What is Tracker Mortgage Scandal? Which people are most affected by it?
It all initiated with a little more than a slight whisper in the air, but soon it evolved into a loud roar. Last year it got revealed that almost 1,372 homeowners had to majorly face tracker mortgage overcharging by Permanent TSB, and another similar practice to it emerged during the summer at AIB which highlighted the issue on the front.
Permanent TSB Overcharging
Then later, on 19th December, the Central Bank revealed and announced that at least 8,200 homeowners were completely denied to be given a tracker mortgage on behalf of their lenders. This news was really shocking for all. Then barely a day later, Governor Phillip Lane of Central Bank conceded that a number of people who got affected by this tracker mortgage scandal and said that the count may be as high as 15,000 maximally.
So, what do you think, has the issue completely ended there, or it needs some further deeper investigations to check out any other mortgage misdeeds to get them uncovered in front of all? And do you feel that you may have also been affected due to such an issue?
Therefore, it is worth getting to know about the complete details and considerations regarding the evolution of current mortgage markets in Ireland. Till September 2016, a rough approximate of 740,000 mortgage accounts were acclaimed tracker mortgage compensation by the Central Bank figures, having an outstanding value of more than €71.8 billion.
Currently, the famous tracker mortgage scandal is making its way to major headlines as the issue is been under observation and examination of an Oireachtas Committee.
Tracker Mortgage Scandal Details
Given below is everything essential to know about the recent tracker mortgages and the details of all that went wrong for several mortgage holders.
What is the tracker mortgage rate?
Tracker mortgage rates are usually defined as a set of defined percentages applies over the European Central Bank. Such rates tend to be far cheaper in comparison to fixed and variable mortgage rates though.
Why are they currently in news headlines?
By the end of the year 2015, it got revealed that a large number of mortgage clients and customers were badly denied to be given an entitled interest rate over their mortgage, which was their legal right. This resulted in ordering 15 reliable lenders by the Central Bank to trawl and figure out through their mortgage books in order to seek out all those individuals who had faced tracker mortgage overcharging and suffered a major loss.
How many individuals have been affected due to this overcharging?
According to a rough estimate, the eventual number of holder mortgage accounts where they were wrongfully denied to get a cheap tracker interest rate was possible 30,000. This count was almost double the current estimate of the financial advisor named Padraic Kissane.
Have the individuals been compensated for their loss?
While till now, most of the mortgage clients and customers have now been provided legal compensation with the correct tracker rate. But still, the majority of banks are due and late in refunding the homeowners the illegally overcharged interest and providing them their rightful compensation.
What have been the possible consequences of tracker mortgage overcharging?
The outcomes of such an overcharging are far-reaching and yet there is much more to be expected in the future. Over more than 100 families have lost their homes due to this scandal, unfortunately. Still, it is just a rough estimation, the actual count can be even more.
When did the tracker mortgage scandal become officially known?
Despite some people already reported this overcharging issue back in the year 2008 to Financial Ombudsman, it was no later than the next seven years when the Central Bank itself started conducting a series of in-depth investigations of this case and forced all its related banks to get into this redress Programme.
