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Hi there,
In 2007 my husband bought a property in Yorkshire and converted it into two flats. His sister bought the top flat and he has kept the bottom as a rental property.
Last Friday, he received a call from his tenant questioning why the locks had been changed and why he had been evicted without any paperwork. We had no idea what he was talking about. He said the locks had been changed and the gas been cut off. We called the mortgage company who confirmed all mortgage payments up to date. The next day we travelled up from London to the property to see what was going on.
The locks and gas has been changed/cut off and the flat looked a state looking in. We found a letter from Santender outside addressed to his sister which stated she was in £600.28 arrears and they had made a site visit. The letter was from Acsent in Manchester. We called the contact on the letter and she claimed his sisters property should not have been repossessed,they had made a site visit and she had produced a report for Santender. She had looked in the window and seen a letter addressed to my husband with the same surname and assumed the downstairs property was the correct one. (Clearly not thinking Land Regirty was good enough source)
We then called Santender who firstly claimed there was nothing they could do as they could not discuss the arrears as it wasnt my husbands account, even though they had accessed his property, changed the locks, cut off the gas and taken items! She advised him to call the police (!) When he asked to speak to a manager they put him through to litagation department. They claimed the property had not been repossessed even though locks had been changed etc. they arranged for the locksmith to meet us at the property to give us the keys. He was from a local company a1 locks, subcontracted by Humprey & Grey. We entered the property which was in a bad state (mostly due to the tenant) but when we wetn into the kitchen we could see all the appliance had been removed. a1 locks said they had not been there when he got there and the tenants must have stolen them. We then went to police station to report theft from property by our tenants. However, the next day when the neighbours were asked if they had seen anything, they reported that it was the locksmith that had removed the items; plus in retrosect the had all been drained down etc which would have been done by a professional. a1 locks had also offered to reconnect the gas when we were there plus made a comment about the food being off in the fridge (and fridge had been taken)
So in summary santander have
-entered the total WRONG property over 600 of arrears
-removed applaince from kitchen (ceramic hob, oven, dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, fridge freezer)
- changed locks
- cut off gas
all with no apparent repossession order, plus their contracters have lied about takeing the items regardless of two eye witnesses saying they have seen them remove them.
My husband spoke with Santender today (compliants department) and the woman was intitally very rude and patronising saying they had images of the property without the appliances in there and suggested we were trying to make a false claim.
However, we run our own Property Development and maintenance company in London and we subcontract for Humprey and Grey so we know their stringent procedures where you must send before and after photos. They only have one set of photos (clearly after) plus we have two witnesses who have seen the A1 locksmith removing the items. She said the arrears (since cleared) had not got to possession stage and when that happened there should have been Acsent empployee, bailiff, locksmith all in attendence. Hoever, it was only the locksmith that attended.
We have also lost our tenants (as unkempt as they were) so are picking up the bill for morgage and council tax.
Any advice on how to deal with Santender and their monumnetal mess up!
Thanks in advance
In 2007 my husband bought a property in Yorkshire and converted it into two flats. His sister bought the top flat and he has kept the bottom as a rental property.
Last Friday, he received a call from his tenant questioning why the locks had been changed and why he had been evicted without any paperwork. We had no idea what he was talking about. He said the locks had been changed and the gas been cut off. We called the mortgage company who confirmed all mortgage payments up to date. The next day we travelled up from London to the property to see what was going on.
The locks and gas has been changed/cut off and the flat looked a state looking in. We found a letter from Santender outside addressed to his sister which stated she was in £600.28 arrears and they had made a site visit. The letter was from Acsent in Manchester. We called the contact on the letter and she claimed his sisters property should not have been repossessed,they had made a site visit and she had produced a report for Santender. She had looked in the window and seen a letter addressed to my husband with the same surname and assumed the downstairs property was the correct one. (Clearly not thinking Land Regirty was good enough source)
We then called Santender who firstly claimed there was nothing they could do as they could not discuss the arrears as it wasnt my husbands account, even though they had accessed his property, changed the locks, cut off the gas and taken items! She advised him to call the police (!) When he asked to speak to a manager they put him through to litagation department. They claimed the property had not been repossessed even though locks had been changed etc. they arranged for the locksmith to meet us at the property to give us the keys. He was from a local company a1 locks, subcontracted by Humprey & Grey. We entered the property which was in a bad state (mostly due to the tenant) but when we wetn into the kitchen we could see all the appliance had been removed. a1 locks said they had not been there when he got there and the tenants must have stolen them. We then went to police station to report theft from property by our tenants. However, the next day when the neighbours were asked if they had seen anything, they reported that it was the locksmith that had removed the items; plus in retrosect the had all been drained down etc which would have been done by a professional. a1 locks had also offered to reconnect the gas when we were there plus made a comment about the food being off in the fridge (and fridge had been taken)
So in summary santander have
-entered the total WRONG property over 600 of arrears
-removed applaince from kitchen (ceramic hob, oven, dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, fridge freezer)
- changed locks
- cut off gas
all with no apparent repossession order, plus their contracters have lied about takeing the items regardless of two eye witnesses saying they have seen them remove them.
My husband spoke with Santender today (compliants department) and the woman was intitally very rude and patronising saying they had images of the property without the appliances in there and suggested we were trying to make a false claim.
However, we run our own Property Development and maintenance company in London and we subcontract for Humprey and Grey so we know their stringent procedures where you must send before and after photos. They only have one set of photos (clearly after) plus we have two witnesses who have seen the A1 locksmith removing the items. She said the arrears (since cleared) had not got to possession stage and when that happened there should have been Acsent empployee, bailiff, locksmith all in attendence. Hoever, it was only the locksmith that attended.
We have also lost our tenants (as unkempt as they were) so are picking up the bill for morgage and council tax.
Any advice on how to deal with Santender and their monumnetal mess up!
Thanks in advance
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