to speak to both jointly and severally liable partners if they had discussion with one. Now they are chasing us mercilessly for moeny and income we do not have as my husband has lost his development, his livelihood and our home and our finacial future because of their actions. I have been bloggin about this for a year in the hope of unearthing some help in this matter.
lifeafterdebts.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/whod-have-thought-there-is-such-thing.html
lifeafterdebts.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/girl-power.html
lifeafterdebts.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/cabbages-and-things.html
Does anyone know a law firm who may help?

Maybe you both need to go bankrupt & sort it once & for all. Surely there is an onus on you as a purchaser to decide if the house was worth the money you wanted to pay for it? House prices do go up as well as down - what did other house sell for in the area. did their price drop too?

A house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, so if the market at the time meant £925k was the correct selling price (and if not, why would you have bought it) then surely there is no case there? Unless you are disputing the value done in 2008, in which case surely that should have been disputed at the time?

I'm not a solicitor, however I've worked in mortgage sales and I know where I worked (not HBOS) the policy was to speak to any named on the mortgage unless otherwise informed by the customers.

Example: mr and mrs jones buy a house. No one would expect both to receive separate phone calls regarding the accounts.
Mr and mrs jones then split up but can't afford to remortgage. They notify the bank and ask that both be consulted with anything to do with the mortgage. Unless you ever specifically asked for a different arrangement, then that's presumably what has happened in your case. Shouldn't your issue be with the person who got the mortgage into arrears rather than the bank who lent you the money?

Why did the bank value it? If it was for mortgage purposes, then the valuer was acting for the bank and not for you, so you have no claim against them. The Bank didn't tell you what you should pay for the house, they assessed what they were prepared to lend against it.

If you were unaware of the arrears how/why did you have the "we don't have to talk to both of you" conversation?

This has really riled me. I'm sure it's a terrible situation to be in, but you must have decided it was a good price or why did you pay it? At the time these boards were full of people complaining the banks were undervaluing so people couldn't get the mortgages they needed. I bet you were chuffed to bits when the bank granted you the massive loan. They didn't make you take it though.

The idea of taking a (close to?) 100% mortgage on such an expensive property terrifies me but no doubt you were expecting to make a profit. Would you have handed that to the bank, like you're expecting them to take the loss?

All correspondence regarding the arrears would have been sent to the house addressed to both of you, if you were both living there. If you knew you were in arrears, you were perfectly capable of contacting them rather than waiting for them. If you didn't know then why were they saying they didn't need to speak to you?

Oh, and having read the first blog link you have given, I think you are being faintly ridiculous on it! You have said that the bank do not care about women, despite the fact that they addressed all letters jointly to you and your DH, the fact is he was hiding the letters! If they had sent them out separately to you both, he could and presumably WOULD have still done the same! Why are you trying to blame anyone else for you and DH's own errors? Seems like you have a severe case of victim mentality going on!

And to flip your argument, would you still be screaming sex discrimination if they had discussed with you not your husband? It was his deceit that meant they spoke to him not you, if you had rang instead of him the onus would have been on you to tell him!

I agree with earlier posts

Are you saying your DH didn't inform you that you were in arrears?

I do have sympathy for your situation, but my anger would be directed at my DH, not the bank.

If you lived in the house for 10 years, you had re-mortgaged in 2006, to try and ensure your DH's business could continue?

Have you considered bankruptcy?

Hbos didn't over value it. You offered on that property and a surveyor agreed and then the bank mortgaged.

You clearly took a very high mortgage

The propery slump resulted in the lower valuation

Sorry but I don't think you have a leg to stand on.

Your title is misleading. This isn't banking fraud. I'm shocked you were allowed such a big mortgage with so little equity but cases like this probably contributed to the crash in 2007.