‘SMOKE AND MIRRORS’ BANK MORTGAGES
When you get a mortgage from a bank today, if they told you that your unsecured credit
cards, loans, line of credit, in other words every credit facility you have with them would
become secured under the new mortgage, would you agree to this?
If they told you they were going to register the amount of mortgage up to125% higher
than the value despite the funds you receive, thus rendering you with what appears to
be no equity, would you be OK with that?
Also if someone at the bank explained to you the penalty you would pay if something
went wrong, God forbid, like job loss, separation/divorce etc., which no one expects will
happen, when in fact they happen all the time, and you realize that the penalty is both
shocking and grossly unfair, would you proceed with such a mortgage?
Clearly your answer would be NO, NO AND NO!!! I’ll find a mortgage elsewhere.
The problem is that such disclosures of information are rarely given by the banks. You
show up a the lawyer’s office, and while he or she may do their best to inform you of
some of the perils of this new style ‘COLLATERAL MORTGAGE’ it is simply too late.
Costs have been incurred and your money has already been spent. It is too late to start
over, especially if you bought a house which must close and so you proceed and the
transaction closes.
We are of the opinion that these new bank mortgage products give the bank virtual
control over you, financially speaking. You see, if you now miss one credit card or loan
payment you are considered in default OF EVERY DEBT you have with your bank. In
fact, if one misses even one credit card payment for example (and are falling behind
and in trouble) the bank can now act to take your house too. This was never the case
before.
Please understand that when you obtain a bank mortgage today, you are agreeing to
many new ‘Dangerous to your Health’ terms that you don’t even see in the mortgage
commitment that you sign. Can this be true? Yes it absolutely is, because every
borrower is obligated by the STANDARD CHARGE TERMS which you sign at the law
office the day before closing giving you little to no chance to read. This is the FINE
PRINT that we keep warning you about that can harm you more than you can ever
imagine.
Next week, we will continue this subject with specific quotations directly from various
Bank Standard Charge Terms documents, that will make you cringe.
Yes borrowing from the Banks has utterly become a game of SMOKE AND MIRRORS.
We are here to protect you the consumer. We can only hope that you will call us first for
you next mortgage need.