West Brom case appeal could go ahead
Property118 founder Mark Alexander could take his case against West Bromwich Mortgage Company to the Court of Appeal, he has confirmed.
Mr Alexander, who originally led a group of investors in the High Court disputing the extent of the lender’s contractual right to vary the interest rate payable by the borrower and to terminate the mortgage on notice, said that leave to appeal had been granted.
The original case noted that a letter dated 6 June 2008, which concerned a loan offer of £90,299 for 25 years, said Mr Alexander would pay a rate of 6.29 per cent until 30 June 2010, when he would pay the Bank of England base rate in addition to a 1.99 per cent premium until the term end.
A section of the letter said BoE rate changes would apply to Mr Alexander’s mortgage but a clause in an accompanying document said interest could vary according to changes in the law or market conditions.
In January, Mr Justice Teare concluded that the two were not inconsistent.
Mr Alexander has previously appealed for brokers to give an appeal financial backing.
The rate increase has also been the subject of a significant number of complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Earlier this week, it was reported that Fos had been inundated with complaints from customers claiming West Bromwich Mortgage Company unfairly increased the rate on their buy-to-let tracker mortgage.
Search results from the online database of Fos decisions revealed that for the year up until 26 May alone, more than 80 complaints had been made against West Bromwich Mortgage Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of West Bromwich Building Society.
