FSA accused of making unfair assumptions by lenders

August 26, 2008

The UK’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Authority, has recently released a report that has criticised all lenders over the practices that are used when it comes to repossession proceedings. The regulator has said that if lenders do not buck up their ideas when it comes to their practices in relation in repossessions then it will take action wherever necessary, but lenders are annoyed that the regulator has tied all lenders to the same brush, and have said that the FSA should not have implied that all lenders are to blame for problems such as these.

In the report the FSA said that lenders were using unethical and unacceptable practices when it came to repossessions, and that it would take action in cases where lenders were found to be too aggressive with repossessions. The FSA has defended itself by stating that they picked up on potential problems with all lenders, which is why the comments were aimed at all lenders.

One FSA spokesperson said: “There were issues discovered across the piece with all lenders which is why the warning was addressed to the whole market place.”

An official from the Council of Mortgage Lenders stated: “The key message given to media and the industry was that lenders are failing to treat customers fairly. But in tarnishing the whole industry with the same dirty brush, is the regulator treating lenders fairly? To publish a report in such ambiguous terms is unfair and confusing for the majority of lenders who are making significant efforts to comply.”

However, the FSA still maintains that all lenders need to treat customers more fairly, they need to be more helpful when customers start to fall behind with repayments, they need to stop levying unfair charges on customers, and they need to monitor the way in which their customers are treated by bailiffs.

Recent Additions:

  • Rise in repossession orders
    • According to a recent report there has been a significant rise in the number of repossession orders being filed. Another report has already shown that there has been a rise of 41% in actual repossessions
  • It could be a couple of years before mortgage freeze thaws out
    • The mortgage industry has been going through turmoil for close to a year now, with the global credit crunch resulting in radical changes being made to the mortgage market. The number of mortgages available have
  • HBOS sees mortgage jobs cut
    • Halifax owned HBOS has recently announced that parts of its mortgage operations are to close, and this will result in several hundred job losses according to industry officials. The mortgage meltdown has resulted in many
  • Inflation to get worse states Bank of England
    • Over recent months the nation has seen the rate of inflation spiral out of control, and in July inflation levels hit an all time high of 4.4%, which is the highest since records began. This
  • Even wealthier borrowers are now struggling to repay their loans
    • A recent report has claimed that suffering severe financial difficulty is no longer a problem that affects only low income consumers. The report shows that financial difficulties are now even hitting homeowners living in fairly

Posted by admin | Filed Under Personal Loans 

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One Response to “FSA accused of making unfair assumptions by lenders”

  1. Mortgage Jobs Cut At HBOS on August 26th, 2008 4:55 pm

    [...] FSA accused of making unfair assumptions by lenders [...]

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