Four at family firm are slated by FSA

The FSA has fined small mortgage lender Bridging Loans £42,000 and its director Joseph Cummings £70,000 for failing to give fair treatment to customers in arrears.

His low opinions of his customers led to him calling some of them “evil”.

The FSA has also banned Cummings, and taken action to prevent three other directors at the firm – all members of his family – from having senior positions within the financial services industry.

Bridging Loans has agreed not to conduct new FSA regulated mortgage business and the FSA has taken action to ensure that it cannot repossess or sell the homes of any its FSA regulated mortgage customers. Bridging Loans has also agreed to provide redress to customers who have been adversely affected by its misconduct. 

Cummings had tried to deter customers from complaining or seeking redress by, for example, threatening to charge a customer for time spent dealing with their account when they complained to the ombudsman or refusing to deal with a customer unless they withdrew their complaint to the ombudsman.

Cummings refused to co operate with the FSA during the course of the investigation, including denying the FSA access to Bridging Loans’ office. 

The other directors were Miriam, Laura and Susan Cummings. The FSA said that in reality, they had no meaningful involvement in the business.

Margaret Cole, the FSA’s director of enforcement and financial crime, said: “Joseph Cummings showed total disregard for the interests of Bridging Loans’ customers, basing his decisions and subsequent treatment of a customer on whether or not he liked or trusted them, rather than on any proper assessment of their circumstances.”