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R200,000 later, family still paying off loan

NOT OWNERS: A family has been without a title deed for over 25 years
NOT OWNERS: A family has been without a title deed for over 25 years

IMAGINE paying more than R200,000 for a loan of R16,000 and being told you still owe money? It's crazy, but true.

A Soweto family regrets ever applying for a bond to build two rooms and a garage from the erstwhile People's Bank, now taken over by Nedbank.

Nompumelelo Mallie of Dube Village said her late mother, Nomvuso, took a loan from People's Bank in 1985 to build two rooms and a garage to accommodate a family of nine.

She said after building the rooms her mother received a "happy letter" from the bank to sign and soon thereafter commenced repaying the loan.

The installment was R200, which was payable over a period of 20 years, Mallie said.

Her mother repaid the loan until her death in 1991, she said. At the time of her death her mother had paid more than R14000, Mallie said.

As the eldest child in the family she continued with the repayments with the blessings of the bank, Mallie said.

Mallie claims she paid R700 a month until 2005, when the bank threatened to sell the house at auction because they had accumulated arrears on the account.

"We paid the R45000 the bank demanded to stop the auction and continued to pay our regular installment," Mallie said.

She said she continued paying though the bank had neglected to action the life insurance cover her mother had used as collateral.

"It was only in 2009 that Nedbank realised their error and paid R63000 into the bond account leaving a balance of R3000, (which) I agreed to pay," Mallie said.

Mallie said she was now battling to get the title deed from the bank attorneys, who were demanding more money from her.

"Now their attorneys are giving me hell! They say we won't get our title deed until we pay R1400, which they claim we owe the bank," she said, adding that the bank knew nothing about the shortfall the attorneys were demanding.

She said it was good of banks to help the destitute, but it was bad if they took advantage of the situation, even though they had been paid more than enough.

"It is only when you have been taken for a ride that you end up repaying more than R200000 for a loan of R16000," Mallie said.

She said if Nedbank were fair, it would refund a portion of the repayment it should not have received had they actioned her mothers life cover in 1991.

Mallie said she would be happy to get the title deed without paying any additional fee.

Nedbank is investigating the matter and has promised to comment after it have finalised the investigation.

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