An action group campaigning on behalf of landlords has confirmed that it is ready to begin legal action against the Bank of Ireland (BoI) for a decision the bank made regarding its buy-to-let mortgages in 2013.

Property118’s case revolves around the bank’s decision to increase the differential charged on its tracker rate mortgage products, despite there being no increase in the Bank of England’s base rate.

This left many landlords with a sudden increase in monthly mortgage payments.

The initial legal action will not be taken against the Bank of Ireland directly, rather the law firms involved in advising on the mortgages in question. 

In a statement on its website, Property118 reminds landlords that the Financial Ombudsman Service has already ruled in favour of the Bank of Ireland regarding its decision to increase rates.

It draws parallels to a case it won against the West Brom earlier this year, but says the legal arguments are ‘very different’.

In June, the action group claimed victory in a case against the West Brom that had been ongoing for almost three years, resulting in the bank having to refund landlord clients to the tune of approximately £27 million.

Property118 estimates that the compensation figure in the Bank of Ireland case could be more than double the figure paid out by West Brom.

In the first instance, on behalf of the action group, Cotswolds Barristers’ Mark Smith will be making claims against law firms for not pointing out to their clients the ‘potential for the “differential” to be charged on the tracker mortgage’.

Property118 is also running a campaign against the Skipton Building Society, which it says has been overcharging its borrowers by thousands of pounds since 2010.

More details of the campaign against Skipton and the Bank of Ireland can be found here.