Thousands to complain about 'lifetime tracker' payments

Yes, it's a UK thing, but it might make you want to go back and actually re-read your mortgage.

Remember, teh document you actually signed ?

Always read any print that is smaller than the rest first.

ALthough that's always good advice, I'm pretty sure there is precedent for action if the big plain language print implies something different than what the small legalese print says.

Of course I could be talking completely out of my ass on this. Hopefully someone with actual legal knowledge will weigh in.

It's not a UK thing. In the USA we call the same financial product an adjustable rate mortgage.

The only time using one of these loans makes sense is when interest rates are high. If rates are low then only stupid and greedy people use them instead of taking out a low interest, fixed rate loan.

I have zero sympathy for these people. They errantly speculated that rates would never rise and they were wrong. Too bad.

It's also just as likely though that some of these people signed after being told by the bank "nah, don't worry about it, the rates aren't going to go up at all". And then, later on when they call the bank to ask WTF just happened with a massive rate hike they then get told "the person who told you that no longer works here".

Entirely possible. Still, anyone making the most important purchase of their lifetime without performing due diligence is a fool.

Seriously, these fools probably paid more attention to the features on their latest smart phone than they did to the fine print in their mortgage.

Sorry, just a slight correction.

"Reading the fine print" isn't an adequate solution.

First, nobody is going to - or is expected to- spend 3 hours in the salesman's office reading through 126 pages of 8-point italicised font. You would probably be asked to leave if you did.

Second, the fine print is often filled complex legal and technical terminology that only a lawyer could understand...and even then, if lawyers all had the same understanding, we wouldn't have contractual disputes before the courts in the first place so what hope do YOU have? Especially when the so-called expert (the saleman)is verbally telling you "oh don't worry about that" and possibly misleading you to believe the exact opposite of what the language really means.

As to whether fine print is bindindng and legal, AFAIK it depends on what it says, whether you were required to initial beside it, etc. But Im not an expert.

The long and short of it here is that most of these people took these loans so they could move into more house than they really could afford. They made a big, greedy bet and just like the people who buy stocks and lose...they lost.

And, just like the people in the stock market, they expect someone else to bail them out of their mess.

Next up will be gamblers demanding bail-outs when they lose at craps.

Wow what a scummy move by the bank(s). Their cost hasn't changed at all, but now they want double to triple the amount.

Another good reason for having publicly operated banks.

If the banks got bailed out by the taxpayers they should be permanently disallowed from foreclosing on anyone's home. And the home owner should also have an option to switch the mortgage to the government and then pay back on a revised schedule.



You don't get rich by being nice to anyone.