The case involved a property that had been passed down through three generations.
In 2006, a residential investment property was sold by the clients’ grandfather to the clients’ father for £500,000.
The clients’ father, believing there would be no issue with the sale, took out a mortgage with a UK clearing bank for £300,000.
However almost immediately after the sale, the clients’ grandfather fled abroad leaving the father with a property which did not have planning consent for residential occupation.
The clients’ father attempted to sell the property for £380,000 several years later, but after the deal fell through - the bank couldn’t provide a redemption figure as it was in the process of selling its loan book to another bank - he stopped paying the mortgage and was declared bankrupt.
Following a long complaints procedure which included the bank’s CEO, the clients' father reached an agreement to sell the property for £135,000 and to obtain change of use to residential.
As part of the deal the clients used £15,000 of their life savings, with Roma agreeing to fund £120,000 towards the purchase.
They then paid off the bridging loan with a buy-to-let mortgage through a high street bank.
Speaking about the complex case, Scott Marshall, Director at Roma Finance, said: “We made sure we took the time to understand each step and why events had turned out the way they did.”
“Despite the many difficulties encountered, we were able to confirm the family’s story and provide a bridging loan for them to release the family from the relationship with their bank, whose actions were beyond reproach.”
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