Break fee outrages vendor

An Auckland apartment owner is hopping mad at having to pay an $11,500 break fee to get out of his $118,000, five-year mortgage with Kiwibank.

Richard Parkinson put his Emily Place apartment on the market because he'd had problems with tenants and wanted to recover some debt. The property was sold in December for $132,000, which would have left him with proceeds of $14,000 - but for the cost of breaking his 7.85 per cent fixed-term loan three years early.

Mr Parkinson was forced to pay the break fee in order to settle on the property and have title transferred to the new owner, but he has been arguing with Kiwibank ever since.

He said his original mortgage was through HSBC bank, which subsequently sold its loan book to Kiwibank. He believed HSBC's break policies were not as harsh as the government-owned bank's.

"I'm seething. I'm just grumpy."

To read the full NZ Herald article click here

Posted: 1 Feb 2009

News articles