Further to yesterday’s posting we have received some valuable advice regarding the posting of a cheque “in full & final settlement” without the prior consent of the recipient. As a result of this we have decided to revise or letter (see the last paragraph) and this is reproduced below ~(posted 7789 days ago)xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxx email: mike@resdev.freeserve.co.uk 22nd December 2002.
Mortgage Express. 1 Providence Place, Skipton, North Yorkshire BD23 2HL For the attention of Mr. G. Cumber (Project Manager) 1 page by Recorded Delivery.
WITHOUT PREJEDICE Dear Mr. Cumber, Your Ref: A/C xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thank you for your letter dated 19th December 2002, which arrived with us yesterday. We note that your last correspondence regarding this matter was on the 8th July 2002, through your Solicitors DLA, who attempted to enforce an ‘Order To Attend Court For Questioning’ upon us. This was considered to be unreasonable by the Court, you having no Money Judgement Order in place, as you correctly state in your latest letter.
On the issue of whether we have the ability to pay your alleged shortfall we need to draw your attention back to our letter of the 24th May 2000, which you seem to have overlooked. In this letter we pointed out that I am suffering from severe arthritis, unable to work, and on Income Support. This situation has not changed. My Wife suffers from even more serious arthritis and has had total replacements of both knees so far, with both hips requiring attention in the near future. In addition we now have further complications, with me now having being diagnosed with Sleep Apnoea and my Wife just about to enter her third month in hospital. My Wife needed an emergency operation for a small bowel obstruction and this culminated with the removal of the small bowel and an ileostomy being performed. She has not improved since the last (of three) major operations and the Surgeon is not very hopeful with his prognosis. As you are also aware we moved to Cornwall to look after my elderly Father (82 years old) and are currently living with him, now permanently having had our own home repossessed by you. All assets of any value were sold at the time of our move, to finance this. We are however fortunate enough to have a loan car due to my Wife’s severe arthritis, supplied by ‘Motability’ and for her lifetime only.
As you may see it is not easy for us to make any offer towards your alleged shortfall claim however, despite everything, we are prepared to reiterate our offer of the 20th May 2002. That is the sum of £1,500.00 in full and final settlement whilst not admitting any liability for your alleged £28,146.87 shortfall claim. This is the maximum we have been able to borrow and the repayment will take us a long time. In return we will require a Deed of Satisfaction from you to conclude this matter. This sum is not negotiable and is, we feel, more than fair given the stress you have put us through due to your mismanagement as previously notified to both you and your Solicitors. You have stated that a Court will recognise that your written offer, of the 4th December 2001, eliminates any issue of your negligence in the valuation, marketing and underselling of or home. We had believed, prior our letter of the 12th December 2001 (incorrectly dated by us as the 12th November 2001), that you were probably unaware of the full extent of that negligence. However your offer predates our letter outlining the possible extent of your negligence and, prior to your settlement offer, we had only been requesting further information in order to determine if you had in fact exercised due diligence in the management and sale of the property! Therefore, when you made that offer of the 4th December 2001 we believe that you must have been fully aware of the depth of your mismanagement and were trying to ensure that this did not become public knowledge.
We note your comments regarding our previous postings on the website and feel that we have received a great deal of useful information and support from the contributors, for which we are extremely grateful. In order to redress the balance, which you feel to have been a little unfair to you, we are posting your letter of the 19th December and our reply, in order that readers/users may draw their own conclusions on this matter.
As you will be aware, from our posting on the website, we were intending to enclose a cheque for £1,500 in full and final settlement. However we have received several advice emails which caution against this action and therefore feel it to be inappropriate at this point in time. This cheque is however made out to Mortgage Express, sitting here awaiting your acceptance of our offer, and will be posted by return should you decide to accept our offer.
Yours sincerely, xxxxxxxxxxx x xxxxxxxxxxxx
A Happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous 2003 to all who use or view this site, Mortgage Express employees included. One never knows when unemployment will strike us and cause such devastation as we have experienced, it can happen to anyone in any business. However I must admit that our recent health problems, including the still possible death of my Wife, eclipse even the worst that Mortgage Express may dish up. I will do my very best to enjoy this Christmas, at my wife’s bedside, and just pray for a better future for us all.
God bless and thank you all again for your support, Mike.