Loan Central

Sid had little warning of the impending disaster that was about to upset his life. It happened in a flash. A storm, a mudslide, a cheap home-building contractor that saved money by leaving out the foundations and then a house that disappeared. Sid was inside the bank in seconds. “All my mortgages! Home has gone!” The manager looked at him in amazement. “Do you want a mortgage, Sir? We can offer you mortgages, home or no home, Sir!” It took Sid another ten minutes to convince the manager that he had had a home and a house, now both gone.

Man mortgages home after fire
Pete stood and watched as the fire destroyed his home. The firemen had given up and moved back. When it was over, Pete found himself in the financial area of the city, drifting from one bank to another, mumbling a sort of mantra, “mortgages, home gone, mortgages, home gone.” It was one time before the kindly manager of the mortgage department at the Third National took pity on Pete, sat him down with a cup of coffee and listened to his tale of woe. Pete left the bank an hour later, with a promise of a new mortgage on his next home

Finding “mortgages, home mortgages”
The head office of the bank is huge. There is no inquiry desk and no one to guide customers who don’t know where to go. The sign in the entrance lobby says, “Mortgages – Home Mortgages” and I follow faithfully to the next floor, meandering around until I see the next set of signs, “Mortgages – Home Mortgages”. Why does a mortgage application start off by being so confusing, I wonder. One prepares for all the questions about one’s financial condition and one comes prepared for the interview but once you get into the bank you cannot even find the mortgage department.