Post by Ace on Sept 5, 2018 23:27:16 GMT
Hi CrowdProperty Representative ,
I've been considering investing in a CrowdProperty IFISA. I took a look at your website and was happy with what I saw. Although 8% return is at the lower end of what I would consider for property development loans, I was seduced by your repayment record to date. So I decided to try a small IFISA investment.
However, I first decided to check out if there were any lender fees involved. I read your 'lenders' page and found the statement 'We only charge fees to the borrower.' Note that there is no indication here that this statement does not apply to your ISA account!
Digging a little further I read your 'FAQ' page. Having found the question 'Do CrowdProperty charge the lenders any fees?' And the answer 'We do not charge the lenders any fees for this service. Instead we charge a fee to the borrower when the crowd successfully fund their project.' Again, there is no indication that this, or any of the other FAQs, do not apply to your ISA account!
I then found that there was a specific 'IFISA/faq' page. There was no information on this page regarding any specific ISA fees, so one would reasonably assume that the above, highlighted, statements did indeed apply.
As a final check, I decided to check out this forum to ascertain the general impression of the CrowdProperty platform. I was rather disappointed to discover your statements:
Our annual administration fee is 1% of the total amount which you deposit in your ISA per year; this fee is capped at a maximum of £500.
To transfer your CrowdProperty ISA out to another provider a fee of £75 is chargeable.
I created a CrowdProperty account and tried to find this information, but still was unable to do so. I believe that the only way to discover these from your website is to create an ISA account. Given the above, it seems to me that this obfuscation is deliberate. This has to be seen as a red flag to me. It begs the question: what else is hidden that I haven't thought to ask?
While I would probably have reluctantly been able to stomach the fee to transfer out, the 1% annual administration fee is much harder to bare. Unless I have misunderstood, entirely possible, someone looking to invest in an ISA to avoid 20% tax on interest would see the majority of their saving wiped out by the admin fee (admin fee is 12.5% of interest. More if funds are not fully lent out!). I respectfully suggest that you make your fees a lot easier to find.
I've been considering investing in a CrowdProperty IFISA. I took a look at your website and was happy with what I saw. Although 8% return is at the lower end of what I would consider for property development loans, I was seduced by your repayment record to date. So I decided to try a small IFISA investment.
However, I first decided to check out if there were any lender fees involved. I read your 'lenders' page and found the statement 'We only charge fees to the borrower.' Note that there is no indication here that this statement does not apply to your ISA account!
Digging a little further I read your 'FAQ' page. Having found the question 'Do CrowdProperty charge the lenders any fees?' And the answer 'We do not charge the lenders any fees for this service. Instead we charge a fee to the borrower when the crowd successfully fund their project.' Again, there is no indication that this, or any of the other FAQs, do not apply to your ISA account!
I then found that there was a specific 'IFISA/faq' page. There was no information on this page regarding any specific ISA fees, so one would reasonably assume that the above, highlighted, statements did indeed apply.
As a final check, I decided to check out this forum to ascertain the general impression of the CrowdProperty platform. I was rather disappointed to discover your statements:
Our annual administration fee is 1% of the total amount which you deposit in your ISA per year; this fee is capped at a maximum of £500.
To transfer your CrowdProperty ISA out to another provider a fee of £75 is chargeable.
I created a CrowdProperty account and tried to find this information, but still was unable to do so. I believe that the only way to discover these from your website is to create an ISA account. Given the above, it seems to me that this obfuscation is deliberate. This has to be seen as a red flag to me. It begs the question: what else is hidden that I haven't thought to ask?
While I would probably have reluctantly been able to stomach the fee to transfer out, the 1% annual administration fee is much harder to bare. Unless I have misunderstood, entirely possible, someone looking to invest in an ISA to avoid 20% tax on interest would see the majority of their saving wiped out by the admin fee (admin fee is 12.5% of interest. More if funds are not fully lent out!). I respectfully suggest that you make your fees a lot easier to find.