Paying for Deeds of Release

THE EDITOR: It is with great interest that I read Peter Popplewell’s Letter To The Editor in last Saturday’s Newsday, headlined “Why should borrowers pay for Deed of Release?’’  He referred to the lending bank’s charge to the customer for a Deed of Release on completion of all of the requiredpayments in a mortgage agreement, and suggested that all borrowers refuse to pay any cost for preparing or providing Deeds of Release, which equates to a receipt.

I am in total agreement with the writer, and would just add that there are other Deeds of Release, for instance, when payment of a loan for which your home might have been security, is completed.  Also there is a Deed of Release when a customer privately settles an outstanding debt for which a Judgement has been obtained by the bank.  The legal fees for any of the above are for the customer’s account. The problem here is that where one’s property is concerned, if payment for the Release is withheld, in a “search” situation the bank’s lien would still appear on the records and so your property would not be “free and clear.”  No homeowner would be comfortable with this. But this is not the only instance where the banks have unlimited power when they hold your “property” as security.  Five years ago, I signed a guarantee for a specific loan for a relative.  The loan was paid in full last July. 

The bank, one which brags of being people oriented, arbitrarily transferred my Unit Trust shares as security for another outstanding debt, without advising me, and for the past year has flatly refused to release my shares or give a breakdown on the thousands of dollars which have been added to what was a very small debt. Now, with their over-abundance of power, they are threatening to encash my shares (bought with my pension funds) in payment of a debt for which I never ever signed as guarantor. Isn’t this an abuse of power?  Does a bank have the right to do whatever they desire with an individual’s private funds?  Let us suppose the fine print in the agreement does give the bank the right to transfer securities, shouldn’t a formal letter of advice be forwarded to the guarantor?

ANGELA PIDDUCK
Port-of-Spain