Insolvency Service winds up repossession company

A REPOSSESSION advisor in Stourbridge has been wound up following an Insolvency Service investigation.

Swift House Solutions, which offered repossession and eviction advice services to the public, has been wound up in the High Court.

The person controlling Swift, John Paul Dowdeswell – who also used the alias Paul Dowd – tried to hide his involvement through the appointment of a nominee director.

The investigation found that Swift had continued the business of Repossession Management Bureau, RMB Assets and OM Payments, which had all been would up by the court in September 2015 following an earlier Insolvency Service investigation.

Swift, which traded under the style Manage My Repo.co.uk, had targeted and taken advantage of vulnerable members of the public desperate for a resolution of their housing concerns.

It had made misleading and unfounded statements to clients, there was a lack of transparency regarding the fees Swift would charge and the company obtained secured charges on clients’ properties.

Clients were told the charge was to protect the client’s equity should the property be repossessed by the mortgagee but actually the charges secured the Swift’s fees.

Alex Deane, an investigation supervisor with the Insolvency Service, said: “Where it becomes aware of such activities, the Insolvency Service can and will close down companies that abuse the vulnerability of people in financial difficulties.

“However, I would urge people faced with repossession proceedings to take proper professional advice before granting a further charge on their property. Whilst this is ostensibly to ‘protect their equity’, in reality it serves only to secure excessive fees for the advisor.”