Following a lengthy complaint procedure which went as far as the bank’s CEO, the father reached an agreement whereby he could sell the property for £135,000 and release himself from any further obligations. In addition, he had also reached an agreement with the local planning department to obtain change of use to residential. Our borrowers, the father’s sons, committed their life savings of £15,000 as part of the transaction. Roma Finance was able to confirm the story was genuine, agreed to fund £120,000 towards the sons’ purchase and a further advance once residential planning consent had been obtained.

Once the change of use had been obtained, the borrowers paid off Roma’s bridging loan with a buy to let mortgage through another High Street bank.

Scott Marshall, director at Roma Finance, commented: “By meeting the borrower we were able to get a complete picture of what had happened from the beginning of the father’s journey with this particular property. We made sure we took the time to understand each step and why events had turned out the way they did. This is the Roma Finance way. Despite the many difficulties encountered, we were able to confirm the family’s story and provide a bridging loan for them to release the family from the relationship with their bank, whose actions were beyond reproach.”

John Waddicker, Director at Positive Bridging Finance, said: “This was one of the earliest cases we gave to Roma and it really demonstrates their pro-active approach. They do what they say they are going to do, they do it quickly and by meeting the borrower, they were able to get under the skin of this complex transaction. Following this and other successful payouts, they’re now a preferred lender of ours. I can see Roma growing from strength to strength in this marketplace. Scott and the Roma Finance team have a great pedigree which gives me a good deal of confidence in them.”

Because of the nature of this particular case, the borrower has requested anonymity, but one of the sons commented:

“Everything went smoothly with our transaction and it was a pleasure to work with Roma Finance. Hopefully we will get a chance to do some more business in the future.”