Mortgages

Jaws: Hundreds of sale-and-rent-back operators have declined to sign up to the FSA's new rules before they become compulsory next summer

Beware – there are still sharks swimming in the sale-and-rent-back pool

Not all schemes stick to new rules, say Alessia Horwich and Julian Knight

Inside Mortgages

Simon Read: Lender's fine won't help its victims

Saturday, 31 October 2009

A former top 10 lender was fined a massive £2.8m by the Financial Services Authority this week and is being forced to hand back £7.7m plus interest that it overcharged customers. The fine was for failing to treat 46,000 of its customers fairly. The lender? GMAC-RFC. If you haven't heard of them, that's hardly surprising as they heavily targeted the sub-prime and self-certified market. But the fine wasn't for encouraging struggling families to take on debts they couldn't afford, as you may have presumed. No, GMAC's crime was far worse.

Mortgage borrowing increases

Thursday, 29 October 2009

Homeowners' mortgage borrowing increased in September while the number of loans approved for house purchase also grew, figures showed today.

Mortgage firm GMAC fined £2.8m over unfair charges

Thursday, 29 October 2009

Mortgage provider GMAC was today fined £2.8m and told to repay more than £8m following the unfair treatment of customers in arrears.

Julian Knight: These hiked up mortgage fees – what a fix

Sunday, 25 October 2009

Buried in the Bank of England's most recent report into lending trends – yes, I do need to get out much more – is both good and bad news. Let's have the supposed good news first; the Bank reckons the mortgage market is about to get more competitive and interest rates will fall. However, the Bank states that its discussions with lenders have highlighted "increased mortgage fees in the coming months, suggesting that, in aggregate, any reduction in spreads could be associated with higher fees".