Pepper charging a €448 redemption fee on a mortgage

A

Annie B

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Hi, I recently redeemed my mortgage with Pepper Finance (originally an ACC loan, sold to RaboBank and ultimately Pepper). They refused to return the title docs. directly to myself, insisting that I had to nominate a Solicitor on my behalf. I eventually beat them down on this and was given an email address to contact their Solicitors directly! They want €448 to return the docs. to me. (€150 for handling the docs. €200 to prepare the vacate which I don’t think they’re even going to register, VAT plus €25 postage!!! Anyone have any experience of this? Sounds ludicrous.
 
Do you need the deeds in a hurry?

If not, make a formal complaint and ask them for a Final Response letter so you can make a complaint to the Ombudsman.

It will cost them a lot more to process your complaint.

You should also draw this practice to the attention of the Central Bank.

Brendan
 
I see that they tried to charge one poster €4,000

But they waived it when he complained.

Vulture fund wants to charge €4k mortgage redemption fee

If I redeem (via a lump sum) mortgage held by ABC Bank, are they entitled to expect any additional legal or administration fees in addition to the full redemption figure? And if they are so entitled, what would be a usual charge?
www.askaboutmoney.com

Clearly some people pay this so it's worth their while chancing it.

Brendan
 
Thanks for that. No, I don’t need them in a hurry so I’ll take your advice and see what happens. Seems like very poor practice on their part.
 
Refuse in the strongest possible terms.

I believe I told my Solicitor I would see them in Hell before I paid them a penny over the redemption fee; and I meant every word. I'm sure my Solicitor worded it more politely, but just as strongly.
 
Annie B said:
Hi, I recently redeemed my mortgage with Pepper Finance (originally an ACC loan, sold to RaboBank and ultimately Pepper). They refused to return the title docs. directly to myself, insisting that I had to nominate a Solicitor on my behalf. I eventually beat them down on this and was given an email address to contact their Solicitors directly! They want €448 to return the docs. to me. (€150 for handling the docs. €200 to prepare the vacate which I don’t think they’re even going to register, VAT plus €25 postage!!! Anyone have any experience of this? Sounds ludicrous.
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When my mortage ended Ulster bank asked me who my solicitor was to receive the title deeds. As I didn't want to involve a solicitor, why should I, I never replied. They did the vacate. But a few years later I asked them about where the documents were, they found them and asked where I wanted them sent to, can't remember if they mentioned a solicitor that time. As it's much handier fo me for them to bear the costs of minding the documents for free for me I don't actually want to bring them home. I might lose them or someone might throw them out, or if he house burns down I'd have an awful lot of hassle if I don't go to the expense of a fireproof safe.

- No you don't have to nominate a solicitor. They are your documents.
- Aren't you documents grand there with them
- Don't be bullied, eventually they will figure out it's costing them to mind them. You could be thick and tell them you can't afford to pay them so they can store them for you for the foreseeable future. :D
 
Bronte said:
- Aren't you documents grand there with them
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I don't agree with this at all.

Pepper is not nice to deal with. And they can take a long time to get the documents to you. Which could delay a sale or a mortgage if you ever wanted to do that in the future.

You are not in a hurry to get them, so don't pay. But proactively resolve this and get the deeds back.

Brendan
 
It might be worth while checking whether their 'fee' has been disclosed to CBI - is it S149 CCA?

149.
—(1) Each credit institution shall, within three months, notify the Director of all charges imposed by it in relation to the provision of any service to a customer or to a group of customers.[CBI replaces Director]​
 
Bronte said:
Then they are liable to reinstate the documents.
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That doesn't seem to be the experience. Contract terms don't bind them to any enduring responsibility to safe keep these. Surely our own experience would suggest having the bank just hold on to them can introduce issues. Sounds like you were lucky, in another thread, it took a poster 3 years in a falling market to resolve a similar issue.

There are other threads on here detailing the issues executors have when dealing with such situations and the time it takes to reconstitute the docs when a banks and solicitors deny having the deeds.
 
Leo are you suggesting a bank that loses you documents that they hold in safe keeping are not liable for reinstating them if they lose them? Based on what solicitor Vanilla said they are liable.

In my case I wasn't lucky they found them, it didn't matter to me if they did or didn't. (land registry) But if they didn't I'd have made sure they did and pay for it too if necessary. They currently hold another set of mine, I really should go about getting them but I think they are grand where they are.

OP can either leave the documents where they are or do what Burgess suggested which I think is very sensible advice. I know my bank did my vacate for nothing as the system had changed. If I recall the mortage contract mentioned a vacate fee of 50 Irish pounds. I'd have hit the roof if they tied to charge me for sending my deeds to me. Pepper are chancing their arm on this and the Ombudsman/regulator/Central Bank who are reading this should be pro active on this price gouging. I wonder how many people actually paid them. Blackhall Place should also be highlighting this.
 
Bronte said:
Leo are you suggesting a bank that loses you documents that they hold in safe keeping are not liable for reinstating them if they lose them? Based on what solicitor Vanilla said they are liable.
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If the owner refuses to play ball and arrange for hand-over, then I don't see what terms under which they can be held liable. The ombudsman doesn't suggest that banks should offer free secure storage.
 
Annie

Can you please clarify that this is a plain vanilla mortgage?

In other words it's a mortgage on your family home.

There is no other complication
  • it's not a fixed rate mortgage
  • it's not tied in with any other properties e.g. an investment property cross charge
  • it is not a joint mortgage where the owners are in dispute
  • There are no arrears and no guarantor?
  • It's not an executor sale
Brendan
 
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