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.
