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Posts Tagged ‘mis-sold mortgages’

Surveyor jailed for mortgage fraud

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

Today Mary-Jane Rathie a chartered surveyor with the firm Ashdown Lyons was jailed for six years for taking bribes to over value properties in a mortgage fraud operation.

Included in the bribes were a Bentley Continental car, Range Rover Sport and cash to a value of £900,000.

Royal Bank of Scotland lent £10 million pound on mortgages over five properties that were not worth anywhere near that amount.

Rathie worked in conjunction with a fraudster who used the name Joanne Pier falsely and has since disappeared.

Rathie was found guilty of five counts of fraud and of concealing criminal property in 2007 and 2009.

Judge Timothy Pontius said to Rathie: “It’s nothing short of a tragedy for a woman of your intelligence, qualifications and many years of exemplary hard work to appear in the dock convicted of crimes of very serious dishonesty.

“But they reflect an abuse of professional integrity and also a shocking level of greed. It is naive in the extreme to expect anyone to believe that you thought they were gifts from a very wealthy and generous woman with no strings attached.”

This just goes to show that mortgage surveyors are open to bribes and it is suspected that many have worked in conjunction with brokers to obtain higher valuations to make deals more attractive to their clients.

Have you been a victim of a mis sold mortgage?  Contact us today to see how we can help.

Mis Sold Mortgage Did Not Check Affordability

Monday, June 14th, 2010
Despite low interest rates looking like they will remain in place for the coming months and a new Government in place, many families are in desperate financial situations.
In a recent survey carried out by the charity “Shelter”, it showed many families are resorting to other sources of credit such as credit cards to fund mortgage payments.
Part of the Financial Services Authorities rules governing mortgage advice state that mortgage advisers must check the affordability of any proposed mortgage and keep evidence of how this was checked.
Many mortgage advisers gave total disregard for affordability and used self certification mortgages to get borrowers higher mortgage loans than should have been granted.
The survey carried out by Shelter showed six per cent of participants liable for rent or a mortgage admitting they had used a credit card to fund payments over the past year.
Kay Boycott, director of policy and campaigns at Shelter, described the findings as a “shocking discovery”…
Ms Boycott added: “It is absolutely vital that every single person using credit cards in this way seeks advice urgently to get the help they need to ensure they don’t lose their home.”In some circumstance mortgages were granted without affordability being properly assessed.
The Bank of England has confirmed that mortgage approvals in the UK has increased to their highest level for over a year.
During a visit by the FSA to his firm in March 2009, they discovered he had only obtained the sign off on one mortgage contract, despite lots more being processed.
There is no evidence any of these applications were approved by an external compliance consultant.
The FSA concluded that Masi acted without honesty and integrity, demonstrating he is not a fit and proper person, and has therefore banned him from working in the financial services industry because he presents a risk to consumers.

Despite low interest rates looking like they will remain in place for the coming months and a new Government in place, many families are in desperate financial situations.

In a recent survey carried out by the charity “Shelter”, it showed many families are resorting to other sources of credit such as credit cards to fund mortgage payments.

Part of the Financial Services Authorities rules governing mortgage advice state that mortgage advisers must check the affordability of any proposed mortgage and keep evidence of how this was checked.

Many mortgage advisers gave total disregard for affordability and used self certification mortgages to get borrowers higher mortgage loans than should have been granted.

The survey carried out by Shelter showed six per cent of participants liable for rent or a mortgage admitting they had used a credit card to fund payments over the past year.

Kay Boycott, director of policy and campaigns at Shelter, described the findings as a “shocking discovery”…

Ms Boycott added: “It is absolutely vital that every single person using credit cards in this way seeks advice urgently to get the help they need to ensure they don’t lose their home.”In some circumstance mortgages were granted without affordability being properly assessed.

The Bank of England has confirmed that mortgage approvals in the UK has increased to their highest level for over a year.

Good News for Borrowers

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has declared five mortgage advice firms in default – they are Network Data, PMSG Insurance Services, also trading as Professional Mortgage Services Group; Financial Quest UK; and First Class Mortgages – paving the way for consumers to claim compensation.

Now the firms have been declared in default, which means t is understood that the firms are unable or likely to be unable to pay claims against them and triggers FSCS protection for their customers.

Kate Bartlett, director of operations at FSCS, said: “The FSCS’s role is to help people who have lost money as a result of doing business with an authorised firm that is unable or likely to be unable to meet claims made against it.

Bobby Kennedy of Gravitas Law said, “This is a positive step, demonstrating the interests of consumers are being taken seriously”

FSA reveals buy-to-let arrears levels

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Was the buy to let concept mis-sold? This is now a question on the lips of many leading industry commentators.

The Financial Services Authority have revealed that the level of arrears on high LTV buy-to-let deals is more than three times that of arrears on high LTV prime mortgages.

A breakdown of arrears rates based on data from the 10 biggest mortgage lenders grouped according to the type of mortgage and the LTV as at origination in 2008.

The FSA found that the default rate for buy-to-let mortgages with LTVs between 90% and 95% is 8.13%, compared to the 2.56% default rate for prime loans and the 8.56% rate recorded for credit-impaired loans.

The FSA says: “During the recession, the number of highly-indebted borrowers unable to maintain high debt-servicing costs has increased, due to their over-reliance on credit to service their debts.

“Specialist lenders that extended mortgage credit to those who had previously not had access to the mortgage market, and those who purchased mortgage books from these lenders, have to date been most affected by rising arrears and repossessions.”

The report also highlights the effect that the financial crisis has had on mortgage brokers, noting that brokers have been particularly hard hit by falling sales.

It cites research which says that over three quarters of brokers say current economic conditions are having a negative impact on their cash flow.

Over 60% also report that they are experiencing a negative impact on the level of capital reserves they hold.

Bobby Kennedy of Gravitas Law said, “This is systemic of people living beyond their means. In many circumstances the developers, finance houses and advisors are to blame.”

If you think you may have been mis sold your buy to let mortgage then contact us on 0800 612 7014.

Make a claim for a Mis-sold Mortgage today!

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Was your mortgage arranged by a mortgage broker? Was your mortgage broker fit and proper? You might have a claim for mortgage misrepresentation.

Your mortgage broker might being directly authorized by the FSA or might been an appointed representative of a network or umbrella company. Regardless of his regulatory status your mortgage broker has to be considered to fit and proper to conduct regulated business like mortgages, investments or insurances.

The repercussions for you if a broker is not following the FSA guidelines is that will exposed to unnecessary risk because he might be recommending unsuitable mortgages.

A reported illegal practice is when the mortgage broker inflates the income figures on the mortgage application and the client is unaware of that. The mortgage broker will manage to obtain mortgage for a client that is unsuitable for the client due to affordability.

If you think that could happen to you and you are struggling to meet your repayment register your details on www.missold-mortgages.co.uk so we can investigate. If the results of our mortgage audit showed that your mortgage failed to comply with the MCOB rules we will assist you to obtain redress for your losses.

Mis sold Mortgages is a trading style of Gravitas Law Ltd.

Gravitas Law is regulated by the Ministry of Justice in respect of claims management activities.

Our registration is recorded on this website: www.claimsregulation.gov.uk
Our Authorisation no. is CRM15800.

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