Absa has ruined my life

I had a homeloan with Absa that I obtained in 2008. My property fell into arrears and I struggled to catch up as hard as I tried. I rented the property out, the tenant turned out to be delinquent and I was overstretched financially. Around August 2013, I found out that there had a been a summons sent to my property. I was not aware of the summons as the tenants did not pass it on to me. Anyway, as luck would have it, my employer was retrenching, so I app**** for a voluntary service package. As soon as it was approved, I called the lawyers and they referred me to Absa legal to make arrangements. This was on October 1 2013. On October 2 2013, I called Absa and advised a Lorrie Lombard that I would settle the arrears at latest by 1 November 2013 as my severance package would have been paid by then. The arrangement was accepted. On Friday, 25 October 2013 at 5.40pm, the lawyers sent me a notice of application for default judgment, which was to be heard in court on Monday 4, November 2013. I responded to that email , informing them that I had spoken to Lorrie Lombard and had made an arrangement to settle the arrears by November 1. I asked how this would affect the application. The lawyers responded, saying that they would immediately pend all legal action once the arrears had been settled. They told me to send proof of payment once I had paid. On 31 October 2013, I called Lorrie Lombard and asked her what the total arrears outstanding were. She gave me the amount. I made the payment as well as the instalment for the month and promptly sent her the proof of payment and confirmed receipt with her. The fact that my bond was now up to date was also noted on the homeloan audit trail. I, however, did not send the proof to the attorneys, but was under the impression that Absa would update the attorneys. I assumed the matter was settled.

Around December, I subscribed to Transunion ITC and on inspecting my credit profile, was shocked to find out that a default judgment had been granted. I called the lawyers and asked what had happened and they said they had not received any instruction from Absa to pend action so they had proceeded with the matter. I asked what I could do to get rid of the judgement, and they said there was nothing I could do except settle the bond.

I let it be because I was freelancing and could not afford to take the matter up. Anyway, the bond fell into arrears again around April 2014, but as soon as I got another contract in October 2014, I made an arrangement to settle the arrears. That contract ended the following year in June 2015 and I tried to get another tenant on the property, but again, tenant defaulted. I secured employment in September 2015 but was told I needed to get a car. I contacted Absa again and tried to get them to rescind the judgment. They refused, but after a few follow ups and communication with Absa Legal, they gave me a letter saying they would not oppose recission of judgment and said I could get a lawyer. I hired a lawyer but when the lawyers made contact with Absa, Absa backtracked. Another job offer fell through because of the judgment.

In any case, I still could not maintain my bond and around July 2016, body corporate cut the services on my property so I could not even try to get another tenant. In January 2017, I discovered the property was about to be sold in execution. I was able to stop the sale, but then Absa put me under pressure to sell the property under their help u sell programme. They told me I would receive a discount on the shortfall. Only later did I discover that the discount was only for the difference between the sale price and outstanding balance, so it only turned out be a R20000 discount. My property was valued at R680 000 and was sold for R640000. But once all costs and outstanding levies were added, I was left with a shortfall of R208000. I signed an acknowledgment of debt. I agreed to pay R2100 a month for 100 months. I have now started paying this amount and am trying to rebuild my credit so I can get a permanent job and find a rental - I have been living at home with my kids and I sleep on the floor with them. I can afford a rental and a car as I freelance. But on ITC, Absa lists my instalment amount at R9300 which is not the case. I have asked them to rectify this to reflect an accurate picture of how much I owe them and how much I pay. I am miserable because were it not for the judgment, none of this would have happened. But it did, and all I want them to do is rectify my account information on ITC as the judgment is finally gone. Is that too much to ask?