UOB mortgage

[yourauntbob]

So our mortgage bill looked a bit funny this month. we made an extra payment but it was not showing on the bill. after a call to UOB they start telling the missus that the extra money we deposited was applied to our normal payment and not the principal like we had asked. At this point missus aunt bob hands the phone over to me and i ask why they did not apply it to principle.

operator: "our system is..."

me: "a few months ago your system was......."

operator: "normally..." (i cut her off)

me: "it doesnt matter what normally happens, we need to focus on this case"

operator "please hold sir"

after 5 minutes of waiting

operator " hello sir, we sent a letter in June stating that we no longer accept principal only payments"

me "we have a contract that says otherwise"

operator "but we sent a letter..."

me "if i send you a letter, can I change the contract?"

operator "can i have manger call you back?"

me "please, i want to know how you can legally change a written contract"

anyone dealing with a similar issue? i have never heard of a bank not allowing principal only payments on a mortgage. any TV lawyers out there know if this is even legal for them to do?

thanks in advance...

[David48]

operator " hello sir, we sent a letter in June stating that we no longer accept principal only payments"

me "we have a contract that says otherwise"

The first question to ask is ... does the contract state something like ... 'We' (the UOB) reserve the right to vary certain conditions of this contract at any time, given that we have contacted you in writing about these changes ...

Something like that wording?

[samran]

Just curious, your repayment schedule allows additional payments? I was under the impression that they were rather inflexible that way?

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Last house mortgage I had was 18 years ago, a 2nd mortgage on a place in the U.S. for funds to pay down the house here in Thailand. The mortgage contract did not allow any prepayments for three years but after that, was OK, and I did so, paid it down in five years total.

Thailand?

UOB??

Mac

[yourauntbob]

Just curious, your repayment schedule allows additional payments? I was under the impression that they were rather inflexible that way?

when we signed the papers we verified that they would allow additional payments to principal. for the last two and a half years we have been paying a little extra (few thousand baht) each month with no problem, all of a sudden they are saying they will not allow it anymore. the good news for us is we are only a few months away from clearing the three year locked in period and can refinance in December.

[yourauntbob]

just in case this helps anyone in the future:

so we are able to prepay, but they automatic deduction from our bank account is the culprit.

example: if our mortgage is 10,000 per month due on the 15th of each month

January 5th I deposit 5000 to go to principle (so i think)

January 15th they withdrawal 5000 to bring our payment up to 10,000 for the month.

what i wanted was to pay the 5000 and then they withdrawal the normal 10,000. the only way to do this under their system is to deposit 15,000 on the 5th. when the computer sees its more than 10,000 they will not deduct more but the additional 5k goes to principal.

in the end, its a pain but we are able to pay additional moneys early if we wish, we just need to be careful on how we go about it.