Failed reserve mortgage company misled retirees

Collapsed property group Money For Living, which promised retirees financial security for life for the purchase of their homes engaged in misleading conduct, a Melbourne Judge has ruled.

Collapsed property group Money For Living bought the homes of about 120 Victorian retirees, promising them a guaranteed monthly income and life tenancy in their homes.
However, when the company c
ollapsed in September 2005, the retirees stopped receiving their monthly payments.

Federal Court Justice Ray Finkelstein has ruled the company misled its clients by claiming their monthly payments were guaranteed.

“The clients were misled into believing that the payments due to them were secure in the sense that the payments would be made on time for the remainder of their lives. The reality was very different. There was no certainty that any of the payments would be made, as history would later show,” he found.

Olympian Dawn Fraser and actor Paul Cronin featured in a brochure promoting the scheme.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission initiated the proceedings after the collapse of the company. The company also faces further civil proceedings in the same court and a class action in the Victorian Supreme Court.