You can take another look at this week’s news and we’ll round up the most thought-provoking or unmissable comments posted after stories or letters sent straight through to the editor.
Remember, we will pick the best reader comment each week. Scroll down to the bottom to find out if your comment was our top pick from last week.
Millions of tenants powerless against landlords, warns Shelter
Mortgage Solutions | 04 Jul 2011 | 16:55
Simret Samra
Not all landlords are bad or unscrupulous. Maybe Shelter should look at the unscrupulous tenants that don’t pay their rent and then run off, leaving their debts and a property that needs to be renovated before you can let it out again.
James
04 Jul 2011 | 17:46
What a load of hogwash. Tenants holding landlords to ransom seems to ring true. I have just spent two weekends painting out purple, red and blue walls when it was specifically noted on the tenancy agreement not to decorate and if you take them to court it just costs you more money. Good riddance.
Susan
04 Jul 2011 | 17:53
I am sick and tired of hearing that tenants are hard done by. Let’s look at the tenant protections:
1) their deposit is protected at the cost of the landlord.
2) the rental insurance is paid for by the landlord but the insurance will not pay if the tenant uses the excuse that there is a dispute due to disrepair/ lack of maintenance.
3) When there is damage dispute on vacating, the landlord may never recover all financial costs even if they win, as the standard one month deposit is usually less than total damage and non rental payment.
4) Tenants will always get satisfactory references are landlords are always happy to help bad tenants move away from their properties.
5) If a tenant applies for housing benefit, they can get the rent and then decide to pay the landlord if they wish. The list goes on and on. i am not saying that all landlords are saints but I’m sick and tired of the media knocking hard working property investors.
Steve
04 Jul 2011 | 18:28
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Broker’s £1.7m libel case against FSA thrown out
Mortgage Solutions | 05 Jul 2011 | 15:15
IFAonline
This guy is getting done from all corners. Sometimes it’s best to just call it quits and walk away. One man with no money will struggle taking on a huge organisation like the FSA – but I admire his guts.
Ancient Wisdom
05 Jul 2011 | 16:22
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Saffron BS launches 95% LTV rent-to-buy deal
Mortgage Solutions | 06 Jul 2011 | 10:33
Kay McLellan
Great idea. It makes sense for those who can prove they have up to date rental payments over a 12 month period to be given extra LTV help. Shame it is not available to all brokers as that seems to be the norm these days when an innovative product or higher LTV is launched.
Greg Roberts
06 Jul 2011 | 11:06
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Is the mortgage industry a force for good?
Mortgage Solutions | 05 Jul 2011 | 16:12
Stephen Smith
I have a clear conscience about my professional career and am always being told by clients what a difference I have made to their lives. However, the constant carping by the FSA means it is difficult to feel good about your work even though you know the regulator doesn’t understand the industry.
In addition, the continual battles with lenders are long and wearying. I have had virtually none of my applications declined, but last year almost 100% of my applications had mistakes from lenders, yet they treated it as though I was the one who was wrong.
Des Platt
06 Jul 2011 | 11:38
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Osborne: BoE powers will prevent future banking crises
Mortgage Solutions | 06 Jul 2011 | 12:39
Mortgage Solutions
The “Banking Crisis” was ultimately caused by institutional and individual greed. Yes I know this is simplistic, but an economic and social system founded on profit above all is doomed to repeat its past mistakes. How much profit is enough? Not even the new Tories can legislate against human nature.
Martin Abell
06 Jul 2011 | 13:03
So, dear old George Osborne is arguing that a single body overseeing regulation will help prevent another crisis on the scale of the RBS failure? Surely, there was a single regulatory body (FSA) overseeing regulation at the time of the last debacle?
HW
06 Jul 2011 | 14:23
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Guilty mortgage broker ordered to repay £240,000 from £2.2m fraud
Mortgage Solutions | 07 Jul 2011 | 14:54
Mortgage Solutions
None of the numbers given make any sense. Firstly, it is absolutely right that the guy was imprisoned and that he should be forced to repay his ill-gotten gains. However, how on earth did the police and court work out how much he had gained?
If it’s true that he “earned” 0.3% on the deals which amounted to £2.24m, than his earnings were £67,200; more than he says but significantly less than the court claimed. The only way in which he could have gained more would be if he had “inflated” his own earnings and thereby bought property himself.
Les Whitfield
07 Jul 2011 | 15:47
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Simple products should need no advice – Treasury
Mortgage Solutions | 07 Jul 2011 | 16:42
Cover
If this is the kind of “expertise” that comes out of the Treasury, no wonder the country is in the state that it is in. Quite apart from the potential IHT problems created by not putting certain life policies in Trust, a proper PHI policy is not an ‘off the peg’ job, but needs to be properly tailored to the individual’s needs and circumstances.
Tony
08 Jul 2011 | 08:28
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Santander returns call centres to UK
Mortgage Solutions | 08 Jul 2011 | 11:11
Kay McLellan
Having experienced dire service from Santander last year, it’s good to see that they are taking customer feedback seriously. Recent communications with them has certainly improved. Perhaps others will follow suit, but I’m not holding my breath.
Richard Jenkinson
08 Jul 2011 | 11:26
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“It’ll be fine”: the ten worst financial predictions
Mortgage Solutions | 08 Jul 2011 | 11:24
Will Roberts
I don’t know what we will do if another crisis hits without Gordon Brown to save us all.
Bill Wells
08 Jul 2011 | 14:08
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This week’s star comment came from Chris Ridgeway who gave us his thoughts on whether simplified financial products should be defined as sellable without advice:
Simple products should need no advice – Treasury
Mortgage Solutions | 07 Jul 2011 | 16:42
Cover
It might help the country if the Treasury and HMRC were to look closer to home and write their own guidance notes in simple language too. That way we could save millions on tax advisers, accountants and lawyers. How come every body outside of financial services has an answer? The whole thing makes me laugh.
You cannot get a simpler product than life assurance and yet it’s not the product elements which are in question, but the application/relevance of the product to a clients individual circumstance.
Until a client can consider the application of life assurance to their IHT problems or consider which trust is appropriate, I would agree that the thrust of the research is relevant. Until then, let advisers do their job and advise, if they get it wrong than pay accordingly.
Chris Ridgeway
07 Jul 2011 | 18:15
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Thanks for all your comments,
From the Mortgage Solutions team
