Swiss Franc Mortgage

Financial questions answered by Independent Financial Advisor Mark Nowell

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andy0101
Posts: 33
Joined: 11 Jul 2010 12:02

Re: Swiss Franc Mortgage

Post by andy0101 »

Hi

I also have a swiss franc mortgage of similar value to yours,i have been paying this for 4 years and have wiped off some of the mortgage but if i change to euros all my money would be lost in the exchange rate and would have a large mortgage for a long time.
I have now let my apartment out and top the rest of my mortgage with other money,which does help dramatically and now i am praying the financial crisis eases ,as the swiss franc is very much overvalued and will return to some normality in 12-18 months(i hope).
Wishing all swiss franc mortgage people the best of luck

Andy
jaspers dad
Posts: 10
Joined: 07 Jun 2009 15:41

Re: Swiss Franc Mortgage

Post by jaspers dad »

Hi Maurice & Andy,
At the time of Nigels last post we were about to travel down to the Finchley branch of Marfin Laiki to sign a new Euro mortgage from CHF. I had tried twice to get in touch with Sarah Hordle for advise but never had a reply. Anyway it had taken about 2 months to get to the signing stage & we had been worried that we were making another mistake. On the strength of Nigels post we cancelled the new mortgage. Time will now tell ( If we can hang on much longer ) if it was a good decision or not. Of course we got hit with the valuation fee but they very kindly didn't charge us for the arrangement fees.
We have also let our place to help with costs but even that is proving a problem as 2 tenants have wanted to move because of numerous water cuts of 2 or 3 days at a time but thats another story.

All the best
Paul
Nigel Howarth
Site Admin
Posts: 2905
Joined: 24 Oct 2007 14:38
Location: Erimi, Limassol, Cyprus
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Re: Swiss Franc Mortgage

Post by Nigel Howarth »

I have mentioned this elsewhere, but if you feel you have been mis-sold a property, then you should be getting your situation looked into and advice on how to proceed.

And for those who have bought at Tersefanou, there is a Larnaca Golf Action Group at http://www.larnacagolf.info/ who you should contact.

Regards,
Nigel Howarth
Independent information & advice for Cyprus property buyers
Contact Nigel Howarth
Read the latest Cyprus property news
andy0101
Posts: 33
Joined: 11 Jul 2010 12:02

Re: Swiss Franc Mortgage

Post by andy0101 »

Hi Paul

For what its worth i think if you can hang on it will be the correct decision.

Andy
jaspers dad
Posts: 10
Joined: 07 Jun 2009 15:41

Re: Swiss Franc Mortgage

Post by jaspers dad »

Thanks for that Andy.
Regards Paul
maurice
Posts: 17
Joined: 31 May 2011 09:56

Re: Swiss Franc Mortgage

Post by maurice »

Good to hear from Andy ,Paul and Nigel on CHF mortgages. I have also visited Chris Christofi to consider "misselling" but I understand the costs of defending such a case could amount to tens of thousands of pounds with no guarantee of success. This would be throwing more money at the problem and it might be better if we had that sort of money to use it to repay the mortgage. Do any of you have a property in Peyia - Paphos bought through agents in Birmingham? - Alpha Bank?
Maurice
val304
Posts: 5
Joined: 19 Feb 2011 12:48
Location: North Wales

Re: Swiss Franc Mortgage

Post by val304 »

We have an apartment in Kapparis, in the same situation.

We borrowed from Alpha Bank 75,000 euros and have been paying it off now for three years. Were lead to believe it would cost us 280 euros a month, but it turns out it was 750 per month, within 12 months it shot up to 870 per month - all due to CHF. We weren't even informed it was with Alpha bank, or in Swiss Francs until we went to Cyprus. Had a POA so nothing we could do...

Spoke to the bank, and they put us on interest only for 12 months, and approached the bank two months ago to find out what our final balance was as we wanted to reduce the price up for sale, and we have now found out we owe 85,000 euros (10,000 more than what we did in the beginning!).

