Borrowers warned about mortgage broker

Date:Friday 13th March 2009
Author: Rachel Fletcher

Mortgage borrowers have been issued a warning by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) regarding a mortgage broker in Kent.

Anyone who has taken out a loan with The Financial Associate in Sidcup, or who is currently doing so, has been urged to check that the loan value matched what they put in their applications and whether they had been contacted about life insurance they did not try to get.

The FSA stated that it had reason to believe that John Charalambous, director and adviser of the company, had applied for a mortgage on a customer's behalf on at least one occasion.

" The mortgage advance applied for was in excess of the client's requirements and the mortgage advance was not paid to the client. At the same time as applying for mortgages for his clients, Mr Charalambous may have applied for life assurance policies without his clients' knowledge or consent."

Earlier this week, mortgage broker firm Chase de Vere entered administration, calling the current mortgage market "appalling".

It had been in business for 27 years.