At risk of loosing belongings because Standard Bank is to Stubborn

Dear Standard Bank Team,

I have sent this on email to the CEO as well the customer care department and did not get an automated response??? How do you manage your customer complaints? I write to you out of frustration and fear of losing my belongings. I took out a loan in 2014 for a deposit on my home. I was able to make the monthly payments comfortably until 2015 when my husband lost his job and I had to absorb all the commitments for our household. I have never denied that I owe the money even though the loan amount was not paid directly into my account! Every payment proposal I sent to the lawyers has been rejected. I have sent detailed income and expenditure breakdowns to the lawyers to show my affordability and have had to cut down my living expenses to the bare minimum, this has been the case since 2015 and now even more so in the uncertain times we find ourselves in. I am pleading with someone from Standard Bank to assist with this problem that could see me lose my belongings that will probably not even cover the legal fees!!! This situation just does not make sense, when a viable solution of adding on the amount to my home loan which is up to date and has been kept up to date! Your urgent assistance will be greatly appreciated, a families well being is at stake here and urgent intervention is required. Please see below the sequence of events and correspondence sent to the attorneys handling the case. Dear Shaun & Nadine, I hope that you are well and keeping safe during these unprecedented circumstances we find ourselves in . I have received your response below and have taken time to go through the sequence of events / timelines on this case, please see below and attached:

Loan was taken out in 2014 as a deposit for my home. 30 March 2017 communication from Strauss Daly received for the account being in arrears. Response back with a payment arrangement proposed. 10 April 2017 - Notice of Intention to defend filed. Between April & May 2017 Standard Bank changed attorneys from Strauss Daly to Stupel & Berman 12 May 2017, letter from Stupel & Berman received 10 July 2017 out of court settlement proposal sent to Stupel & Berman sent 18 September 2017: Notice of Set down unopposed motion roll received 19 October 2017 - Condonation for Late filing received. 28 November 2017: Correspondence received stating that a payment arrangement of R6179.31 is acceptable, this was not affordable for me. 18 December 2017: Judge ordered that I undergo debt counselling. 8 January 2018: Email sent to Stupel & Berman advising them of the judgement. 13 September 2018: Email received from Stupel & Berman requesting details of debt review. 18 September 2018: Response back advising Stupel & Berman that I was unemployed at the time and the debt review was terminated. 27 September 2018: Notice of Set down unopposed motion roll received. 16 October 2018: Email advising Stupel & Berman of debt review and evidence of it 24 October 2018: Email from Stupel & berman indicating that they are awaiting instruction from Standard Bank 7 November 2018: Email from Stupel & Berman stating that the matter is postponed indefinitely. 21 November 2018: Email received from Stupel & Berman that the summary judgement application is postponed indefinitely. 11 January 2019: Email received from Stupel & Berman stating that you are still awaiting instruction from client. 26 February 2019: Email received from Stupel & Berman stating that Standard Bank will accept R3500.00 as a payment arrangement and if not agreed summary judgement will take place. 4 March 2019: Email reply to Stupel Berman stating I cannot afford the proposed payment arrangement. 2 April 2019: Email received from Stupel & Berman asking what I can afford. 11 April 2019: Email sent back with a proposal of R500 per month based on the financial circumstances. 17 April 2019: Email from Stupel & Berman stating that they are awaiting instruction from client. 28 June 2019: Email response from Stupel & Berman indicating that the payment proposal is rejected and they will be applying for summary judgement. 9 July 2019: Email received stating set down is on 5 September 2019 5 September 2019: Appear in court and summary judgement granted 30 September 2019: Email from Stupel & Berman received proposing R4300.00 per month. 8 October 2019: Response asking if the loan amount can be added on to my home loan. 26 November 2019: Consolidation application forms received. 2 December 2019: Application form completed and sent with supporting documentation 4 June 2020: Email received from Stupel & Berman indicating that I cannot add loan amount to bond as I am under debt review, a proposal of R4300.00 per month as a payment arrangement was requested.

I am sure that you will agree that the above time line has been a long and tedious process for all parties concerned. I would like to put this matter behind me as it has caused a considerable amount of stress for me and my family and not knowing if and when instructions to attach my belongings will be made.

I am not in a position to even make a suitable payment arrangement that will not be rejected,

It must be noted that when this procedure started my salary was R 35 138;26 in 2017, my salary in 2018 was R 33 440,28 a decrease is noted and the cost of living has significantly increased in the past 3 years, The only option that I had was it being added to the home loan to reduce my total payment towards the loan and when I received the application forms it was a glimmer of hope. However, that was declined due to me being under debt review. Ironically I was instructed by the court to undergo debt counselling because of this account and when the process started as indicated to you the loan in question was not picked up from my credit report and the debt review agents struggled to get information on the loan. As far as I am aware when an individual is under debt review their possessions cannot be repossessed to make up for the debt, the debt counselling / review is a way to avoid your possessions being taken away. I would like to hear from Standard Bank directly and have them intervene in adding the debt to the home loan, this is the only viable option that I see where the payment is made and I do not lose assets and can still survive from month to month [pay cheque to pay cheque]. The world is currently facing a pandemic and this has affected everyone financially and to be asked or rather forced to make a financial commitment that I cannot afford during these uncertain times is not fair. I will await your response on the way forward. Below other emails sent to the attorneys. Please see below my response to the email: 2.1 Please advise why this cannot be absorbed? The Current interest rate right now is 7%. My bond instalments is R10 425.56. Adding this will only bring my payment up by probably R2000.00 which is more manageable than the R6300 previously proposed. I have attached the last interest rate letter I have received from the bank for reference.

2.2 This is a given, however please note that I am under debt review as per an instruction from the high court. Not on my own free will. 2.3 Would it also not be considered reckless to expect me to commit to an amount that I clearly cannot afford as indicated in previous correspondence. 2.4. Every proposal that I have sent through has been rejected. I have detailed this in my previous response. 2.5 I am totally appalled by the fact that Standard Bank would rather have my house auctioned off to recover their debt than add it to the existing home loan that is up to date. Your client would rather see a family be on the street than try to find an amicable solution. The home loan is currently up to date and it was a challenge getting it to that point in light of the current global financial situation.

Standard Bank was one of the first banking institutions to offer relief to clients when the pandemic hit the doors of SA. Even though this relief was offered I still endeavored to pay my home loan and keep it up to date and this simple request cannot be accommodated. Please can Standard Bank as well as you as their representative acknowledge that I am under debt review by instruction of the High Court. This has had a major impact on my life being unable to secure any further credit, so all I have is my salary that has to cover all debt and living expenses. I also want clarity on why my case was brought up against the High Court instead of the Magistrates Court. Read the below article: https://citizen.co.za/business/business-news/***/it-just-got-much-harder-to-litigate-consumers-into-bankruptcy/#.Xt8eTwIQZxQ.facebook And have to question this? This obviously impacts on the total debt in terms of legal expenses? If Standard Bank plans on auctioning off my home to recover this debt you can be assured that I will fight it, as would any other person. I will await your response. Please acknowledge receipt of the email.