Mortgage changes by Florius: Do you have rights?

Questioner

Our mortgage was originally taken out with ASR. In the past it was taken over by Direktbank Woninghypotheken and now by Florius. We have now received a letter from Florius stating that (contrary to what is stated in the deed) they will collect the monthly payment in arrears instead of in advance. Feb 2017 has been paid. March is now collected on the last working day of the month instead of at the beginning of the month. This also extends the term of the mortgage, although they don't mention that. Also, the fixed interest period ends on the 1st of the month instead of the date mentioned in the deed that was during the month. The fixed interest period that ends via the deed on 15-10-2019 is now adjusted as of 1-10-2019. The question is: is Florius allowed to simply implement these changes? In my view, these changes render the deed underlying the mortgage (borrowed with money created!) redundant. Is this still a legally valid loan? Perhaps unnecessarily, we were not asked to agree to this and have not signed anything to that effect. It is simply stated that this is how it will happen.

Lawyer

The starting point is always that agreements made must be fulfilled and cannot be changed unilaterally by a party. In other words, what you describe does not seem to me to be able to be determined unilaterally by Florius. Please note that it may be agreed that a party can unilaterally change certain provisions and conditions specifically mentioned in the agreement.

Questioner

Thanks for your answer. I then took the deed and the conditions and read them again. Nowhere is it stated that a party can unilaterally terminate or amend provisions. Then, in my opinion, Florius is doing something wrong. What is best, to communicate this to them in writing? --Although I do not expect, given the experiences with correspondence in the past with Direktbank, that they will give any reaction to it. They do their thing and as a customer you are powerless when they do not bother to answer your registered letters or do not add them to your file so that no one knows what is going on.-- What risk is there then that they will terminate the agreement? In addition, according to the deed, the fixed interest period does not expire until 1-11-2019. So 1-10-2019 is an advance of one month (and that could be an advantage for us). (They say that the mortgage has been taken over by Florius, so I find it strange to note that the telephone number and management are the same as those of Direktbank.)

Lawyer

It is up to you whether or not to respond to Florius' letter. Strictly speaking, the agreement will only change if you indicate that you consider Florius' communication to be a proposal to change the agreement and that you accept the change. If you do nothing or indicate that you do not agree, the (loan) agreement will remain as it was. I do not see on the basis of which legal rule Florius could terminate the agreement (and therefore immediately claim the loan) if you now indicate that you do not agree.