You’ve closed your mortgage account with your bank and suddenly you get a bill for Mortgage Exit Administration Fees (MEAFs). Nobody wants a bad credit report, so you pay the fee. Sometimes these fees can be quite large and banks are actually supposed to give a refund, but, like many businesses, if you don’t ask you won’t get your money back. Costs were especially high in 2007 when the Financial Services Authority (FSA) got involved. When banks were unable to validate the increased fees, the FSA decided that refunds must be made available.

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