The offer was very real - made in writing by the FSA Authorised Home Finance firm directly to the LPA Receiver and to the Lender. I even wrote a letter to the LPA Receiver (copied to Lender) begging that, if they declined the offer, they at least set a reserve price in auction. The LPA Receiver replied simply that they would not put a reserve on the auction price because our buyer could attend the auction and buy the properties. The fact was that the buyer was an FSA Authorised Home Finance company and not a private individual. The company does not attend auctions. Would you expect The Chelsea to attend auction to buy a property?! This indeed may be difficult to get across to a judge, and could be the reason why a court case might fail. I own around 80 other properties so I cannot afford to risk a ruling against me in court. I have two options with 4 possible outcomes... (1) Fight the case in court. (a) I lose and made bankrupt in which case I would lose my 80 properties too. (b) I win and can feel good. (2) Submit a payment plan to the Lender to clear the £150k shortfall over a few years. (a) they agree: I will have taken it up the tailpipe but saved my 80 properties. (b) they refuse (e.g. because they deem me to have insuffiicent financial means) and petition for my bankruptcy... in which case I can then revert to option #1. I don't wish to take it up the tailpipe, but in damage limitation terms option #2 has to be the safer bet. I am a businessman, and I want to continue in business!

I posted back in September and October 2010 with a similar story regarding my mortgages with Chelsea and receivership of some of my properties by their LPA Receiver, Allsop. As a quick summary... Chelsea put 5 of my properties with an LPA Receiver (Allsop). I found a buyer myself who would take all properties as a job lot and complete purchase within 28 days. That buyer was an FSA Authorised Home Finance company - so you can't get a much more robust buyer than that (even better credentials than Chelsea BTL themselves!). The FSA-Authorised buyer offered close to the redemption figures of the mortgages (there would be a shortfall, but in my experience of the property market I was 110% sure the offer would be substantially higher than could ever be achieved in auction when most properties were being sold with sitting tenants). Despite continual reasoning then written complaints to Allsop Chelsea and the FSA, Allsop in their infinite wisdom decided to continue their sale at auction in October 2010 rather than accept the highly robust offer. They didn't even set the auction reserve to the levels of those offers. Allsop's auction sales resulted in a combined LOSS of nearly £150k. However Allsop sent me a letter for each property saying "the mortgage had been redeemed" (no mention of my liability for any mortgage shortfall), and months later I had heard nothing from Chelsea so I assumed they had considered my complaints and decided to settle my accounts writing off the shortfall. This week, ten months later, I received a letter from Chelsea saying I owed them nearly £150k as a result of the Allsop sales and I had 14 days to provide full details of my financial affairs and propose a payment plan - else they will take me to court. Bearing in mind the court case (Bell v Long & Others [Court of Appeal, June 16th 2008]) where the court ruled in favour of the LPA Receiver being able to sell whenever they want at whatever price they want, I guess I should roll over and take it up the tailpipe. Really, I have no choice anyway, as I have zero funds to pay for legals. If I were to allow the court case to proceed and I lost, they could bankrupt me and I would lose my other 100-ish properties - so taking it up the tailpipe and agreeing a payment plan seems the sane option. Thoughts? (ain't life unjust for those who try to work on the right side of the law and do the right thing!)

Hi patrickq1. Regarding my Chelsea cases... (1) Allsop has completed their sale of 3 of my properties (below my private buyer's offer price); I'm awaiting Chelsea's settlement statement, which will of course show that I owe a lot more than if my private buyer had been given a chance. (2) Allsop failed to sell my other properties in September and have put them into this month's auction. They have said that my private buyer can buy them, but only under auction terms (i.e. 10% up-front on day one) - which my buyer cannot do (they are an FSA authorised sale and rent back provider, and have signed-off purchase procedures... with no deposits paid up-front). (3) Allsop acknowledged my intention to sell the remaining properties under private treaty, but said that I'd be wasting my time because their auction this month would override any private treaty sale in progress (they have POA and will nullify the private sales). I guess I'm just going to have to wait until I receive settlement statements from Chelsea; refuse to pay the settlement; wait until they petition for my bankruptcy; hope I can win my case re their negligence etc. Not a very comfortable position. Chelsea have now responded to all my formal complaints - denying any wrong-doing and endorsing Allsop's credibility, which means I can now go to Financial Ombudsman if I wished. However, I have now lost my stamina and just want a simple life - even if it is as a bankrupt.

Thanks, chillinlong and diddled. I've also "told" Allsop that, because I no longer recognise their POA, I shall sell the property myself to my private buyer, and commence Civil Proceedings if they obstruct me. I have a feeling, though, that Allsop may legally have the right to prevent me from selling? Furthermore, I shall need to gain Chelsea's permission to discharge their Secured Charge from the property. Also, doubtless, even if I am succesful in selling, Allsop will sue me for their "fees"?

Thanks guys. I've written to both... Allsop to tell them that I don't accept the way they're working and will sue for losses and damages; Chelsea to tell them that they will suffer the fallout if they don't rein in Allsop. Let's hope that one of them sees sense and calls an end to the matter. I really don't want to have to take them to court - but will do if I'm left with no alternative. Just learned that Allsop has now succeeded in selling all my properties (subject to completion) - resulting in around £100k unnecessary shortfall on my mortgage settlements (compared to the private buyer I had lined up). Allsop still maintains that they are doing this "in my best interests, due to a falling property market". They clearly do not know what they are talking about!

