coypondboy Posted January 3 Report Share Posted January 3 I have been following the dreaded swiss franc mortgage nightmare inflicted on many Brits who bought properties in the boom years before the financial crisis thanks to 'A Place in the Sun' and the mass coverage in the many weekend newspaper property sections over the years. We almost bought in Bulgaria as we liked to ski and hike in summer but was always an expensive holiday so with the event of low cost airlines and living reasonably close to several airports and a favourable exchange rate of 1.46 to the euro we gambled on Austria and bought a place in 2005 when their property market opened up. Unfortunately friends of ours bought in Cyprus at a similar time, but because the house prices were so expensive there they took out a swiss franc mortgage which I warned them against but they still went ahead. The Financial crisis caused the swiss franc to appreciate against most currencies as it is deemed a safe haven currency and their mortgage debt doubled as did their mortgage payments and to make things worse the house they bought halved in value. In the end they were unable to afford the payments and so defaulted about 9 years ago. There must be thousands of Brits who have done the same thing and now face massive debts and are waiting or have recived a EEO. Will European banks write this off now we are out of Europe? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
24gray24 Posted January 3 Report Share Posted January 3 No. The one aspect of brexit which will be absolutely seamless will be debt collection across borders. Why didn't they cut their losses by selling pay a quarter off, and then mortgage to the hilt in uk pounds? (Or sell their main house to pay it off) By running out, they gave the bank at least12 years to rack up interest and penalties before they came to sue them. And you can't hide in the digital age. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shlomo Posted January 3 Report Share Posted January 3 I have been following the dreaded swiss franc mortgage nightmare inflicted on many Brits who bought properties in the boom years before the financial crisis thanks to 'A Place in the Sun' and the mass coverage in the many weekend newspaper property sections over the years. We almost bought in Bulgaria as we liked to ski and hike in summer but was always an expensive holiday so with the event of low cost airlines and living reasonably close to several airports and a favourable exchange rate of 1.46 to the euro we gambled on Austria and bought a place in 2005 when their property market opened up. Unfortunately friends of ours bought in Cyprus at a similar time, but because the house prices were so expensive there they took out a swiss franc mortgage which I warned them against but they still went ahead. The Financial crisis caused the swiss franc to appreciate against most currencies as it is deemed a safe haven currency and their mortgage debt doubled as did their mortgage payments and to make things worse the house they bought halved in value. In the end they were unable to afford the payments and so defaulted about 9 years ago. There must be thousands of Brits who have done the same thing and now face massive debts and are waiting or have recived a EEO. Will European banks write this off now we are out of Europe? How much do they owe? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TheCountOfNowhere Posted January 3 Report Share Posted January 3 I have been following the dreaded swiss franc mortgage nightmare inflicted on many Brits who bought properties in the boom years before the financial crisis thanks to 'A Place in the Sun' and the mass coverage in the many weekend newspaper property sections over the years. We almost bought in Bulgaria as we liked to ski and hike in summer but was always an expensive holiday so with the event of low cost airlines and living reasonably close to several airports and a favourable exchange rate of 1.46 to the euro we gambled on Austria and bought a place in 2005 when their property market opened up. Unfortunately friends of ours bought in Cyprus at a similar time, but because the house prices were so expensive there they took out a swiss franc mortgage which I warned them against but they still went ahead. The Financial crisis caused the swiss franc to appreciate against most currencies as it is deemed a safe haven currency and their mortgage debt doubled as did their mortgage payments and to make things worse the house they bought halved in value. In the end they were unable to afford the payments and so defaulted about 9 years ago. There must be thousands of Brits who have done the same thing and now face massive debts and are waiting or have recived a EEO. Will European banks write this off now we are out of Europe? Hang on, you can't lose on pwopatee, this must be made up 😉 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spyguy Posted January 3 Report Share Posted January 3 Afaik it's mainly Poles shove borrowed in swiss francs. https://citywire.co.uk/funds-insider/news/swiss-franc-mortgages-the-timing-couldn-t-have-been-worse/a507942 There are some British expats who appear to have swiss mortgages. God knows why a Brit buying in, say, Spain, would choose borrow in a 3rd currency. So smart it hurts. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shlomo Posted January 3 Report Share Posted January 3 Afaik it's mainly Poles shove borrowed in swiss francs. https://citywire.co.uk/funds-insider/news/swiss-franc-mortgages-the-timing-couldn-t-have-been-worse/a507942 There are some British expats who appear to have swiss mortgages. God knows why a Brit buying in, say, Spain, would choose borrow in a 3rd currency. So smart it hurts. Last summer, an 18-year-old Hungarian girl auctioned her virginity to help her parents pay off a mortgage taken out in Swiss francs. The value of the franc was rising. The same couldn’t be said of the sad Englishman who, for £200,000, ‘won’ the auction. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Peter Hun Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 Afaik it's mainly Poles shove borrowed in swiss francs. https://citywire.co.uk/funds-insider/news/swiss-franc-mortgages-the-timing-couldn-t-have-been-worse/a507942 There are some British expats who appear to have swiss mortgages. God knows why a Brit buying in, say, Spain, would choose borrow in a 3rd currency. So smart it hurts. Thats a 9 year old article. First article I googled. Polish banks prepare for $525 mln hit for mis-sold Swiss franc mortgages WARSAW, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Poland’s top banks have set aside more than 1.96 billion zloty ($525 million) in total to pay for Swiss franc-denominated mortgages, recent filings analysed by Reuters show, after Polish courts recently ruled many were mis-sold to borrowers. These provisions, however, represent just 2% of the sector’s entire outstanding Swiss franc portfolio, which regulatory data shows totalled 100 billion zloty at the end of June, equivalent to around a third of all Polish mortgages. https://uk.reuters.com/article/poland-banks-mortgages/polish-banks-prepare-for-525-mln-hit-for-mis-sold-swiss-franc-mortgages-idUSL8N2FZ44M Quote Link to post Share on other sites
coypondboy Posted January 6 Author Report Share Posted January 6 Appartently 20,000 brits just in cyprus what about others who bought french leaseback's or spanish and portugese holiday homes or bulgarian ski apartments. www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-2956985/Thousands-Britons-lured-Cyprus-property-dream-stung-Swiss-franc-mortgages-legal-fight-means-end-sight.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
richmondtw Posted January 6 Report Share Posted January 6 I doubt that any ex pat ever voted to leave Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shlomo Posted January 7 Report Share Posted January 7 I would have taken a mortgage in Swiss francs if sold on the basis of lower interest rates than the UK pound, let’s be honest none of us the benefit of hindsight, I would not have considered currency rates Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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