An unauthorised mortgage broker and its associates who exploited vulnerable consumers have been ordered by the High Court to pay £4 million to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The order was obtained against a company that arranged mortgages and a company that bought properties and rented them back to sellers, as well as two individuals who controlled the companies. The FCA had previously brought proceedings in respect of 45 consumers who had suffered losses in their dealings with the companies. In those proceedings, the companies were found to have carried on regulated activities without being either authorised to do so or exempt, contrary to Section 19(1) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The individuals who controlled the companies had been knowingly concerned in those contraventions.

In the more recent judgment, relating to a further 26 consumers, the High Court concluded that very serious contraventions had occurred over an extended period, involving deception of consumers and taking advantage of their vulnerability.

The payment will be used to compensate affected consumers. The mortgage broker was also ordered to remove restrictions registered against the titles of four properties. These restrictions were used to trap the owners into high-interest loans, preventing them from selling or remortgaging their properties unless they paid exorbitant fees.