Vulture Funds and Loan Sales
Failure to pay your mortgage can lead to it being sold to a vulture fund or passed to a debt collection agency. These companies are agressive and can make your life a misery. Not to mention the repossession of assets, inlcuding your home.
Read on to find out more.
It is extremely common for people struggling to pay their mortgage in Spain & Cyprus to hear that their best option is to simply leave and return to the UK. Many different sources who provide you with advice will tell you that you can forget about everything. This is not the case. If you have taken this approach, you may find that your debt has been sold on to a third party, such as a ‘vulture fund’.
Whether it has been a year or a decade since you stopped paying for your property, there is a good chance one of these funds will become involved.
The first you will know of this sale is likely to be in the form of an official (and often threatening) letter. These letters come from the vulture fund directly or, often, from a solicitor operating on their behalf in your home country.
Why Your Debt has Been Sold…
European banks are notoriously slow, especially regarding the recovery of debt. If you have stopped paying your mortgage, it can be a long time before you hear from your lender, making it an extremely worrying time when you receive a threatening letter in the post.
Due to their inability to collect these debts, many banks turn to vulture funds. By selling debts onto these funds, they can get rid of ‘bad’ debt. Vulture funds are designed solely to recover money, making them far more effective and economical.
“What if I receive a letter from a Vulture Fund?”
Big, bold writing, underlined text and lots of red notices are common features in these letters. They are designed to scare you into thinking that you have no option but to pay for everything they are asking for.
Once your loan has been sold, a vulture fund can change the terms of the agreement. They can demand larger repayments or even a complete repayment along with adding interest or charges.
Why Vulture Funds Are Different from Banks
These funds are more efficient, more aggressive and more commercial in their approach to debt collection. Once you receive communications from a third party, you can expect:
- More aggressive pursual tactics – Vulture Funds use more aggressive techniques to harass borrowers, this will include threatening letters, calls, emails and texts.
- Your UK assets becoming at risk, especially regarding 2nd charges on UK homes – lenders can work across jurisdictions to put your home at risk.
- Rising costs – As your case goes on, the Vulture Fund will add additional costs, legal fees, and compound interest
You can read more about how Vulture Funds pursue borrowers in their home countries here.
Your Alternatives
Ignoring a Vulture Fund will only make them less receptive to offers down the line. The situation will also have progressed, making it harder to halt legal action & negotiate with your best interests in mind.
EU Property Solutions can assess your situation during a free initial consultation with no obligations. We understand how Vulture Funds work, and most importantly, we know how to help you. We have helped hundreds of clients escape from Vulture Funds.
Call us today on 0330 124 1230 or email us at [email protected]. We can provide solutions for any foreign property issues. Don’t believe us? Click here to listen to some of the people we have achieved life-changing settlements for.