HSBC - Renegotiating Loan

abzaa

I am presuming that you still have other loans/mortgages with them and this is only one of the loans for which they are trying to impose new terms as the 5 year term has ended? presumably you have 15 years or so left on other loans?

if so try to remortgage the whole lot elsewhere. The threat of losing your whole business is the only card you have to play as they havent broken any terms and it would be difficult to argue legally under unfair terms act. you will get another mortgage/loan around the 3% mark but you can stretch the terms to make the same payments.

i am in a similar situation with the hsbc but i didnt have a 5 year clause. Am trying to release one of my properties from security they hold and they are trying to impose new and harsher terms. Their hope is that they can squeeze more profits from customers and/or customers will leave so their balance sheet looks healthy.

socrates

abzaa wrote: »

I am presuming that you still have other loans/mortgages with them and this is only one of the loans for which they are trying to impose new terms as the 5 year term has ended? presumably you have 15 years or so left on other loans?

if so try to remortgage the whole lot elsewhere. The threat of losing your whole business is the only card you have to play as they havent broken any terms and it would be difficult to argue legally under unfair terms act. you will get another mortgage/loan around the 3% mark but you can stretch the terms to make the same payments.

i am in a similar situation with the hsbc but i didnt have a 5 year clause. Am trying to release one of my properties from security they hold and they are trying to impose new and harsher terms. Their hope is that they can squeeze more profits from customers and/or customers will leave so their balance sheet looks healthy.

I do not have any other loans with them - I moved those a few years back to Clydesdale

I am seriously going to look into why I was converted from a deal that was for the length of the loan - to 2 separate loans that were on 5 year deals

abzaa

Do you have a relationship manager at the Bank or is all the documentation coming straight from head office? you could go down the court route, which is what i am doing. i think a county court application only costs around £120. It may be the only thing the bank will listen to. They certainly wont listen to any protests from you about why a loan for 20 years suddenly was broken in half with a 5 year review date inserted. Their argument will be you are a business man and you ought to be aware of what you sign and this is a business renegotiation.

However if you look at the FSA banking code i have a feeling that they are only "slightly vulnerable" on unfair terms in the Banking Code as the renegotiation of the current terms would affect you adversely. But this would be quite a week argument for which you should maybe do a lot of research or seek legal advice. depends on the size of the loan and how much you will lose in repayments over the year.

socrates

I have a new Account Manager and he is the one writing to me

I left a message for him on Thursday - he has yet to return my call

abzaa

Well you need to be keeping email or written records. i imagine that you cant repay the whole loan and dont want to stomach the higher payments but am afraid without recourse to courts or another lender you wont have many options. The FOS wont look at it. The FSA wont cover business arrangements as i have just found out. But in the first instance you wanna be telling the bank you are not happy with their terms and perhaps you can claim hardship or something that would stall for time

These days the relationship managers dont have any power to negotiate terms. you would have had somebody in 2007 but hes moved on and now everything is coming from a central Real Estate Division who are tasked with streamlining the property portfolio of the HSBC. Those people with good property investment portfolios are gonna feel the brunt as the bank tries to pass on its increased costs.

socrates

abzaa wrote: »

Well you need to be keeping email or written records. i imagine that you cant repay the whole loan and dont want to stomach the higher payments but am afraid without recourse to courts or another lender you wont have many options. The FOS wont look at it. The FSA wont cover business arrangements as i have just found out. But in the first instance you wanna be telling the bank you are not happy with their terms and perhaps you can claim hardship or something that would stall for time

These days the relationship managers dont have any power to negotiate terms. you would have had somebody in 2007 but hes moved on and now everything is coming from a central Real Estate Division who are tasked with streamlining the property portfolio of the HSBC. Those people with good property investment portfolios are gonna feel the brunt as the bank tries to pass on its increased costs.

One question

If the FSA have nothing to do with this arrangement - why are they quoting them in my letter as being one of the main reasons for the increase?

abzaa

Try writing to the FSA to find out if they would look into the matter. Its free and you will know in 14 days. you might find that they only deal with "consumer rights" and your issue would come under "business rights". The certainly wouldn't look into my case and it was a mortgage for a property i rent out so they termed it a buy to let mortgage and didnt deal with it.
I also approached the FOS on unfair charges to my hsbc business account and the FOS decided that they were fair. so its a blurred boundry between being a consumer or business.

socrates

I heard from my Account Manager today - I had to call him again in order to get him to call back

Very over friendly and I told him in no uncertain terms I was not happy with his letter - especially as my loan had been split and changed to a 5 year option - which put me in a much worse position - and also at a time when it was easy to borrow money elsewhere

I also stated that the proposed rate was far too high and unaffordable

They also had plenty of equity and it was not an interest only loan

We agreed that he would look at the previous loan agreement and consider the matter again

I also asked directly if HSBC are looking to call in my loans - and he confirmed that it is not the case

I am not holding out for any miracles but I have to fight this all the way

socrates

It seems the FSA are very interested to know why HSBC are issuing letters quoting them as a reason for whatever on an UNREGULATED product

I am now going to seek written clarification from HSBC on this exact question - this may be my only saving grace

martinsurrey

socrates wrote: »

It seems the FSA are very interested to know why HSBC are issuing letters quoting them as a reason for whatever on an UNREGULATED product

I am now going to seek written clarification from HSBC on this exact question - this may be my only saving grace

My guess is that you are confusing different things and once HSBC and FSA get together HSBC will be correct.

The FSA regulate consumer mortgages with one set of guidelines (very tight requirements), but regulate the whole of the bank under other sets of regulations.

The capital requirements the FSA impose do in fact apply to unregulated (commercial) loans as well, and the capital requirements are getting tougher (fact)...

So the letter is factually correct.