A “Vulture Fund” is an investment fund that will seek out and purchase securities in distressed investments, such as non-performing loans (NPL’s) from foreign banks. Typically, these NPL’s are loans or mortgages taken out on properties which have not been serviced by the borrowers for many years.
The objective of the fund is to 'swoop in' and pick up under-priced assets at a fraction of the debt, with a view to collecting from debtors an increased percentage on the bad debts. This is a common occurrence within the European Banking sector.
These funds then aggressively pursue the mortgage defaulters, seeking to recover the remaining amounts. Companies like Cerberus, Blackstone and Axactor are a few of the main organisations presently chasing clients in the UK.
Can a vulture fund pursue you in the UK for a historic foreign mortgage debt?
Once the vulture fund takes ownership of the debt, the sole aim is to pursue the defaulter for the outstanding amounts. Post Brexit, most UK
borrowers believed that their foreign Bank in Spain, Cyprus, France, or Portugal to name a few (or any other acquiring entity) could not legally pursue them or the debt in the UK. However, this is not the case, and as more Funds acquire these debts from foreign Banks, being pursued for a historic mortgage debt in the UK has now become a reality.
What should you do if pursued by a Vulture fund?
If you are pursued by a vulture fund, it is important that you get in touch with a specialist firm of solicitors with experience handling foreign mortgage debts.
Many people mistakenly believe that, if they do not receive communications regarding their foreign mortgage debt for several years, this means that the debt has been written off. Where individuals had previously stopped paying their foreign property mortgage, they are now receiving a legal demand for payment, even if years have passed.
The only way to ensure that the debt is written off is to work with a regulated firm of solicitors with experience in this specialist legal area.
How we can help
Depending on individual circumstances and always on a case-by-case basis, we can support clients in various ways:
For example, our solicitors can help in the following ways:
- Once we are engaged to negotiate with a foreign Bank or a Vulture fund on the client’s behalf, the client can take a back seat and we will handle the settlement negotiations.
- This is a good opportunity to negotiate a full and final settlement of the mortgage debt. The Vulture fund will want to settle the matter themselves rather than having to seek the legal enforcement of the debt in a foreign jurisdiction.
A recent case we successfully settled involved our clients being contacted by a fund. After studying the documentation provided to our clients, and applying the relevant Spanish legislation, we were successful in completely “striking out” a claim of almost €300,000 being against our client. https://www.judicaregroup.com/site/blog/overseas-property-blog/spanish-bank-claim-successfully-settled-case-study
Why work with Judicare?
Below are some of the reasons why our clients choose to work with us:
- Our legal team has decades of combined experience of handling foreign mortgage problems with overseas banks and Vulture funds.
- We are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
- We hold professional Indemnity Insurance, offering our clients essential protection.
- Using a Claims Management Company (CMC) or a so called “advisory firm” providing foreign property debt solutions across the EU can be risky, as there are no safeguards or any regulatory redress for clients if something goes wrong.
- We have successfully negotiated over £40million of foreign Bank debt being written off for our clients.
- We’re members of the Association of International Property Professionals
If you have been served with a legal demand Notice related to your foreign mortgage, or have fears you may soon receive one, or would simply like more information on our fixed fee approach a member of our team will be happy to take your call on a confidential basis at 01438 840258 or via email to admin@judicaregroup.com
We can also arrange a free no obligation teleconference via Zoom/Skype.
Getting in touch will allow us to understand your individual circumstances and discuss with you your concerns and objectives. Working with you we can then decide upon the correct strategy to approach and find the solution which is right for you.