Fined £10,500 for False Income Declaration on Self Cert Mortgages
A recent enquiry into the practices of a mortgage broker’s dealings of a self cert mortgage has lead to a £10,500 fine given by the FSA.
The Financial Services Authority found failures in the checks run on the income declarations made by customers when applying for a self cert mortgage. It has been suggested by the regulatory body that too much emphasis was placed on the information being supplied being 100% based in fact.
It is imperative that when applying for a self certification mortgage, that a full assessment is carried out examining the customers affordability for a particular mortgage.
In the case of this particular broker, false income declarations were made by customers, which had not been questioned. This has pointed out the fact that proper regulatory procedures were not in place to stop customers from committing mortgage fraud.
In addition to these charges, the FSA also found evidence that staff were not adequately trained and were charging customers extra fees for packagers to source products.
Although mortgage brokers do rely on their customers to be as honest as possible, thorough checks are carried out on the suitability of a person for a mortgage in line with the regulations laid out by the Financial Services Authority. It is also worth bearing in mind, that should you not be able to meet the repayments on your home, it could be repossessed.
