Reply #23: How, if they can't prove ownership? A lot of the physical paperwork...

[TheMadMonk]

...has been destroyed.

A number of people already have had clear title assigned to them, because the lender hasn't been able to produce the necessary paperwork.

But if you walk away without a fight you're fucked. Even if you do manage to sucessufully sue the lender for breach of contract later, the best you're likely to get out of them is your money back.

One nasty thing about real estate is that a dodgy title becomes good at the next legally registered change of ownership. It is virtually impossible to unwind a real estate transaction once it's been finalised, even by court order.

The moment you relinquish interest in a disputed title it's over for you.


One thing I think that needs to come out of this is a clear separation between loans to owner occupiers and those to investors.