
Ne’er a borrower nor a lender be, as the old saying goes. In this week’s NLJ, Fred Philpott, Gough Square Chambers, explores the world of illegal lending, which ruthlessly preys on the desperate & vulnerable
Philpott writes about the recent flourishing of ‘a financial industry whereby some businesses lend money secured on people’s homes without authorisation’. He analyses a Court of Appeal case that illustrates ‘some of the subterfuges that can be used’.
He writes: ‘A recurring theme in these (often tragic) cases is that desperate people will sign anything, no matter how unfair. Thus, misfortune in many cases results in the misery of repossession.’