Pastor homeless because of error at bank

<p>A PASTOR is fighting to keep his house in Kibler Park which he claims Standard Bank has wrongfully sold at an auction.</p> <p><br />Pastor Joseph Vilakazi, 60, said he was approached by two estate agents in April telling him they were instructed by the sheriff of the court to sell his house.</p> <p>Vilakazi, a father of eight, said this was just days after he paid arrears of R66000 that the bank had demanded he pay.</p> <p>He said his financial woes began in September 2011 after he suffered a mild stroke. This, combined with diabetes, rendered him partially blind.</p> <p>In November 2014 he approached Standard Bank’s head office in Cape Town and requested it to reduce his bond repayment. The bank agreed to a decrease from R8000 to R2990, which included a partial payment towards his home loan insurance for a period of 36 months.</p> <p>He was also advised that the other portion would be claimed from Standard Bank Insurance.</p> <p>“But to our surprise, we received summonses from Standard Bank lawyers, stating that our bond was in arrears and they have instituted the legal proceeding,” said Vilakazi.</p> <p>He waited for a court order to appear in court but nothing came, until he received an e-mail from Standard Bank stating he had to pay R66000 in order to bring his payments in line with the bank’s expectations.</p> <p>“Our arrears were R135000 but we were happy to pay what they demanded and this amount was paid on March 31 2016,” he said.</p> <p>He was later given a chance to update his arrears within three months but was unable to do this and he then requested the bank to extend the repayment term to six months. Instead, they sold his house in July this year.</p> <p>“They sold the house though the matter is currently [being] dealt with by the bank’s Ombudsman.”</p> <p>Consumer Line has seen an internal e-mail which the bank mistakenly sent to Vilakazi.</p> <p>It acknowledges Vilakazi was given an incorrect quotation resulting in his paying R66000 in March.</p> <p>The e-mail reads: “The reality is that the customer has a valid case should he pursue the matter externally from the bank.</p> <p>“My request is, can we stop the sale planned for 31 May 2016 and offer a different payment arrangement to the customer to avoid reputational risk?”</p> <p>Standard Bank spokesman Ross Linstrom said the bank would not respond to Vilakazi’s complaint as he had approached the Ombudsman for Banking Services (OBS) to resolve the matter.</p> <p>Linstrom said the bank has since investigated the matter and rep**** in full to the OBS. “We cannot comment on ongoing investigations by the Ombud,” he said.</p> <p>A Kibler Park pastor is fighting to keep his house which he claims Standard Bank sold wrongfully at an auction. </p>