Mortgagee disputes at record levels
Banking Ombudsman releases mortgagee disputes guide
Mortgagee sales disputes are at record levels, according to Banking Ombudsman, Deborah Battell.
Since the start of 2011, the Banking Ombudsman Scheme has referred 512 complaints and enquiries about mortgage finance to the banks for initial resolution, of which 118 have so far resulted in a request for the Ombudsman to investigate.
Mortgage finance disputes now constitute 40% of her investigation workload compared with 17% in pre-global financial crisis times.
These record numbers are set to for another two years, Ms Battell predicts.
The Banking Ombudsman Scheme today released a Quick Guide to Mortgagee Sales. The guide outlines how the mortgagee sale process works, what a banking service provider is entitled to do, and what steps a banking customer might take to avoid getting into difficulty.
Ms Battell said the Scheme had released a number of similar guides in the last 18 months aimed at helping banking customers avoid future disputes and better understand their rights and obligations.
The Quick Guide to Mortgagee Sales covers what happens before a banking service provider can sell a property under mortgagee sale to recover debt, outlining options a banking customer might have to get out of difficulty and what they should do to protect themselves.
“Ultimately, banks aren’t in the business of selling houses and typically both customers and banks lose out in a mortgagee sale. Banks are more likely to want to help customers find other ways to meet their loan obligations before resorting to a mortgagee sale. It’s therefore important that customers talk to their banks about their options early, before the situation become irreversible,” she said.
Chris Hutching
Tue, 13 Mar 2012
Tue, 13 Mar 2012
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Mortgagee disputes at record levels
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