Hot news for anyone who has suffered mortgage arrears charges, irresponsible lending or other unfair lender conduct

[creepycrawler]

The FSA has announced large fines against DB UK Bank Limited (trading as DB Mortgages) - DeutscheBank and also against Redstone for their unfair treatment of their customers.
Please see the links below for summaries and full details from the FSA website.

It is now completely clear that any arrears charges which exceed actual administrative costs are unfair and therefore unlawful.

Furthemore, irresponsible lending practices are also unfair and unlawful.

Additionally there are other unfair practices including unarranged counsellor visits - even if they have been attempted.

You are entitled to refuse counsellor visits and not incur any charges.

Any charges for counsellor visits must not seek to make profits. The cost of the visits must be passed on to you at cost price.
We are hearing stories of people being charged for counsellor visits for which there is no evidence that they were even attempted.

It is clear that some mortgage lenders are trying to cheat you out of your money.

You should ascertain how much has been taken from you and claim it back. The chances of winning are better than 90%. It is highly likely that the lender will attempt to avoid court action and offer you back your money.

However, you should ensure that you receive a proper rate of interest and this means that you should be seeking at least restitutionary damages - which would be much higher than the statutory 8%.

Furthermore, you should assess whether the paying of demands for unlawful excessive charges has also out you further into arrears and if this has caused you further penalties in terms of extra interest or any other prejudice. This should be claimed as well.

If excessive unlawful charges have resulted in your credit file being affected, then you should take this into account also when working out exactly what you want by way of remedy from the lender.

You should consult others on these forums when considering any offer.

You must not make any complaint through the Ombudsman. your time will be wasted, you will wait up to 2 yrs and there will be a minimal 8% award of interest and no account will be taken of any other damage you have suffered.
You must make your complaint through the County Court for a rapid and effective remedy.

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Library/Communication/PR/2010/120.shtml

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/final/redstone.pdf

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/final/db_uk.pdf

 

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/consumerinformation/firmnews/2011/db_mortgages.shtml

Do you have a mortage arears claim to make? Then post your story on the forum here