Montano pays off mortgage

Former Independent Liberal Party (ILP) chairman Robin Montano yesterday paid a six-figure number to the T&T Mortgage Finance Company (TTMF) to regain his Maraval home. In a telephone interview yesterday Montano said “all the outstanding monies and paperwork” were sent to the TTMF yesterday and it was just a matter of the bank dotting the “Is” and crossing the “Ts.” He refused to disclose the exact amount he paid. “I have done everything that I needed to do and now it is up to the bank to give me back the keys,” Montano said.

Bailiffs moved onto Montano’s property on Monday for his failure to pay arrears on a mortgage. Insisting that the matter could have been handled in a more humane manner by the TTMF, Montano said he was given an “oral assurance” that his deadline date from December last year would have been extended to March this year. “I told the bank I had a big case coming up in March which would have more than paid out the entire mortgage. 

“I was given the assurance that I would get an extension. The entire incident took me by surprise,” Montano added. He said his brother, Danny, a former president of the Senate, called the TTMF yesterday informing it that all the necessary documentation which was needed was ready. Montano said the TTMF did not return the call until around 2 pm yesterday. “If they had one ounce of human kindness in them they would have called much earlier so I would have gotten back my keys today (yesterday).

“But I don’t expect them to delay me any further than Thursday,” Montano added. Calls to TTMF’s chief executive officer Ingrid Lashley went unanswered yesterday. Messages also were not returned.