Threatening Letter From Bank

W

Wishes

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A friend of mine has a debt of 17k with an Irish bank.

They subsequently lost their job and like many others have no way of paying back X amount the bank requests each month. They have still been making payments but not the amount that meets the banks requirements.

Yesterday evening they showed me a letter of demand they received from their bank branch. It was quite shocking to say the least; it albeit said that every aspect of his daily banking with the said bank would be sabotaged and whatever credit they have in other accounts will be seized by the bank.

Can a bank do this or do they need a court order?
 
Yes, they can do this, but quite often a bank will send this letter if a customer has ignored previous letters asking them to contact them to work out an arrangement if they cannot pay the agreed amounts, or if they have not stuck to a reduced payment arrangement.

Had your friend previously contacted the bank to advise them of their current situation?
 
The bank had been informed by a debt management company he has negotiating on his behalf. He's still continuing to make suggested (by the debt management company) monthly repayments to the bank.

The reason the banks response to his predicament interests me is because I have a lot of business with them too; lets say its a lot more than 17k.

I have just learned that the company I work for will be closing their doors soon and I will also be in the same boat.

The money I currently have is the only security I have to keep the roof over my head.

I have no intentions of running from any debts I have but I will no doubt need reduced payments.
 
Wishes, if you have money/savings you should move them to different bank which you have no loans with. Otherwise if in the same bank they will go after them for any shortfall with loan repayments build up. This is standard practice and nothing new the banks are going.
 
The possibility is that a decision on formal agreed reduced arrangement has not yet been made by the bank, which could explain why your friend got the notice of termination of the banker/customer relationship letter from the bank, so obviously your friend should bring it to the attention of the debt management company as a matter of urgency.

On a side note I have read in this thread http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=129694 that PTSB will not accept payments made by a debt management company on behalf of their clients, so I don’t know whether or not this might be the case with your friend.

I’m sorry to hear of your own forthcoming situation, & I’d suggest that you don’t get put off by your friend’s one. Most banks would prefer to deal with MABS rather than a debt management company. If you haven’t already you might want to have a look through their website www.mabs.ie & maybe make an appointment to see them, despite their current backlog. Also, if you have a mortgage you might want to check out the possibility of claiming a mortgage interest supplement if & when the time comes http://www.citizensinformation.ie/c...-welfare-schemes/mortgage_interest_supplement as well as asking your lender to switch to interest only for a set period.

MABS can negotiate on your behalf, or they supply sample letters on their site that you can use as a basis for contacting other creditors advising them of your change in circumstances & requesting reduced payment arrangements.

As Towger says you may want to move any funds to another bank now, but as I said above the bank would only terminate the banker/customer relationship if you fail to engage with them or fail keep to a reduced repayment arrangement agreement. If they do this & pursue you through the courts it doesn’t matter where you have the funds, so opening a new bank account is not going to solve any long-term problem, & could look worse on your part in the long run. This is just my opinion.
 
Thanks for all feedback.

The sample letters on MABS website are great. I've used them recently to make contact with one of my creditors who had previously reduced my payments.

I wrote to them explaining my situation had not improved and also explaining that my job is going in the coming weeks.

Straight away they were onto me looking to divert the account to their debt collectors because they said they do not see me finding further employment within the coming months.

I'm still making interest payments monthly on this loan.
 
Wishes said:
Yesterday evening they showed me a letter of demand they received from their bank branch. It was quite shocking to say the least;
Click to expand...

Wishes would you be able to post the body of the letter on here, with no identifying of the bank or person involved. I'd like to know what banks write in the letters.
 
Bronte, yes I'll get a copy of this letter.

In summary it says they will close all accounts he has with the bank, stop any D/D's and retrieve any monies that maybe in his accounts. Also something was mentioned about his mortgage.
 
Why do banks do this. They possibly destroy someones ability to mantain a reduced payment, that possibly would pay off the loan just over a longer term.
 
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