Missold a sub- prime Mortgage?

With the recent spate of misselling scandals there’s a new kid on the block that looks likely
to cause a major problem anytime soon. By now most people would have heard something,
or someone involved with ppi complaints but this new misselling scandal will lift the lid on
the dubious activities of some mortgage brokers and IFA’s. These ‘professional ‘advisers
abused the trust of their clients to recommend mortgages that were totally unsuitable and
in many instances unaffordable. The long term financial suffering endured by their clients
was immense and in some instances they have never recovered from it and have lost their
homes as a consequence.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has been aware of this sharp practice for some time
and has implemented measures to try and combat missold mortgages. In November 2004
new regulations were introduced to curb this malpractice and whilst worthwhile, the lure of
high commissions proved too much for some and the sharp practice continued. It is these
regulations that will establish if a mortgage has been missold and if proven to be the case
the client will be entitled to compensation.

One of the major concerns regarding a missale is the fact that a lot of brokers were
recommending mortgages that the client did not need to take but they were receiving high
commissions from the lenders. A lot of these mortgages were designed for people with
adverse credit and were always on a higher interest rate than those obtainable on the high
street. It has also become apparent that borrowers were encouraged by the brokers to
exaggerate their incomes and take out self cert mortgages. They were also guilty of not
giving best advice and encouraging their clients to borrow beyond their means. If you have a
mortgage with one of these lenders that was recommended by your broker it might be well
worth your while having a mortgage audit to assess if you have one of the thousands of
missold mortgages.

Amber Homeloans Leek United Building Society

Bank of Ireland Legal and General
Bank of Scotland London Mortgage Company
Barnsley Building Society Loughborough Building
Bath Building Society Society
Beverley Building Society Manchester Building Society
Birmingham Midshires Mansfield Building Society
Bradford and Bingley Market Harborough Building Society
Bristol and West Marsden Building Society
Britannia Building Society Monmouthshire Building Society
Buckinghamshire Building Society Mortgage Express
Cambridge Building Society Mortgages Plc
Capital Home Loans Mortgage Trust
Century Building Society National Counties Building Society
Chesham Building Society Newbury Building Society
Cheshire Building Society Newcastle Building Society
Chorley and District Building Society Northern Bank
Clydesdale Bank Norwich and Peterborough Building Society
Cooperative Bank Nottingham Building Society
Coventry Building Society Paragon Mortgages
Cumberland Building Society Pink Homeloans
DB Mortgages Portman Building Society
Darlington Building Society Preferred Mortgages
Derbyshire Building Society Principality Building Society
Dudley Building Society Rooftop Mortgages
Ecology Building Society Saffron Building Society
Egg Scottish Building Society
First Active Skipton Building Society
First Class Mortgages Southern Pacific
First Direct Stafford Railway Building Society
First National Standard Life Bank
First Trust Swansea Building Society
Furness Building Society Teacher’s Building Society
Future Mortgages Tesco Finance
G Mac The Mortgage Lender
GE Money The Mortgage Works
Hanley Building Society
Kensington Home Loans

There are numerous reasons for a possible missale but firstly you need to have been sold
the mortgage by a broker on or after the 1st November 2004. Here are some of the obvious
reasons for questioning missold mortgages.

 Did the broker charge a set up a fee?

 Did you self certify your income or were you encouraged to falsify income to obtain
the mortgage
 Does the mortgage take you past retirement age
 Was the mortgage arranged on an interest only basis with no repayment vehicle
offered
 Did you have any adverse credit issues when you applied for a mortgage
 Were you already in financial hardship when you took out the mortgage i.e.
CCJ’s,arrears
 Were you repeatedly moved from one low start mortgage to another with the same
lender incurring fees each time
 Were you on state benefits or receiving a Government pension at the time you took
out the mortgage?
Due to the complexity of the mortgage market and the MCOB rules (laid down by the FSA) a
mortgage audit will be required to prove if a missale has taken place. If this can be proven
then thousands of pounds in compensation is due back to the borrower.

If you have an inkling that you may have been missold a mortgage then now is a good time
to get a mortgage audit to see if you could be claiming back thousands in compensation and
getting your life back on track.

www.missoldmortgages.org.uk