Hello manderson
Well, despite you deciding to refinance, RHG have passed on 0.25% reduction at the beginning of October, and 0.75% as of today, 20th October.
http://www.rhgl.com.au/files/Fees and Interest Rates/20081020_RHG_CRS Variable.pdf
To the best of my knowledge - and I have two RHG loans, my son has one and my daughter has two - all usual fees and charges have not changed, only the Early Termination Fee and that depends on your loan product. Some have no exit fees at all, others work on a percentage of the original loan amount, and others on the previous month's balance. The early termination fees are not uniform across the 50+ loan products which RHG continues to service.
If you check the website
www.rhgl.com.au you will see that RAMS did not sell to RHG (as per your post). RAMS sold the brand name and the franchising arm to Westpac. In return for this, Westpac provided funds (at commercial rates) to RAMS to continue to be able to meet it's obligations and to settle loans from November, 2007 onwards when the NAB warehousing facility would have been fully committed.
Between November, 2007 and February, 2008 RHG (as the business holding the book was then called - after all, you can't have two companies trading with the same name) refinanced the whole 6.1 billion in commercial notes which were due for rollover.
There was never any likelihood of RAMS being put into administration.
Westpac took over on 4th January, 2008 and has offered various incentives to RHG customers to refinance to RAMS. I have quite a number of RHG customers and to the best of my knowledge, fewer than three have refinanced away from RHG. In fact, I have written increases for quite a number of the existing customers including a fairly significant low doc townhouse development in Adelaide, and converted other customers to cheaper RHG products.
In most cases, the RHG customers have weathered the storm with good grace and loyalty, and are now being rewarded with a full 1% reduction in interest rates.
Whoever it was you were quoting from the other website, clearly has no understanding of the commercial history of the brand. RHG is not able to write loans for a period of three years due to the sale agreement with Westpac. This means no new loans at all, but this week I wrote a variation / increase for a customer of mine for $500,000 at a fully discounted rate and he has been an RHG customer for more than ten years and has no inclination to refinance to any other lender. RHG (RAMS) was the only lender prepared to lend him money ten years ago and he has honoured that and is a very loyal customer.
So there is no point in RHG advertising as it cannot write new loans, but if you talk to your broker you will find that RHG is just as approachable as ever.
By the way, by the sound of it you have a non-insured Low Doc loan. This means that your broker would have explained to you the difference between a Self Employed Pro Pack which is a discounted loan with insurance payable above 60%LVR, and the Low Doc loan which has a non-discounted rate but obviously lower establishment costs.
Usually, if a customer chose the Low Doc it was because they wanted to get into the deal with minimal cost, and wanted up to 85%LVR
After a couple of years, most customers would consider switching the loan product to the SE Pro Pack - by then, the LVR may have dropped which would mean less mortgage insurance to pay. The SE Pro Pack was originally for 80% plus LMI but then the product increased to 90%LVR including LMI, so it depends on when you took out your loan, and the discussions you had with your broker, as to which loan product would have been more appropriate for you.
So have you discussed switching the loan product with your broker? Why not at least have the conversation before you incur early repayment fees and perhaps hefty establishment fees for the new loan?
Getting angry never does any of us any good. A calm assessment of the situation can often produce excellent results. No General would rush into battle without a battle plan. Your dollars are your soldiers. Why sacrifice them on the battle field of imaginery insult and idle gossip? Find out the facts first, consider adequately and then act if you then genuinely will benefit from the change.
Remember, loans are a commodity just as wheat, coffee, sugar is. Whichever lender you are with can sell part or all of their loan book just as your local property manager can sell their rent roll. The Bank of Adelaide was recently taken over by the Bank of Bendigo. The Commonwealth Bank took over the State Savings Bank. Take overs and mergers happen every day. Why take it as a personal insult?
I hope you can find the appropriate solution for you.
Hope this helps
Kristine
