FSA ‘is protecting lenders’

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) should do more to help those in debt with their mortgages, according to one expert.

Principal policy adviser at consumer body Which? Dominic Lindley stated that by withholding the names of mortgage providers who are allegedly treating borrowes unfairly, the FSA is preventing the system from being improved.

He said: “[The FSA is] effectively protecting the commercial interests of companies trying to evict people from their homes. How will lenders be persuaded to improve their practices unless the FSA names and shames them?”

While those providing mortgage financing promise compassion to those getting into debt on their house, Mr Lindley added, they continue to charge excessive fees for individuals in arrears.

Lenders should not be profiting from people who find themselves in financial hardship, he remarked.

This comes after mortgage expert at comparison site Moneyextra.com Richard Mason stated that optimism in the property market is beginning to wane.

By Francis Finch