To rectify their financial
bungling they now are pressuring me into signing an
Interest Free Mortgage in order to have the Bank of
Queensland and other remaining small debts paid. They
want me to Mortgage my home to my husband so that
I can ‘borrow’ funds which (according
to Family Law) I already own, to
enable me to clear the debt. By the time this Inquiry
eventuates I will most likely have been forced into
signing.
With regard to the Mortgage to my husband, my husband
had our home transferred into my name alone over 10
years ago so that when he died, while finances were
being sorted out, I would at least have a roof over
my head. As he is 27 years older than I he thought
this advisable at the time. I am the one and
only heir to his estate as well as Executrix
of his will. I have an Enduring Power
of Attorney, valid in both Queensland and in
NSW. However the validity in NSW has been suspended
by the OPC.
This Mortgage states that it is :
“Repayable on demand by the
Mortgagor provided that the Mortgagee shall only make
demand if part or all of the principal sum is
required to maintain Claude Nelson Furner. Any demand
shall be limited to the then needs of Claude Nelson
Furner.”
and Special Conditions:
“In the event that Claude
Nelson Furner predeceases the Mortgagor then the
Mortgagee, his successors in title and permitted
assigns that he will not require the Mortgagor to
make repayment of the principal sum and the
Mortgagee, his successors in title and permitted
assigns will provide to the Mortgagor to enable the
Mortgagor to obtain a release of this mortgage.”
I realise that there are possibly a couple of words
missing from the latter quote, in order for it to
make sense, but this is exactly as it is written on
the mortgage I hold, waiting to be signed by me.
I have refused to sign any mortgage up
until this time because I have heard that it is
normal practice for the OPC, to force people into
mortgaging their family homes in order that the
‘protected’ person to be maintained. The
family then cannot meet the demands of the mortgage,
after the OPC reduces the funds they hold on behalf
of the client to such an extent that there is not
enough left to support their client and the family of
their client then loses their home.
So by my signing this mortgage I would only be
delaying an eviction order. The choices I have are to
allow the Bank of Queensland to foreclose NOW and
have not only myself, but my husband and my family
left without a roof over our heads OR sign the
OPC’s mortgage and have the same thing happen 12
months from now. So, I’m damned if I do and
I’m damned if I don’t. They have me in a
corner and I can’t get out.
They are forcing me to sign this mortgage AGAINST MY
WILL.
My husband served overseas in WWII, was shot, still
bears the huge scars on his body. I believe he still
has shrapnel in his body and according to xrays taken
during his stay at Rozelle Hospital, has shrapnel in
his brain. Yet he never applied for a proper
disability pension, he has a partial pension which
today amounts to around $75 per fortnight. He was too
independent to rely on handouts. He worked hard all
his life and in the last 30 years I have spent with
him, worked hard so we would not have money worries
in our future.
Within a matter of 3 years all this has been taken
away by the financial mismanagement of the OPC.
In the past 3 years some of the requests I have made
to the OPC include:-
That they authorise the
Commonwealth Bank release copies of my husband’s
bank statements, to enable me to investigate missing
funds.
That they authorise a handwriting expert to assist in
an investigation I instigated, by the Fraud
Enforcement Agency in Sydney to enable us to recover
at least $13,000 of embezzled funds.
That they investigate the $26,000 accounting charge
from Mr Peter McGivern.
That they advise what
happened to approximately $2,100 difference in monies
transferred from my husband’s personal account
to their common fund in May 1997.
What response did I get to these requests? Either
refusal because Mr Porter considered that they were not
a priority or else I was just
simply ignored. Considering these funds are my
future support as well as my husband’s I was
within my rights to have my requests either fulfilled
or investigated. This did not happen.
On 25th September 1998 out stove ( almost 30 years
old) would no longer work. I remember the date
because it was my grandson’s birthday. I faxed a
Mr Craig Holland and told him I wanted money for a
new one, the same brand because it had lasted so
long. I also included a quote for repairs should the
parts still be available. The first response from Mr
Holland stated:
“Please advise your intention
re signing the mortgage. You must appreciate that by
not signing the mortgage the purchase of a new stove
would seem inappropriate.”
I responded by demanding that he forward the money
for a stove to my bank account and that it was Mr
Furner he should be considering here. I needed a
stove to cook his meals as well as ours!
His response:
“As you have advised that you
will not sign the mortgage, monies cannot be provided
to purchase the stove.
According to the Bank of Queensland ‘ In light
of the time that has transpired to date, we consider
a resolution no later than 15 October to be
achievable.’
Considering the probable course of action that the
Bank will take after the 15 October and as a stove is
a fixture within a house the purchase of a stove at
this point in time is considered to be an
inappropriate purchase.
Should there be an increase in the costs of living
due to purchasing take-away food please advise the
writer accordingly.”
I waited TEN WEEKS before he forwarded enough money
to have the stove repaired! Ten weeks my husband and
the rest of the family ate salads and take-away food.