For sometime now I have been asked by clients what I know of the Japanese Yen mortgages being offered in Spain.
I have now been trying for some weeks to understand how this offer is being made and how real the offer is.
My initial concerns about its validity purely stem from the fact that major well known names like Lloyds international have withdrawn from offering Yen mortgages unless you are paid in Yen. Their key rationale for this has been it is unprofitable business for the bank. If Lloyds could not make it pay on 1.75% to 2% above base rate I cannot see how the loans apparently supplied by Dominion Credit and Finance in Singapore can make it pay at 1.5% above base and cover all legal costs for clients as well as offer free exchange management and advice.
However undeterred I have continued to investigate the possibilities.
The credit agreement that is required to be signed for this type of loan is very woolly. It seems to give the lender ability at any time to change terms and rates with little or no notice and there is no guarantee what you sign for will end up being the actual terms for lifetime of loan. The MD a Mr Henry Braithwaite has yet to respond to my email asking searching and probing questions about their loans as he is away in New York. Clearly on a long trip.
Dominion credit and finance website is very new, the company can be found in no directories for business in Singapore and they do not seem to exist at the address given or at least I can’t find them.
Mr Henry Braithwaite who has a very strong banking background according to his own information is unknown to a senior banker I know who worked and lived in Singapore for many years. He will not have known everyone to be fair but banking circles tend to be quite tight.
The product is being offered via “Low Rate Spanish Mortgage” website where along with getting your mortgage you can also enter a draw to win the MD’s villa in Mexico. Tickets are € 25 a pop. It is a spot the ball not a draw and none of the accepted competition rules that are a legal requirement are in evidence. Naughty Google are allowing therefore a completely non-legal competition to be advertised because the company are not in fact paying to market the competition but paying to market Spanish mortgages.
Recently offering to arrange UK mortgages has been added to Low Rate Spanish Mortgage website again promoting rate and UK mortgage advice is actually not allowed under FSA rules unless you are a regulated adviser. Do Google do no checks !
I still have no idea if there is a catch or how they expect to make money or if the deal is in fact real all I can say is approach any contact and offer with a great deal of scepticism and take legal advice on what you are possibly signing up for before the passing of any monies or any commitment is made.
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As you say, Dominion Credit and Finance website is new, The name was only registered Jan/Feb 2009. Low Rate Spanish Mortgages were advertising the Yen mortgages in Oct 2008. The DC&F website, like the LRSM website is not very professional for the nature of what it is supposed to sell, and the office in Singapore is not an office but only a phone answering service. Like yourself I could not find any references to Henry Braithwaite in the banking world. I phoned/e-mailed him on a number of occasions in March 2009 requesting information on agents, other than LRSM for these mortgages.
I got no responce to the messages left.
Since DC&F were not contactable, and had no website until Jan 2009, I wonder how LRSM were able to offer their mortgages in Oct 2008, and purchased the domain name in May 2008.
Low Rate Spanish Mortgages charge a non refundable, 500 € to apply for a Yen mortgage.
I applied for a mortgage from them in Jan 2009, when there office was in Valencier. Approximatly 6 weeks later when I chased the mortgage, they had apparently moved to Bilbao, though were working through a UK phone answering service. When they rang back, I was told the morgage was not granted, due to the financial situation, but if I liked to apply again in 3 months (and pay another 500€) the situation might have changed.
It seems to me that the only ones making money out of this, are “Low Rate Spanish Mortgages”, a 1/2 man run business who as well as running lotteries, also run a dating site under their other company name of Marverose S.L
They also have interests in an Estate Agents (wherepropertysells.com), though I think this may now, have closed.
N.B. The original UK company named Dominion Credit and Finance went bust in the 1990′ies.
[...] to my article on Low Rate Spanish Mortgages I have received another input from a client who in their words has been well and truly [...]