Who are Pepper, Mars Capital, Link Financial, Cabot Financial, Start, Everyday Finance, BCM Global, Cabot?

The Irish residential mortgage market changed significantly after the financial crisis. Banks such as AIB, Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank, KBC, ACC, Bank of Scotland (Ireland), Start Mortgages and others sold large portfolios of mortgages to investment funds. Those investment funds typically appointed specialist credit servicing firms to administer the loans.

The companies below generally fall into one of three categories: original lenders, loan owners (investment funds), or loan servicers.

Company	What they are	Their role in Ireland
Pepper Advantage	Credit servicer (and in some cases lender)	Administers residential mortgages for banks and investment funds
Mars Capital	Credit management/asset management company	Represents investment funds that own mortgage portfolios
Link Financial	Debt purchaser and credit servicing group	Owns and services mortgage and consumer debt portfolios
Cabot	Credit investor and servicer	Purchases and services mortgage and consumer debt portfolios
Start Mortgages	Original mortgage lender	Originated mortgages during the boom years; many loans later sold
Everyday Finance	Non-bank mortgage lender	Provides new mortgages and services existing loans
BCM Global	Credit servicing and asset management company	Services mortgage portfolios for institutional investors

Pepper Advantage

Pepper Advantage is Ireland’s largest specialist mortgage servicer. It services more than 130,000 mortgage accounts and manages loan portfolios worth approximately €30 billion on behalf of banks and institutional investors. Pepper does not necessarily own the mortgage; in many cases it simply administers it on behalf of whoever purchased the loan. Its functions include:

collecting monthly repayments;
setting and administering interest rates when permitted by the mortgage contract or loan owner;
managing arrears;
considering alternative repayment arrangements;
conducting repossession proceedings when instructed by the loan owner. (pepper-advantage.ie)

Mars Capital

Mars Capital is not generally a retail lender. It is an asset management and credit management business that acts for investment funds which have purchased Irish mortgage portfolios.

Typically, Mars:

manages residential mortgage portfolios;
appoints or works with regulated credit servicers;
oversees arrears management;
instructs solicitors in possession proceedings;
manages investment performance for the funds that own the loans.

Borrowers usually deal with Mars as the public face of the loan owner, although the legal owner may be a separate investment vehicle.

Link Financial

Link Financial is an international debt purchaser and loan management company.

In Ireland it has acquired portfolios of:

residential mortgages;
secured loans;
unsecured consumer debt.

Link may either:

own the debt itself, or
service debt on behalf of institutional investors.

Where it owns a residential mortgage, it generally appoints a regulated Irish credit servicing firm to administer the account.

Cabot

Cabot is one of Europe’s largest credit management companies.

In Ireland it has acquired large portfolios of both:

residential mortgages; and
unsecured debt.

Cabot’s activities include:

purchasing loan portfolios;
managing those assets;
dealing with borrowers;
restructuring loans where appropriate;
pursuing legal enforcement where necessary.

Cabot also provides servicing for other institutional investors.

Start Mortgages

Start Mortgages was an original mortgage lender rather than a loan servicer.

It became well known during the property boom for lending to:

first-time buyers;
self-employed borrowers;
borrowers who did not always fit mainstream bank criteria.

Many Start mortgages were subsequently sold to investment funds following the financial crisis. Borrowers therefore often now find that although their mortgage originated with Start, it is serviced by another company such as Pepper or BCM Global.

Everyday Finance

Everyday Finance differs from many of the above because it is an active non-bank mortgage lender.

It provides:

residential mortgages;
remortgages;
switching facilities.

Unlike firms that simply administer legacy mortgage books, Everyday Finance continues to originate new mortgage lending while also servicing its own customers.

BCM Global

BCM Global is an international loan servicing and asset management company.

Its Irish business administers:

residential mortgages;
commercial loans;
distressed loan portfolios.

It acts for banks, investment funds and other institutional investors, providing:

payment administration;
arrears management;
customer communications;
litigation management;
portfolio reporting.

Borrowers may never have borrowed money from BCM itself; instead BCM acts on behalf of the owner of the mortgage.

The typical ownership structure

Many borrowers understandably assume that the company writing to them is their lender. In reality, the structure is often more complex:

Original Bank

│

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Mortgage sold to an Investment Fund

│

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Investment Fund owns the mortgage

│

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Credit Servicer

(Pepper, BCM, Cabot, etc.)

│

▼

Borrower

The investment fund generally owns the mortgage as an asset, while the credit servicer manages the day-to-day relationship with the borrower, including collecting payments, administering arrears, and, where necessary, conducting legal proceedings under the authority granted by the loan owner and subject to Irish regulation. (pepper-advantage.ie)

For borrowers in Ireland, it is important to distinguish between:

the original lender (for example, Start Mortgages),
the current legal owner of the mortgage (often an investment fund), and
the regulated credit servicer (such as Pepper, BCM Global or Cabot) that manages the mortgage on the owner’s behalf.

THE INVESTMENT FUND IS THE VULTURE AND THEY ARE USUALLY BASED OVERESEAS.