I think what people object to is blatant underselling which lenders have undoubtedly practised.(posted 7707 days ago)I know of one case for example where the lender put a property on the market for an asking price of 54,250 and sold it for 45,000. They rejected an offer of 48,000 the same day they put the property on the market, and then rejected two offers the following day of 50,000 and 52,000?? The lender refuses to say why they didn't accept the offer of 52,000. The borrower, as in the case of a great many people, cannot take the case to the Financial Ombudsman as more than 6 years have passed since the sale. The lender has 12 years or more to pursue a mortgage shortfall victim, the borrower only has six!! Furthermore, lenders have millions of pounds to obtain the best barristers, what has a MS victim got? Not surprising then the rate of successful cases. How many cases, I wonder, have people been able to actually bring and how many cases of underselling have there been. There has been an investigation into Estate Agent corruption, why not into Lender's??
You only have to read the Long Shadow Report by the CAB to see more examples of underselling.
Here is part of an extract from Moneymail:
Text only extract from Moneymail -26-12 -94 !!
The repossessed who are undersold BY ALLAN PIPER
With repossessions running at around 60,000 a year, the Halifax this month became the second major building society to admit that it sold repossessed homes well below their market value.
The admission shows how pressure on estate agents to maximise commissions can override official lenders’ policy of selling for the best possible price.
Another top society, the Woolwich, admitted seven weeks ago that it was aware of deliberate under-selling.