Mortgage Express are forcing me to sell my home – HELP!

Under the circumstances I think you should begin to explore your options for refinancing. Have MX called in the loan yet? When did your brother pass way?

@Mark Alexander

He passed away in 2010. No, MX have not called in the loan. They do keep writing though and asking if probate is granted (it isnt). I dont reply. It seems to be a standard letetr that they churn out every few months.

If they say I cant keep the loan, could I recover the interest payments I have made (as I understand that the loan should be frozen at the date of death) and I have been making the payments from my own account.

Hi and thankyou for all your responses to my problem.

@ Mark Alexander, yes we have kept all correspondece and Mx are still not allowing us to keep the status quo.

@ Paul Barrett. I am feeling your anger mate and sometimes wish I had it in me to, shall we say, 'play the game'. Unfortunately I do not think I have the energy and strength of mind to keep up such a charade. Everything you say is right though and sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. Maybe I would win in the short term but somewhere down the road they maybe able to find out and everything that I have in my favour now, although not much, will be gone. If need be I may have to come back to your methods at a later time. Thankyou kindly for your input.

We took out a mortgage with MX 10 years ago and even with our initial builder running off with over £10k of my savings we have never missed a payment nor have we ever asked for any help. As my original post tells you I was made redundant and as hard as I tried I could not find any work. The rest of our savings were going on to the Mortgage payments.
We do not smoke, take drugs, drive a fancy car or buy flash clothes and because of our financial situation we did not have much of a social life left.
When i was offered work in Spain I took it and on Sept 1st 2008 my family and i left for a warmer climate and after struggling for four years have managed to sort ourselves out financially.
I had no idea how long I was to be out here and nor did I know that in Sept 2008 the HM Treasury and the Government would make a decision to nationalise the Bradford & Bingley Group which includes Mortgage Express. Before they did this we had options now we do not. I did not have the money to apply for a buy to let (£250 just for admin), I did not know how long I would be out here, infact i did come back for a while because our initial interest fell through.
We do not live a costa del sol lifestyle by some expat resort, we live up in the mountains and work 7 days a week to feed and house our family. We are also working to keep our house in the UK so we have a home to come back to when the world is sorted.

@ Lise Willcox, yes we are completely upto date with the revenue side of things and the building is fully insured.

@ Rual Knights, was I really in the wrong? I lived there till 2008, that is 6 years without missing a payment. I only went to find work. I would not have had to if the economy wasn't so screwed. It was not my fault that Bradford and Bingley went to pot taking MX with them. Hopefully you are right and should it go to court I hope the judge sees both sense and logic. I hope your get your tennants sorted.

@ Gavin. Was I really in breach of contract I lived there and paid 'correctly' till 2008. I moved out at the same time they went tits up, for want of a better way of putting it. I did not sign anything that said they could become a nationalised company. Did anyone? I did not even know. Our rent covers our mortgage a second charge and the insurances thats all, I rent it out £200 cheaper than I could because I have good tennants in. I make sure all certificates are covered, gas, electricity etc and any problems that arise are sorted at my expense. I have offered to pay MX extra money each month alongside what we have going at the moment so i can reduce my capital. They are saying NO. All i want to do is keep my home.

Once again thankyou all for your comments and your help. Watch this space!!

@ Satu 430. Along with the 2nd charge on the house, if sold we would be lucky to see any change. Just want to reduce my LTV. This will then open a few doors for us. Our only problem is MX who are simply doing a bit of clever accounting that does not include common sense or logic. Am open to all suggestions though

@Landlady - I would advise you to consult a solicitor about this question. My laymans understanding is that interest should be charged to the estate and settled on grant of probate.

Well Gary my sympathies are entirely with you.
But if you do the 'right' thing you will most probably lose in court.
Plus it takes ages to go through the court process.
I would not pay anymore to MX than the minimum required.
How hard would it be for the mortgage holder to 'move' back in and take in lodgers.
It is a simple process that MX will never find out about or rather they will as you will be telling them.
Having lodgers is NOT a breach of your resi mortgage.
You'd be better off sourcing some lodgers off spareroom.co.uk
MX would be delighted.
You would have moved back in and you would have lodgers.
You go on holiday to Spain a lot.
My strategy is very simple and foolproof.
No stress or strain just do as I suggest.
If you want definitive opinion as what other measures you should take just contact me and I'll tell you what to do.
As an example I am a lodger of a tenant in a property I live in.
I am not permitted to live in my MX BTL property.
I don't; I rent it out to a tenant who seemingly is NEVER in and I have the spare room as a lodger!
The game is easily played.
If they want to be stupid they can easily be countered.
They rely on people like you doing the 'normal' thing and then they will take your house; my way they wouldn't.
Just make sure you advise your lodgers if MX comes a calling to say you are out.
All you have to do is make the call to MX advising you are returning to the UK to 'live' in your property.
They will then stop all action hopefully.
Don't pay anymore to them than you need to.

@Mark Alexander
Thank you for your advice. I feared as much - but I was rather hoping to see something akin to your reply to Gary in the first post of this thread!

@Landlady - please don't rely on my advice, I am no more authorised to provide it than most if not all other posters. My comments are merely an educated guess based on many years of experience, hence my advice to seek professional advice.

Hi Gary,

I have exactly the same problem with Mortgage Express. I cannot sell, remortgage or do very much else with my property. I did have permission from them which they have now withdrawn leaving me in a right old mess. I cannot see how they are allowed to do this to established mortgagees. If they don't want new business, that's fine. But how are we all meant to get out of the situation they have put us in? Like you I have nerver once defaulted on my mortgage payments, surely they are better off with us paying than potentially making a loss by reposessing our properties and selling at a possible loss to themselves as well as us? Good luck, any progress with mine, or bright ideas, I'll let you know! Judi James

Hi Judi,

This is a write up on another 'property 118' forum. Think you might find it interesting.

I’ve also heard that MX losses are subsidised to 75% of book value by the Tax payers bail out money. Therefore, if a property if sold for 50% of the mortgage value MX would show 100% profit on their books and somebody would probably get a nice bonus. Do you think this might be incentivising them to look for any old excuse to call in mortgages, e.g. letting to tenants on benefits and anything else they managed to squeeze into their mortgage conditions?