However, Heliodor, which has over 100 one-star reviews on TrustPilot, has responded with some hopeful news for Judge.
After FTAdviser contacted Compushare (Heliodor), the company called Judge to discuss his options.
The closed book lender told FTAdviser: "We’ve spoken to Mr Judge again this week to discuss the situation with his second property, the mortgage for which is with Heliodor.
"We’d be very happy to discuss his situation further to help him find the best option to suit his circumstances.
"Although we don’t set the criteria for mortgages from other lenders, we don’t believe there are any restrictions that would prevent the mortgage for Mr Judge's property from moving to another provider.
"We’d be happy to discuss this option with him further as well as supporting him through the process."
On hearing that Heliodor would be happy to discuss options to move the mortgage on the Newcastle property to another provider, Judge told FTAdviser: "I’m glad to hear Heliodor is happy to help us move our mortgage to another lender, and we will definitely speak to them about that.
"But the reality is the property has still not climbed out of negative equity and the added leasehold situation makes it very unlikely that we would be able to remortgage elsewhere. It’s like a nightmare that never ends.”
Wider ramifications
Responding to wider complaints about the rising SVRs and the cost of servicing these for thousands of mortgage prisoners, as in previous cases that FTAdviser has reported on, the spokesperson for Heliodor said that its SVR has risen more slowly than the BoE base rate since December 2021.
They said: "Our increase mirrors that of many other lenders within the UK mortgage market, and we remain confident that our SVR is not an outlier.
"As a ‘closed book’ or ‘inactive’ lender, we don’t offer new mortgage products, but we don’t impose any unnecessary restrictions on those who wish to switch to another provider and will automatically waive any early repayment charges to customers with fixed-term mortgages who chose to move.
“When customers are not able to find a mortgage with another lender, we’re keen to discuss their options with them as soon as possible and provide them as much support as we can."
It said it was in "regular contact with the government and the regulator to ensure we are treating customers fairly while offering tailored support to those in need".
However, as an inactive lender, Heliodor said it could not formally sign up to the mortgage charter, which applies to residential borrowers who are free from arrears.
There are hundreds of thousands of mortgage prisoners - FTAdviser has reported on other cases, including those of families facing having to move into sheltered accommodation or resorting to food banks.