We have approached a London solicitor acting on behalf of a Cypriot solicitor... who told us we have a possible case of missold mortgage, plus a corrupt solicitor - but to do anything about it would cost approximately 15-20,000 euros - we don't have the money to fight this, as we're pensioners - all our life savings and pensions went into this property.

It's unbelievable that this has happened to so many people but nothing can be done about it.

Regards, Val
Nigel Howarth
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Joined: 24 Oct 2007 14:38
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Re: Swiss Franc Mortgage

Post by Nigel Howarth »

maurice wrote:I understand the costs of defending such a case could amount to tens of thousands of pounds with no guarantee of success.
I would be very wary of using a solicitor who could guarantee success!

Regards,
Nigel Howarth
Independent information & advice for Cyprus property buyers
Contact Nigel Howarth
Read the latest Cyprus property news
andy0101
Posts: 33
Joined: 11 Jul 2010 12:02

Re: Swiss Franc Mortgage

Post by andy0101 »

Unfortunately Alpha bank will wash their hands of you,as they did me.

In a way they are correct as we all knew there was some risk,maybe not as much as we know now but if it had gone the other way we would all be happy.

We all are now suffering and today the swiss franc hits another high,but what can we do?

I am sitting it out and hoping for the best as i have a good job and youth on my side,but not everyone can do this and my heart goes out to you.

Andy
maurice
Posts: 17
Joined: 31 May 2011 09:56

Re: Swiss Franc Mortgage

Post by maurice »

Thanks Andy
Nice considerate response - best wishes to you.
Maurice
maurice
Posts: 17
Joined: 31 May 2011 09:56

Re: Swiss Franc Mortgage

Post by maurice »

Thanks Nigel -
Maybe I should have said little hope of success?
Maurice
morgane
Posts: 14
Joined: 01 Jun 2011 22:46

Re: Swiss Franc Mortgage

Post by morgane »

Hi Nigel
I am new to the forum and I too would really appreciate if you could copy me with the e-mail re Swiss mortgages.
Regards
Eoin
Wayne
Posts: 8
Joined: 25 Jun 2011 16:06

Re: Swiss Franc Mortgage

Post by Wayne »

maurice wrote:Good to hear from Andy ,Paul and Nigel on CHF mortgages. I have also visited Chris Christofi to consider "misselling" but I understand the costs of defending such a case could amount to tens of thousands of pounds with no guarantee of success. This would be throwing more money at the problem and it might be better if we had that sort of money to use it to repay the mortgage. Do any of you have a property in Peyia - Paphos bought through agents in Birmingham? - Alpha Bank?
Maurice
Hi Maurice
I own a property in peyia through agents in birmingham who were called opus but now they've gone bust,did you purchase through them also? We are also with alpha bank & are getting more & more concerned with the money we now owe due to our swiss franc loan. At the moment we are looking for a specialist solicitor to look into the way our mortgage was set up as we wasn't warned about how the exchange rate could affect the payments/balance of the mortgage, Nor were we sent any loan agreements by the bank so i beleive we were mislead. If any one can recommend a solicitor it would be much appreciated.
Wayne.....
maurice
Posts: 17
Joined: 31 May 2011 09:56

Re: Swiss Franc Mortgage

Post by maurice »

Hi Wayne
Yes ours was bought from opus in Birmingham who I think went bust soon afterwards - convenient? If you want to email me direct @ mauricecook@btinternet.com We can share more info. We are arranging to convert to euro mortgage as I can never see the Swiss franc going the other way. Alpha Bank are being helpful but it is in their interest in more ways than one.
regards Maurice
maurice
Posts: 17
Joined: 31 May 2011 09:56

Re: Swiss Franc Mortgage

Post by maurice »

The Times is carrying an article on Swiss Franc Mortgages this Saturday! 2nd July 2011
Maurice
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