# ACC Bank-Did they do home loans??



## dmak (13 Jun 2011)

Hi 
Okay... I got a loan for my house from ACC in 2006. At the time I told them that my wife and I would be living in the property, which they said was OK but that they didn't do home loans only commercial ones. In order to get the loan I had to provide accounts for my business over the last 3 years blah,blah. Now in 2008 my business went pop (I'm a civil engineer and was in private practice, owed lots of money in small amounts that I will never get), so I couldn't pay the mortgage. ACC started to throw there weight around so I tried to buy the loan off them by raising 500k from every source I could think of (I borrowed 580k paid 100k had arrears of 25k at the time) they refused. To cut a long story short they would only accept lower payments if we signed the house over to them, which we refused. So they got a Judgement against us and are now looking to have a repossession order put on our home. I have been to MABS who say that as it was a commercial loan they cant help, I cant get free legal aid because they consider it a commercial loan, I'm now on Disability benefit because I've had several nervous breakdowns but we cant get mortgage relief because the social say we got a commercial loan.

Every piece of paper we got off ACC says "HOME LOAN" on it and they are taking us through the circuit court, they also have requested that we sign a non-disclosure agreement if they achieve the repossession. All my research tells me that ACC don't do home loans and never did. Any one with advice or help out there??


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## Brendan Burgess (13 Jun 2011)

I am not sure what the issue here is. They gave you a loan to buy the house in which you lived. You told them that you would be living in it. Therefore it is a home loan under the Mortgage Arrears Code and for tax purposes. It does not matter whether it is ACC's normal practice or not.



> So they got a Judgement against us and are now looking to have a repossession order put on our home


Whether it is a home loan or a commercial loan, it is irrelevant. They are entitled to get a repossession order if you default on the loan. I don't know why they had to get a judgment? Usually, one only gets a judgment if the loan is not secured. 

So, is it possible that they gave you an unsecured loan? If so, now they have a judgment, the next stage would be to convert this into a judgment mortgage. However, they are still covered by the Mortgage Arrears Code and you should bring this to their attention.

When you took out the loan, did you use a solicitor? What did that solicitor advise? What is that solicitor advising now? 

It is important to recognise as early as possible if your loan is not sustainable. If there is no likelihood that you will be able to pay the loan, then maybe you should consider surrendering the house? If you do this, you should seek something from them in return. For example, that they will write off any deficit remaining after the house is sold. 

Brendan


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## Alwyn (13 Jun 2011)

My brother has a mortgage with them.  As far as I know they never gave out your average home loan.  If you were approved for a mortgage so to speak it was classified as a commercial loan.  I remember at the time his solicitor commented about how complex the loan agreement was.  He is also finding it difficult to claim mortgage relief etc.    

He is currently going through a loan restructuring process with them but hasn't received anything in writing only a verbal agreement that they will accept lower repayments.  It is nearly a year now so repossession is no doubt on the cards for him.

How many months are you in arrears?

I'm also baffled why they sought judgment??


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## kaplan (14 Jun 2011)

Check your research. ACC did offer homeloans which were issued in compliance with the Consumer Credit Act. Their homeloan/mortgage agreements were not commercial loans.


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## Alwyn (14 Jun 2011)

But if the OP looks at his mortgage agreement he will no doubt see it says commercial loan.  Why do they not state clearly that it is a home loan?  And most importantly why can he or others not claim mortgage relief?


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## diamonds (14 Jun 2011)

Yes, they did homeloans. We had one.


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## Alwyn (15 Jun 2011)

I'm surprised this topic has only come up now.  I am also querying this commercial /residential mortgage scenario.  It says on my mortgage agreement that I have a commercial mortgage yet when I asked them they told me it was residential but it clearly says on my agreement that this is not the case.  Could someone clarify what the difference between a commercial mortgage and a residential mortgage is please?


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## dmak (15 Jun 2011)

My thoughts also Alwyn, surely if you are sold one thing and are told that you have something else then that is a breach of contract.


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## Alwyn (15 Jun 2011)

That's what I would have thought too but as you know its one rule for banks and another for us.  

I remember mentioning something about it being a commercial property to a member of staff who seemed to brush me off too quickly for my liking.

What are your next moves Dmak?


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## dmak (15 Jun 2011)

Don't know really, I cant afford legal advice and I can get any help from government sources. I've got no other assets and the bank is playing hardball. I'm deep in the stinky.
But I would like to know if you can be sold one thing and given another. Perhaps there is a contract issue i can use. In the long run as is the case with so many out there its my home were talking about.


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## Brendan Burgess (15 Jun 2011)

The requirements for a Housing Loan are set out in Section IX of the Consumer Credit Act.

The lender must provide the borrower with certain information. I am not sure of the implications for the lender of being in breach of the Consumer Credit Act. I doubt if the court would turn around and say that the mortgage is no longer valid because they didn't set out the APR correctly. 

But the OP's question is confusing. Why did ACC get a judgment if they already had a mortgage? 

This is clearly a home loan and I don't understand why ACC is denying it. I don't understand how the OP is losing out by ACC's denial that it is a home loan. They are entitled to be repaid. If they are charging penalty interest or charges and they haven't complied with the disclosure requirements of the Act, then I would imagine that a judge would void them. However, this doesn't seem to be the issue in this case.


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## dmak (29 Jun 2011)

*Update*

So went to court today, the barrister asked for an adjournment because they had no solicitor with papers present, the judge asked me what the story was, and I said my piece. The Judge then asked me how the Bank had helped in regard to negotiations I said they hadn't, the judge then read the banks affidavit and instructed the barrister to inform the bank that they had to at least talk to me about some form of restructuring or arrangement or some thing and reminded them that regardless of what type of mortgage we had that this was are primary residence and that they knew that. then referred the matter to the county registrar after the our discussions with the bank.


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