Archives for August, 2023

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL OWNERS WITH A MANCHESTER BUILDING SOCIETY (“MBS”) MORTGAGE!

Step forward for building society merger as terms agreed

If you are reading this article there is a good chance that you are among the 200 odd owners of Spanish property that took out a mortgage with Manchester Building Society, now part of Newscastle Building Society.

For years, Manchester Building Society (“MBS”) offered lifetime mortgage loans to owners of Spanish property. The facility allowed “asset rich, cash poor” property owners unlock their wealth by means of periodical drawdowns that typically, would only be repayable upon death of the borrower, within a maximum period of 12 months from the demise.

Unfortunately, MBS ran out of cash to pay property owners, all agreed instalments were halted due to a prohibition by its regulator, PRA, to grant further loans in Spain and elsewhere and left borrowers “high and dry”, still with a MBS mortgage registered against their property and thus, unable to sell it.

There is however a way out to free your property from this mortgage for good, and that solution is already available through Lawbird Legal Services. Last year, a Velez Malaga Court fully accepted executive proceedings brought by Lawbird Legal Services against MBS, on behalf of a British client, demanding full payment of the agreed loan of 300k Euro (with interest). This is in addition to the over 50 rulings won in many other courts against different equity release providers around Spain.

Now, more claims are being filed through the Courts to terminate the mortgage loans due to contractual default by MBS, on the following grounds:

  1. MBS have stopped making any further agreed payments.
  2. MBS have not given a solution to the property owners.
  3. MBS have not reviewed the existing mortgage loan proposal to adjust it to their inability to continue offering the promised cash.
  4. MBS will not address the current situation of owners that are unable to sell, offer a compromise or terminate the mortgage loan.

If you have a property and you have Manchester Building Society Lifetime Mortgage, you need to act now and take advantage of the existing favourables rulings to achieve the following:

a. Nullify the MBS mortgage loan.

b. Retain the sums received so far as compensation.

c. Remove the charge from the house.

If you are in the above situation and want to know how ERVA and their appointed lawyers can assist, call Anabel on + 34 952 86 18 90 or send her an email (info@erva.es) to schedule a free online or office meeting with the lawyers.

Dont wait any longer, acting now is better than doing it later or not doing it all, it will not cost you anything to know your options and legal rights!

…click here to read more

Pensioner wins Equity Release case against Jyske Bank and SEB LIFE International Assurance Company (previously Irish Life)!

Great news for a British pensioner who has just won his equity release case against Jyske Bank and SEB Life.

In a 20-page ruling, the judge in Court 5 of Fuengirola has determined that the equity release contract entered into by the claimant and the named defendants, through Offshore Money Managers (OMM), has to be rendered null and void due to gross miselling and violation of public policy.

According to the ruling the following happened:

All publicity communicated to the plaintiff by OMM staff revolves around the enormous benefits for a foreign pensioner with a house in Spain and without a prior mortgage, and that JYSKE BANK grants a fresh new mortgage loan and delivers the amount of the same -except for a small amount derived from the pensioner- to an investment fund previously selected by the lender. And correlatively, the disadvantage that means not doing so, given the extremely burdensome progressivity of IHT (Inheritance Tax) concluding that, if nothing is done, they could be end up paying taxes of up to 81.60% of the value of the home, or its tax base.

The judge also determined that the insurance policy did not comply with the minimum standards for it to be classed as real insurance, demanding the following:

…that the insurer assumes a certain risk, that the contract has an actuarial basis and that there is adequacy between the content of the contract and the profile of the policyholder.

The Court has now ordered the land registry to remove the mortgage loan and for SEB Insurance to refund the policy sum.

Lawbird Legal Services have been the lawyers acting for the claimant.

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