Aspen overcomes complex legals for British Virgin Islands incorporated company bridge
Aspen has completed a complex £585k bridging loan for a British Virgin Islands (BVI) incorporated company looking to complete a London redevelopment and raise funds for a further purchase.
The client, an experienced developer, had bought an exclusive London mews property unencumbered with the intention to add another floor and modernise throughout, however during the build stages he encountered cash flow issues and required £130k to complete the project.
Extra capital was also required to fund the purchase of a second mews building in Hammersmith for which he had received planning permission.
At the outset of the illustration Aspen sought the professional opinion from AppleBY Global to confirm ownership of the BVI company, a further conversation was then conducted with Stephen Evans Jones of FieldFisher to iron out the potential case complexities.
In line with the lender’s Time-Based Service Excellence targets, the case was then submitted and a fully underwritten, credit backed offer was issued within three hours confirming all legal and valuation costings.
Once the valuation had taken place, Aspen’s managing director Ed Ahrens visited the client onsite to discuss outstanding works and future plans. He highlighted the legal requirements and confirmed the client must provide an update for works completed to date to the building control officer and insurance company.
Legal then faced an issue with ownership, the company was owned by another firm whose director wasn’t the lender’s client, this meant the client had no ability to sign the mortgage deed.
Initially the client was reluctant to amend the directorship but once the legal situation was explained by the Aspen underwriting team he implemented the change within one day and signed the deeds in order to complete the deal.
Broker Lee Jospehs said: “The case threw up several complications throughout the process, however Aspen were able to provide the client with outstanding professional advice to assist with the building, insurance and legal issues, all of which made the deal possible in a very timely manner.”
