A dad-of-three had his home repossessed despite making his mortgage repayments for 36 years.
Chris Fleming was left stuck on an interest-only mortgage that was sold off by the Government after his lender went bust following the 2008 financial crash.
His mortgage repayments tripled from £670 a month to as high as £1,760 and in June 2023, his home was repossessed by bailiffs, reports The Telegraph.
He said: “My three children are utterly traumatised and still suffering from PTSD after that day.”
His mortgage was sold to private equity company Cerberus in 2015, with Mr Fleming’s mortgage managed on by its subsidiary, Landmark.
His mortgage term came to an end in 2022 with Landmark extending this for another year, but after this terminated there was still a £200,000 loan for Mr Fleming to pay.
The company sold his home for £310,000, over £100,000 beneath its valuation, with Mr Fleming receiving just £50,000 profit after legal and bailiff fees were deducted.
The family have now moved into a rented bungalow with Mr Fleming and his wife relying on the state pension to get by.
He said he couldn’t afford a new mortgage and did not have enough equity in his former home to get an equity release.
A spokesman for Landmark said proceeds from the house sale would have been far greater had Mr Fleming “not raised a number of objections, which the courts determined to be without foundation, resulting in significant legal costs”.
The group said: “These situations are deeply unfortunate but very rare, as the overwhelming majority of customers in difficulty work with us to find mutually agreeable solutions.”
There are some 200,000 homeowners who have found themselves stuck on these interest-only mortgages that were sold off, with interest rates reaching as high as 10 percent with the recent hikes in the base interest rate.
There are growing calls from MPs for compensation for mortgage borrowers trapped in this situation.
SNP MP Martin Docherty is to present a Ten Minute Rule Bill in Parliament, setting out the case for those who have been overcharged interest to be reimbursed.
The bill has had cross-party support, including from Labour MP John McDonnell and Green Party MP Carolina Lucas.
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