West Bromwich Building Society Tracker Margins Legal Action

Reply to the comment left by "Richard Adams" at "05/12/2013 - 13:25":

Ok Richard - cheers.

Will post on here if/when I get a response

Reply to the comment left by "All BankersAreBarstewards Smith" at "05/12/2013 - 13:10":

There is a method in my madness, fear not, there's a lot more where that came from! 🙂

My preference now would be for West Brom to realise that Court Action is futile for them. They will simply be using funds which could otherwise be paid in interest to to the elderly, widows and orphans as opposed to frittering it away on fighting a battle they cannot win. On this basis it would be nice if they were to back-track, apologise for their error and reverse their decision for all 6,700 borrowers.

If this happens, the money held by Justin would be refunded to the contributors, less expenses to date shared pro-rata of course.

Like all good landlords I am a great believer in fair play. Some landlords have not joined the campaign but they should be treated fairly and in accordance with their contracts just like the rest of us. The fact that West Brom could waste so much of their members funds on a pointless legal battle annoys me.

Tis the season of goodwill so I am offering an Olive branch to the West Brom, not that their Directors deserve it but their members do.
.

Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "05/12/2013 - 12:14":

In his letter to George Eustive MP, Andrew Jones hasn't done the West Brom any favours by referring to the fact that the Bank of England will be keeping the base rate where it is now for a while and the very adverse impact that this is having on the performance of the West Bromwich Group. In essence, he's saying landlords (who are also the customers of the society) are benefiting from their BTL trackers to the detriment of the society. In other words, (with the benefit of hindsight) landlords made a good business decision by opting for these BTL trackers and the Society made a bad business decision by mispricing the deals at the time they were sold.

Come to think of it, the letter from Andrew Jones dated 15 November 2013 is a nice bit of evidence (from a senior employee (Group Risk Director) and on letter headed paper. Thank you very much!) as to the real reasons behind the West Brom's actions in raising the rate on the BTL tracker mortgages i.e. how unprofitable these mortgages have become for the West Brom.

If West Brom's legal team even attempt to run the "very adverse impact on the performance of the West Brom" argument at court, I'll wet myself laughing because I can guess what the response of the judge will be.

Cry me a river.

Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "05/12/2013 - 12:14":

It must sorely trouble anyone with integrity to have to sign a letter claiming that Section 5 applies to our tracker mortgages. The list of such signatories keeps growing.

Reply to the comment left by "All BankersAreBarstewards Smith" at "05/12/2013 - 13:10":

They would get everything as part of disclosure for the court case. It prevents any surprises or ambushes by either party at court.

Reply to the comment left by "Richard Kent " at "05/12/2013 - 13:42":

Actually Richard there has been much action over last couple of months by many members of this forum. According to their areas of contacts and expertise many have done plenty others not so much maybe. We all acknowledge what others have done and particularly what you are doing as a non directly affected borrower. Thank you from me for starters.

I cannot recollect any efforts being compromised by counterproductive comments, or finger pointing or indeed anything remotely divisive. Fact remains that this is a mud throwing against the wall exercise. We have to throw plenty to ensure some of it sticks realising that not all of it will. So we keep on throwing. We are succeeding but it is so frustrating to know that despite our efforts some WB borrowers, and brokers for that matter, remain blissfully unaware.

I use the word mud as an analogy not suggesting it in its derogatory form.

Reply to the comment left by "Richard Adams" at "05/12/2013 - 14:14":

@Richard A

Your comments seemed slightly ambiguous but I understand what you mean now.

I retract everything! 🙂

Although, I hope you can see the relevance of my comments and how they apply in some cases.

Reply to the comment left by "Richard Kent " at "05/12/2013 - 13:42":

Thank you Richard for all your hard work and the effort you have put into making brokers aware of this campaign, especially as you are not personally affected by the rate hike.

It is important to make as many brokers aware of this campaign so they can advise their clients who have West Brom BTL tracker mortgages that are affected by this rate hike, and point them to us. I would want as many borrowers who are affected by the rate hike to be part of the group action and to benefit from a win at court despite the fact that no additional funds are required. It is no longer about fundraising but about protecting all those who have fallen victim to the West Brom's scandalous actions and ensuring that they don't have to fight the West Brom alone.

Last night I thought I'd do my bit to get the word out to mortgage advisers so I copied and pasted Mark's article "Important Message To Mortgage Advisers re West Brom Mortgage Company" and plastered it all over the forums on the Cherryfind website. I also posted appropriate feedback re: the conduct of the West Brom over at Cherryfind.

Every little helps!

Reply to the comment left by "The Man From Nowhere" at "05/12/2013 - 14:28":

@The Man From Nowhere

Thanks for your kind words.

Although, I was hoping to encourage enthusiasm from other people rather than encourage the personal praise. 🙂

Hi All,
I've been reading all the posts on this and I'm proud to be part of this (I only wish I had time to contribute more).
Just a thought....... quite early on someone suggested doing a protest outside either West Broms headquarters or their London offices. I would be inclined to think that now we have so much support we could have a sizeable group attend and make good free press. I certainly would do my best to attend (although London would be easiest for me). I think it would be a good opportunity for everyone to meet face to face which could help drive this fighting spirit. A meet for coffee or a few beers after would probably be well attended.