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Foreign currency Mortgages
https://mail.paphospeople.com/ppforum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=18867		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  FUB1 [ Tue Nov 01, 2011 5:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Foreign currency Mortgages
Hi All we were advised in 2008 to take out a swiss franc mortgage. and now with the exchange rate being as it is the bank will be looking for an extra 50% on the mortgage, is there anyone else in the same boat ? I had heard that there were protest groups organised if so any contact details would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you
Brian
Author:  Neil [ Tue Nov 01, 2011 6:04 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
We have a small loan in Swiss Francs and yes it went up , but not by 50%
I spoke to my accountant about this , as I was thinking just to pay it all off ,
he just laughed and I asked him why he was laughing, he said because he too had a loan
in swiss francs and the best thing to do was to sit it out
as he thought that the swiss franc was going to get better over the next few months
I noticed that this month we did not pay as much as we have been paying over the last year
Author:  mikkacyprus [ Fri Mar 16, 2012 6:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
SOS!

The story......ex partner and i bought property in paphos with a mortgage (swiss franc) at the time payments 620 euros a month. We had a child and since then he has left both her and i to fend on our own with the mortgage which has recently reached up to 825 euro a month .....I have tried for years now to sell but as the mortgage is so high i will never be able to clear the debts if i sell at current value.

This mortgage was a five year interest only mortgage and this month the actual payments began and the bank are now demanding 1500 CHF off me. I visited them today to discuss the fact that these payments are way and above over my earnings and they gave me one of three options and gave me till Monday to decide.

1, to make my ex contribute - no chance on this one.
2, to pay 1500 CHF

or

If i cannot meet these payments within three months they will take me to court and sue me and both my child and i will be homeless! WOW!

My ex says he does not care and to let them take us to court....This is just a daft solution in my opinion. I am unable to return back to UK to get a better paid job in order to cover mortgage but he has prevented me doing so by adding my child to the Cypriot Stop List.

Can anyone offer me advice or refer me to anyone who may be able to shed some options for me. I am at my wits end and can no longer sleep with worry. :cry:
Author:  Neil [ Fri Mar 16, 2012 11:04 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
Mmmm? its a hard one ..
Sorry , I dont know what to suggest ..
Author:  Doodles01 [ Sun Aug 12, 2012 9:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
As you took the loan out in 2008, this may not be of any help, but please check your loan agreement. Our bank tried to increase our rate by a considerable amount a couple of years ago. However our loan was taken out in 2007 and in the wording of our contract the bank did not given itself the right to increase the margin within our contract. It was a fight, but we got the interest rate reverted.

It might be worth checking with a solicitor.
Author:  sunshine Jo [ Fri Aug 24, 2012 1:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
Yep me too.

I took out a 5 yr mortgage/loan. After 4 yrs I now owe more than I did when I started, purely due to the exchange rate :-( . Needless to say it will not be cleared next year.

Jo
Author:  Lesley [ Fri Aug 24, 2012 2:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
Does anyone know how Mikka got on? I'd not read this before and feel really comcerned for her.

Lesley
Author:  SarahNic [ Sat Aug 25, 2012 6:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
We took out a Swiss Franc mortgage in 2007 which at the time was only £GBP50k however it is now double that .... also wondering what to do about ... at the moment we are sitting it out but have to say just a little concerned ...

My mum, who lives in Limassol, said that she had read about the banks being sued for mis-selling these mortgages but I'm not sure if this will work, nobody held a gun to our heads and said sign.
Author:  migmogs [ Sun Aug 26, 2012 10:06 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
Lesley wrote:
Does anyone know how Mikka got on? I'd not read this before and feel really comcerned for her.

Lesley

me also lesley
she sounded in a terrible situation
hope things have worked out better for you mikka
maggie
Author:  MPM [ Wed Jan 09, 2013 1:20 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
Has anyone any further advice or updates regarding these Swiss Franc mortgages? We have one with Alpha Bank and the monthly payments have just 'jumped up' considerably. The last time we asked we too were advised to 'sit it out' but as we still live in UK it's not quite so easy to find out, but we're over for a week very shortly so are hoping to try to have a word whilst we're there.
Any advice from those of you more in the loop would be greatly appreciated ;)
Author:  Neil [ Thu Jan 10, 2013 2:29 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
Mine has not changed much , up or down , so still sitting with it ..
Author:  MPM [ Thu Jan 10, 2013 2:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
Thanks for that Neil. I guess we'll do the same and see what happens!
Author:  sunshine Jo [ Wed Feb 20, 2013 3:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
Mine has taken a huge hike again this month, double what my first payement four years ago was!

This UK government & Mervyn King have got a lot to answer for! (In my opinion anyhow). I can’t wait to ditch the UK bureaucracy.

