Failure to mitigate loss?
Anyone involved with the post completion mortgage administration process will be acutely aware of the pressures to show ‘forbearance’ to borrowers who are facing difficult times. However, many involved in the industry will have been surprised at the level of ‘forbearance’ being applied by lenders. Data collated by the FSA and contained within the recent […]
Relevance of experts’ experience
The lending market has gone through immense changes over the past thirty years; the launch of centralised lending in the eighties, new specialist and sub-prime lenders in the nineties and the demise of most of them in the past five years! The impact new lenders had on the market place has also been significant, with […]
International mortgage underwriting practices
On the 26th October 2011 the Financial Stability Board (FSB) issued a paper for public consultation, titled ‘Principles for Sound Residential Mortgage Underwriting Practices’. The FSB was established to co-ordinate at international level the work of national financial authorities and international standard setting bodies and to develop and promote the implementation of effective regulatory and […]
Scullion v Bank of Scotland Plc – our view
On a superficial reading the recent Scullion v Bank of Scotland Plc (t/a Colleys) [2011] EWCA Civ 693 decision may appear to have little relevance to lender/valuer professional negligence claims as the case related to a consumer litigating against a valuer. However, it is our view that the decision could impact on lender/valuer disputes and […]
Mortgage forbearance and impairment
On the 5th October the FSA published its final guidance on forbearance and impairment provisions following consultation and review of lenders arrears processes. The review was designed for the regulator to understand forbearance strategies used by lenders, identify good and bad practice and ensure that clear and transparent reporting was in place. The results of […]
Missing Data
It didn’t come as a surprise to us when we saw the recent comments by the chair of the Committee of Public Accounts where it was stated that both RBS and Lloyds Banking Group “found it difficult to provide the Treasury with appropriate and robust data on their assets’’. We find that holders of assets […]
Jones v Kaney
The legal press seems to be fixated with comment on the Jones v Kaney, [2011] UKSC 13, decision where after hundreds of years of expert immunity, the position was reversed. Some commentators have even predicted that the decision will lead to the end of expert witnesses as we know them. So we thought you might […]
Fraud on a lenders mortgage book
The recent findings from the Financial Services Authority’s mortgage fraud review indicated that although some lenders have adequate checks and controls in place, Tracey McDermott, acting director of enforcement and financial crime at the FSA, was concerned that not all lenders were embracing the findings of their review. A key aspect that was highlighted, was […]
Proper risk assessments?
Nearly three years before statutory mortgage regulation John Tiner, the then Managing Director of the Financial Services Authority, said during a speech at the Council of Mortgage Lenders conference “We would not wish to see, for example, a relaxation of loan to value or rental cover without lenders first making a clear analysis of the […]
Controlling mortgage forbearance
The recently published FSA consultation paper on forbearance (loan modification) and impairment provisions in relation to mortgages has attracted a vast amount of comment about how it could lead to greater clarification on the issues of forbearance for lenders. However, on a basic level we wonder if all lenders know just what percentage of their […]
