Harold the Mortgage Closer accused of charging ‘vulnerable’ people interest rates up to 76 per cent
Ontario is moving — again — to shut down Harold the Mortgage Closer, alleging he has for years carried out a scheme that charged “vulnerable” people up to 76 per cent interest on mortgages.
Enforcement action by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario comes on the heels of a Toronto Star investigation into a mortgage deal that Harold Gerstel and his companies had with the late Judy Allen, a senior who eventually lost her North York bungalow to Gerstel.
The regulator says it has now looked more deeply into Gerstel’s activities and found five other cases. Among them, situations in which, the regulator alleges, Gerstel’s effective interest rate was as high as 76 per cent. Canada’s Criminal Code has set 60 per cent as the highest legal interest rate allowed.
60% interest wasn’t enuff???