Jo
Author:  Neil [ Thu Apr 25, 2013 11:27 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
I have been into the bank today , to deal with my swiss franc loan , I have had it turned into euros , paid a chunk off it , and now its down to 2 years instead of 6 years , If you have one of these loans , why not go and speak with them , they will try to help you ...
Author:  MPM [ Thu Apr 25, 2013 2:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
Very grateful for you information and advice Neil. Will try to do just that.
Many thanks. I'm so glad I asked about this on this forum :sunny
PS that is not representative of the weather where I am in UK today...more like :cry:
Author:  paphospearl [ Tue Oct 22, 2013 7:59 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
Hi,
Has anyone had any further developments on this problem as a relation of mine has the same problem and is causing her an extreme amount of stress.


Best wishes

Pearl
Author:  sunshine Jo [ Tue Oct 22, 2013 10:02 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
My mortgage is in CHF, and I did get conversion quotes from the bank, but for me they were not a good option. Because my salary is in sterling and the £ is in such a bad way, it made no difference. I guess if your earnings are in Euro it is worth converting, but for me it is better to sit it out. A hell of a struggle because my mortgage is now 50% extra per month than it was to begin - at one point it was almost double the original figure. My earnings have increased no-where near that level. But there are hundreds of us, so my little issue is of no consequence.

Good luck

Jo
Author:  Big Nev [ Tue Oct 22, 2013 12:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
IMPORTANT

Contact this company:

Maxwell Alves Solicitors. Look them up on the internet

They are in London. There is an amnesty set by the Cypriot Government about Barring out time clauses. This expires on 31st December 2013.
This company are representing over 200 Swiss Franc Mortgage holders who are in the same boat as you.
They will be able to advise you.

The contact is George Kounis.
Author:  LeeH [ Tue Oct 22, 2013 5:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
Hi Nev,
Just to be a bit impartial here, there are a few other firms with similar groups, one called Judicare and one run by a guy called Lyn Hill amongst others.
People concerned could look up Cyprus-property news - Nigel Howarth's site and ask him for contact details of the various groups.
People do need to act before the end of the year.
Author:  Big Nev [ Tue Oct 22, 2013 5:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
LeeH wrote:
Hi Nev,
Just to be a bit impartial here, there are a few other firms with similar groups, one called Judicare and one run by a guy called Lyn Hill amongst others.
People concerned could look up Cyprus-property news - Nigel Howarth's site and ask him for contact details of the various groups.
People do need to act before the end of the year.



I agree wholeheartedly.

The reason I put this one up is that I've downloaded their information and telephoned and spoken to them.
They replied to my email within 30 minutes.
I emailed about 5 of these groups on Tuesday last week. To date Maxwell Alves are the only firm to get back to me.
This efficiency has won my vote.
Author:  SarahNic [ Thu Oct 24, 2013 8:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
We have contacted Maxwell Alves and will be jumping on the bandwagon ...
Author:  terrybecks [ Mon Nov 17, 2014 3:52 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
I posted an article on Anglo Cyprus Times around 18 Months ago in reference to the Swiss Franc loan nightmare that people were finding themselves in. My wife and I found ourselves in the same situation with the Alpha Bank loan we had taken out to purchase our dream home in Cyprus and then finding ourselves in negative equity with loan repayments that had nearly doubled because if exchange rates.
Rather than adopt the Ostrich syndrome which a lot of people did we decided to take the bank on ourselves and not to use extortionately expensive lawyers. Over a period of 6 months we by means of correspondence with the Alpha Bank by Email and telephone conversations managed to reduce our loan amount by €50,000 which enabled us to pay off and keep our home in Cyprus. We were inundated by emails from people asking us how we had managed to do this . So much so that we spent many hours advising on how to approach their bank. We in the end decided to charge a small fee for all the correspondence between us and our bank as the workload was excessive . Out of 82 people that contacted us only 6 took up our offer because we decided to make a small charge. We received yesterday from our 6th person a thank you email letting us know they had confirmed a settlement with their bank a reduction of €42,000 to their final loan settlement. I hope the other 76 people that contacted us haven't adapted the Ostrich syndrome or are paying expensive lawyers. It is possible to take on your bank and if you want more details contact me on lashmere@btinternet.com . But please no time wasters . I had enough of those .
Author:  Big Nev [ Tue Nov 18, 2014 6:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
Further to my post last year, I decided not to go with Maxwell Alves in the end and like terrybecks went to Alpha Bank myself.
I got a 28% reduction on my final settlement and paid off my mortgage.

It just took a bit of persistance and not going in like a bull in a china shop.

It was eventually a bit like haggling in the market. We eventually came to a figure both the Bank and I were happy with.
Author:  Neil [ Tue Nov 18, 2014 6:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
speaking with my accountant the other week , he informed me that ther is a case in court at present, that if won , people will be able claim against the banks and the interest rate will go back to the original rate for swiss francs and monies will be returned ..
Author:  MPM [ Tue Nov 18, 2014 10:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
We found a solicitor we felt would get the best deal for us and for a very reasonable fee. Very quickly we were offered a 33% reduction and thankfully, in April, we were able to pay off the loan. I just feel enormous relief, as I'm sure all the other folks who have negotiated an acceptable settment figure by whatever means do too :grin:
Author:  Big Nev [ Wed Nov 19, 2014 11:53 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Foreign currency Mortgages
:agree :goodpost
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