From security to financial ruin

Colin and Beverley Mossop were mortgage free before Blue Chip. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Beverley and Colin Mossop are about to lose the bach that has been in their family since 1970. Next will be their family home.

The Tauranga couple, both now on antidepressants, anti-anxiety and sleeping pills, are financially ruined. The stress is taking its toll.

"We just hope we're alive to see it through whatever it may be," Beverley, 63, said. "Some days you just can't face the day."

Their story started when a Blue Chip agent approached them in 2005 promising a scheme that would make retirement a financial breeze and leave a good inheritance to pass down.

The Tauranga couple were mortgage free and decided to use the equity in their family home and bach to sign up for three "joint venture" Blue Chip apartments.

At first, they didn't qualify for a Blue Chip loan because their incomes weren't high enough. Colin was a truck driver who worked on and off, depending on his heart condition.

But this didn't deter their agent, who came back with a proposal and assurances they were insured if the scheme failed.

Beverley and Colin, 65, now owe more than $700,000 and preparations are under way for a "private mortgagee sale" of their Omokoroa family bach.

The couple are calling for a freeze on mortgagee sales like theirs and want an official investigation into allegations that mortgage loan documents were doctored.

The Mossops are part of a group taking legal action through Ellis Law. They can't afford to fund a legal case alone.

Meanwhile, their repayments continue to clock up interest. The pair moved to Australia last year to earn enough money to make their monthly mortgage repayments.

But last October, when Beverley's father became ill, they moved back to New Zealand and defaulted on their more than $6000 monthly repayments.