The Equity Release Victims Association
Following a couple of articles in the Daily Telegraph and the Olive Press about Euan Armstrong and his plight, it was decided by a number of people affected by this scandal that an association would be created, to be named the “Equity Release Victims Association”.
The purpose of the Association is to draw the attention of the authorities, namely the Bank of Spain, Financial -CNMV- and Insurance regulators –DGS- and finally the Ombudsman, to the predicament suffered by hundreds of until-then-free-from-mortgage-property-owners who had the misfortune of crossing paths with mostly Scandinavian banks and given the size of the swindle it is strongly believed that this could be classed as an issue of public order.
The association wishes to campaign against banks that marketed, offered and sold unregulated Equity Release products in Spain, through a network of agents, to mostly pensioners. The products were sold on false promises and undertakings, these being:
- Promises of regulatory compliance of their products in Spain.
- Promises of IHT exemptions.
- Promises of Wealth Tax exemptions.
- Financially self-sustained product, so that the loan would be invested in such a way that the yields would cover the interest cost and leave a surplus, which would be like a salary. Needless to say, this never happened.
- Protection for property ownership.
On future posts we will provide further information on this soon-to-be-created association.
Antonio, I think this is an excellent idea, in fact an absolute neccessity for the victims of the equity release fiasco. As you have stated above and during our many conversations it will provide a legal, non profit body similar to the Consumer Association in which we can have a strong lobbying presense with all the regulative bodies and including the European policy makers to bring in a law to stop these types of products being sold. We are grateful for your inspiration, help and for all your time in being our legal representative. We already have lined up a number of well known British papers who have not only shown an interest in the plight of so many victims but have committed to publish articles in their papers. Interest has also been shown by a British TV company as well of course as the Spanish Press. I would ask anyone reading this blog to get in touch and sign up to this newly formed Association. Lets show these banks that we are a force not to be treated lightly and we mean business.
How disgusting to tempt an old retired man with a release of cash against his unfettered property. The Scandinavian Bank then offers to invest the rest of the “loan” against your free property which should pay the costs of the account manager’s fees and the management fees AND promise you some money which would be the profit after costs, giving you an income. These “FINANCIAL ADVISORS” are not regulated in Spain, they are confidence tricksters, selling these plans to the retired pensioners on a commission basis paid by the scandinavian bank. This is all lies. The bank charges you huge fees every year, the investments lose money, your loan increases until the bank soon demands that you sell your property to pay back the LOAN/MORTGAGE. So, in order to prevent any further theft, pillaging of the Scandinavians we must form an Association which will stand up and fight these huge and powerful financial institutions. We will call it EQUITY RELEASE VICTIMS ASSOCIATION and we ask everybody to join us who has or is suffering a similar rape and pillage from the vikings. send an email to captaineuan@hotmail.com and I will guide you from there on. Do not lie down but stand up and fight them and demand a return of your lost money. These banks are making billions of euros every year and stealing your money!
I wish the new “Equity Release Victims Association” lots of success.
I am also a victim of this equity release scam the same and Ian above I have invested in the same scheme. I have managed to avoid repossession by paying the interest on the released capital from the house. Although the capital that was invested in the capital management fund has been considerable depleted. I still have sufficient security with the value the house added to what remains in the fund. I am unable to see an end to the interest payments as the fund has stagnated over the last year as it is mostly in low risk cash and non volotile investments such as bonds.
I do not wish to go into any more detail but thank Antonio Flores for his support and Ian and Euan for keeping me in the loop on what is being done to try to recover our losses.
Just another thought I have been reading with interest the newspaper reports that the USA Government is suing a number of banks for irregularities by issuing mortgages with investment products. As a result terms such as PREDATORY LENDING have been voiced although there is no legal definition of this term PREDITORY LENDING typically occurs on loans backed by some kind of collateral, such as a house, so that the borrower defaults on the loan, the lender can repossess or FORECLOSE and profit by selling the repossessed property. Lenders may be accused of tricking the borrower into believing that an interest rate is lower than it actually is or the that the borrower’s ability to pay is greater than it actually is. The lender or others such as agents of the lender may profit from repossession or foreclosure upon collateral. I wonder what the Spanish Law is regarding this practise? If any one knows please get back to me. All in all this sounds rather familiar to a lot of people caught up in the EQUITY RELEASE FIASCO that has or could ruin so many ex-pats lives who are elderly and mostly pensioners.
Afterwards – well many agents tend to try and forget you once the ink dries and their commission is in the bank. But not all do. They will also help with such things as registering kids in schools, helping you register with local hospitals, obtaining residencia, and other such matters.
I happened across this story quite by chance and am blown away with the fact that these schemes have been perpetrated by banks, presumably regulated by their respective jurisdictions. Surely the regulators in the countries where these banks are based would want to know the level of complicity the banks had in this whole scheme. and if they do know, why aren’t they doing anything about it? Banks need to get back to their core business of handling money and providing conservative leadership in financial matters not marketing dodgy financial schemes. Rogue banks operating like predators on an unsuspecting or trusting public will only provide more opportunities for these kinds of financial fiascos to take root. Good luck to you all with your fight. Don’t let the SOBs get away with it.