Mortgage Broker Falsified Our Income

[JMJVB]

Please could anyone advise me regarding my mortgage situation? I am one of those unsuspecting people saddled with a mortgage with Redstone, which I took out through Crystal Clear Home Loans in March 2007. I recently applied for a refund of my PPI so Crystal Clear had to send me copies of all the paperwork relating to the loan. I was shocked to discover that all the income figures for myself and my wife had been grossly inflated, none of it was in our handwriting and the space for our signatures was blank. There were letters from both our employers stating our actual income, yet on the application form these figures had been doubled. The figures for our self certified income had also been wildly exaggerated. In fact our total income was quoted as almost £60,000, when in reality it is closer to £18,000! Why also did Redstone approve the application given the wild discrepancies?
I believe that this kind of thing has happened a lot in America and people have taken out lawsuits against the brokers. I have approached several solicitors but none seem able or willing to offer any help or advice.
Not surprisingly, I have been struggling to keep up repayments on this mortgage which I should never have been sold, and Redstone have applied for repossession, even though I am only £2000 in arrears. I have received a hearing date for July 31st. I am considering writing to Crystal Clear and Redstone to ask for an explanation for the falsified figures, but I would appreciate any advice anyone can give me. Surely they shouldn't get away with this? I have all the evidence on paper in front of me. PLEASE HELP, SOMEONE!

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, I think the first thing you need to do is deal with the possession claim. Have you filled in any of the N11M form yet? if not we can help you with the statement for Q.27, as this is the most important part.

Are you able to make an offer to pay extra each month on your mortgage payment to clear the arrears?

Kind Regards

Ell-enn

[JMJVB]

Hi Ell-enn, thanks for your reply. Yes I sent off the defence form straight away, offering £100 extra per month and giving reasons for the arrears, plus my income and expenditure etc. Meanwhile I have also started a claim for Redstone to refund all the penalty charges they have added to my account and to put this towards clearing the arrears. (Not sure how much this will be but quite a lot I think).
What I am wondering is how to go about claiming compensation from the broker for the falsified income figures which led me into this mess?
Thanks for your help so far.

[Certified Planner]

Hi JMJVB, The borker, under the terms of understanding the clients circumstances and FSA rules of Treating Customers Failry, has to prove that under no doubt you can afford the mortgage repayments and that you are aware of the cost of the mrotgage at the end of any fixed or discounted scheme period or if the base rate increases by 1%.

I recommend that you pick up the phone to the FSA and ask some pertinent questions with regards to the mortgage advice process and what should have been asked and what information you should have recevied at which point in the sales process.

Try these websites:-

FSCS website and FSA on mortgage advisers - they might have gone to the wall by now!

Any possible claim against the broker will not result in you losing the mortgage deal, but a claim against teh lender might, so get the repossession sorted first!

Unfortunately the current lack of mortgage lending is actually due to this type of activity, the FSA is scrutinising lender underwriting practises and therefore lenders have become extremely cautious.

Good Luck

[JMJVB]

Hi Certified Planner, thanks for your reply. I will do as you suggest and contact the FSA and the Ombudsman. I managed to get the repossession hearing adjourned by making a payment leaving the arrears at just under 1 month. Now I shall go all out to try to get compensation for a "mortgage" which I should never have been sold. I would advise everyone most strongly to steer well clear of sub prime mortgages. The companies involved in this type of activity know that the customer will not be able to afford to keep up the payments, and at the first opportunity will jump on you for repossession. This is their sole aim from day one.