Lender reference:
Contents
Summary
The most worrying issue with this lender is the amount of Government criticism it has received over the last few years. That's worrying because the Government rarely steps in to criticise lenders.
This lender, however, has made "pledges" to improve the way it treats borrowers at least twice after criticism by the Office of Fair Trading.
But customers tell us that even at the time of writing (October 1998), this lender has clauses in its mortgage agreements that void their rights to fair treatment.
Customer criticism
Customers have criticised this lender for imposing ridiculously high interest rates if they fell into arrears and for
getting out of its legal responsibilities to customers by excluding customers' legal rights in its
mortgage contracts.
We have seen evidence of continual mistakes in this lender's paperwork and its willingness to defend those mistakes while suing customers in court.
We know of one case where this lender has called in bailiffs on a severely crippled customer simply because his wife had a part-time job and was therefore worth going after for money - despite the cost of trying to support her seriously ill husband.
Miscellaneous
None to our knowledge
1998 September
MP David Davis (Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee) criticises this and other lenders for charging high interest rates (up to 12%)
1998 March
Broker criticises the lender for failing to distinguish between the self-employed/contract workers and applicants with a bad credit record.
1998 February
Press cite this lender while criticising the mortgage indemnity guarantees levied on mortgages over 70%.
Rejects Office of Fair Trading Guidelines over definition of a "broker". Has implications for the way it sells mortgages.
1997 September
Press name this lender as one of the lenders being monitored by the Office of Fair Trading
Press criticised the lender for lending only 80% of property price and charging interest of 3% over standard variable rates.
1997 May
Mortgage broker criticises the lender for charging a borrower high interest rate of 11.39%.
Press cite this lender as one criticised by the Office of Fair Trading in February for lending money to borrowers with poor credit rating without looking into their current circumstances and future prospects.
Press draws attention to Office of Fair Trading concerns over this lender and others.
1997 March
One of this lender's executives admits that the lenders should have used better credit rating methods during the 1980s boom.
Lender sues borrower's solicitors for negligence, breach of contract and trust
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