I'm going around in circles with Chelsea and their receiver Allsop. My formal complaints to Chelsea about their receiver's service has simply resulted in Chelsea saying that they are happy with their selection of Allsop as the receiver, and that Allsop's conduct has nothing to do with them, as Allsop are acting for me, not for Chelsea! Is this correct? Is Chelsea able to wipe their hands of any wrongdoing by the receiver they selected and assigned? Do I now need to pursue Allsop directly? Won't I continue going around in circles? Very frustrating!

Quick update on my cases with Chelsea... Allsop's (the Receiver) solicitor has answered, on behalf of Allsop, my question as to why they did not accept the higher offer from my Buyer. Their reason was absolutely pathetic... that they had no way of telling whether my buyer was "credible". They obviously did not read my emails, faxes, letter and telephone conversations where I went to great lengths to explain that the Buyer was, themselves an FSA Authorised provider of Home Finance! You don't get much more credible than that! And in any case... I am very sure the after-auction buyers will have no "credibility" whatsoever - as they are simply vultures out for a quick killing. What the heck do I do now? They've answered my "challenge" - making my last "Civil Proceedingd" letter to Chelsea (as per patrickq1's draft) redundant. Obviously there is now a claim for "incompetence" because I did explain the buyer's credentials - even provided them with the firm's FSA Authorisation ("FRN") number. They've just ignored it - and are playing ignorant. Is this incompetence, or negligence, or lying? And what can I do about it now?! They think they've given a fair justification of their actions, but to me it just proves their uselessness and unfitness to act with POA!

Thank you patrickq1, and diddled - for your PM. I'm on the case with vigor - as one of the affected tenants is threatening to go to the press - which would adversely affect my current property investment business (it would certainly kill my business completely - making even more tenants homeless).

That was my fear, diddled. However, surely, if the Attorney is grossly abusing their power, there must be some grounds for revocation?

Thanks partickq1. However, the Chelsea's Mortgage Conditions states that the POA is not revokable until the monies have been repaid in full. Does that prevent use of the procedure you listed?

Oh. That doesn't bode well. However, the FSA are very much more interested in BTL mortgages than ever before - so perhaps FOS will be able to take a more holistic view of new cases like ours (fingers crossed). Failing that, I'm still trying to find a Pro Bono lawyer to get the Power Of Attorney revoked, and the sales stopped. It's unacceptable for Allsop to abuse the POA. It's like me being forced at gunpoint to give them a blank cheque book. It would be halfway accetable if they were accountable to a regulatory authority but, as is, it's got to be one of the best earners on the planet for them! I think the FSA should be able to shut down the current POA "open cheque book" practice because, in the FSA's words, "the terms seem grossly unfair" (due to them not being accountable to anyone). Oh well!

Thanks for the clarification, diddled. Presumably if FOS ruled in our favour, we could then engage a lawyer to build upon the FOS ruling to claim for additional compensation?

Hi chillin. I'm in roughly the same mode as you now... waiting for Chelsea to give responses to my (currently) four formal complaints then, up to 8 weeks later, going through FOS. I wonder if diddled's post above is correct - that max compensation is £100k. I don't think so. I think he's possibly confusing FOS for FSCS (Financial Services Compensation Scheme). My understanding is that FOS will rule as to whether Chelsea (MX in your case) has treated us fairly and, if not, seek sanctions to reprimand them. If appropriate, we would then need to take them to court if they didn't compensate us amicably. Allsop has now sold 3 of my properties after auction, at prices substantially below the price my private buyer had offered. I have asked both Allsop and Chelsea how this could possibly be in my best interest (duty of care) - they are yet to reply. I am awaiting a call back from a lawyer specialising in BTL litigation. I have no funds, so I've had to ask if they'd consider undertaking the work on a Pro Bono basis - this is currently a sticking point. I'll keep this thread up-to-date, as I have learned a lot here and want to give something back to my fellow sufferers. Hopefully one of the conclusions will be us helping the FSA find significant loopholes in the law (Receivers doing as they please - accountable to no-one!) to allow them to grasp the nettle and tame it.

The next thing with Chelsea and Allsop... They have sold 2 of my handful of properties after auction (all failed to sell in auction). I asked Allsop for the sold prices, but they said they weren't allowed to tell me. I threatened them with CPR 31.15/16 and they just ignored me. Instead, I went to Chelsea - who seemed quite proud to tell me the sold prices. They are well under the prices my private buyer had already offered. I asked them to explain why they had sold below my private buyer's price and they simply said that it was up to their Receiver (Allsop) and there's nothing Chelsea are prepared to do about it. They (both Chelsea and Allsop) have wilfully worsened my financial circumstances (my settlement shortfall will be substantially greater). I am left with a decision... wait for the 8 weeks to get the FSA Financial Ombudsman involved, or get a lawyer involved now. My gut ffeling is that it will be of greater benefit to all if I wait and use the Financial Ombudsman - as it will set a nice precedent, and may help the FSA take control of buy-to-let mortgages. Thoughts?

Unbelievable twist to my saga with Chelsea/Allsop today... Allsop is now advertising the properties for open sale outside auction for an asking price that is lower than the prices offered by the private buyer I had lined up. This is utter negligence | incompetence | failure of Duty Of Care | obstruction | CRIMINAL. Frustratingly, now that I've raised a formal complaint via the FSA, I have to allow 8 weeks for Chelsea to reply to my complaint! At lot will have happened and become un-reversible by then, but at least the Financial Ombudsman can then exert their might upon Chelsea for all the damage they are causing me.