Aussie Debt Solutions

The biggest crisis we face in Australia today is with unaffordable debt. We see businesses closing down or put into the hands of receivers. They are the financial vultures of our time. We see homebuyers forced to sell their homes and sometimes lose all the payments and stamp duty they have paid with money they worked so hard to earn.

In order to understand why we need specifically Aussie debt solutions it is important to understand the Aussie debt circumstances that have caused the problem.

Avoid debt like the plague

The best debt solution is to avoid debt like the plague, unless it is for some large project with the prospect of capital gain. To pay interest on a home loan which will provide a roof over your head for life, is a lot better for most people than paying rent. That provides no long-term benefit at all. So borrowing for home work well for most people, depending on how much they pay for a home. It took my wife and me 2 years of searching every weekend to find one that was what we wanted and could afford.

Never borrow for consumables like food or clothing and if borrowing for a car make sure it is very affordable and the car is good value

Check out the market then negotiate hard

When it is sensible to borrow, check out the Aussie debt market carefully. Most people borrow at absurdly high interest rates, like on credit cards. The wise people go without until they can afford to pay cash for it or borrow a lot cheaper than on the card.

GBAC Advisory established an easy “Borrow Better” service that is a lot better than being led to the unsuitable debt slaughter house by a bank paid broker. The broker is going to be given $7,000 or more to deliver borrowers like lambs to the slaughter.

Deal with defaults wisely

Turn the tables with some good advice on how to manage defaults and serious debt issues in a uniquely Aussie way. That delivers the borrower some substantial gains. At GBAC Advisory we seriously tackle the way the moneylending industry abuses customers after deliberately leading them into unaffordable loans. Those interested can email greg@gbac.au or reach in via the GBAC.au website.

Government in the pockets of the moneylenders

The moneylenders have got our Aussie federal government right in its pocket. The moneylenders had a special Aussie regulation passed to prevent GBAC Advisor from offering Debt Management Services to home owners .

The best Aussie debt solution is to avoid the mortgage brokers and instead use the Borrow Better service. It is more like a Borrowers Broker except that it does not accept any commission from any bank. It usually gets the bank to reduce both its charges and interest rates.

Aussie debt solutions are the way to go for Aussie home, business and farm borrowers seeking fair and affordable mortgage loans to suit Aussie situations.

Farm loans – what is different?

Plenty is different. Farming is different and farm loans need to be different. Otherwise they just become debt traps for the unsuspecting farmers.

Weather

Weather has a huge unpredictable impact on the ability of farmers to make loan repayments. That means the terms of the loan contract need to be tailored to fit with the weather pattern.

Bad seasons

Bad seasons are a key reason for loan defaults so the loan contract needs to provide flexibility in repayments to cope with floods and droughts. They are what farming in Australia is all about.

Fire

Bushfires rage in Australian summers destroying crops, pastures and often killing stock, so there needs to be a provision in each farm loan contract to cover what happens in the case of fire, flood and drought.

Pests

Mouse or locust plagues sweep Australia when seasons are just right for breeding and apart from costing a fortune to control, when out of control they can be very destructive of profits. Allowance needs to be made in the loan contract for pests.

Disease

Sometimes disease strikes, like bird flu, and devastates properties . This too needs to be taken into account when loans for as long as 15 or 20 years are taken on.

Stock on hand

This is a very valuable asset in any family business, but in city businesses stock on hand is inert and can be stored in a building. In farming the stock is alive and kicking and its nature can change in a matter of months depending on the factors listed above.

Loan management skills

Farmers are skilled at managing livestock, crops, pastures, soil, fencing, byers and sellers. They are not necessarily skilled in farm loan management because they are not doing it on a daily basis. At GBAC we are, on a national scale.

Borrowers Broker

We don’t call GBAC the Borrowers Broker, because we are not brokers and we never take any commission or other payment from lenders. We work only for the farmers and they pay us. It is rare for us not to be able to save them a lot more than what they pay us if fees, in the interest rate and charges they pay the lender.

Whoever pays the piper calls the tune

Don’t ever think that the broker who will be paid a fee of around $10,000 to deliver yo0u to a lender, is working in your interests above those of the bank that pays them. That is just impossible, no matter what the law says. Common sense is a lot more helpful than laws made by politicians who receive very large “donations” from the moneylenders.

Get it right from the start

When you want to get your loan working in your interests as well as those of the moneylending bank, give us a call at GBAC 0428 417 496, 0422907155 or 02 9988 3312 and let us get your loan set up correctly from the start. Farmers are caught like pigs in a trap by bankers who make loans on terms that are impossible for farmers to meet. Then when the farmers fail to do what is required the lender jacks up the interest rates to make it harder, bleeds the farm for as many years as it can until the debt approaches the market value of the farm, then sells the farmers up. Don’t get caught in this nasty debt trap and lose the farm!

Aussie Farmers Beware of the bank financial supermarkets

Farmers borrowing from only one bank-paid broker is like selling produce to just one Supermarket. The banks have become financial supermarkets fleecing farmers with the skill of a gun-shearer. They close branches, cut phone staff to keep you hanging on for ever then want you to travel miles to prove who you are.

Farmers come out worst. The 4 Big Banks alone earned a profit last year of $36 billion. That is to say they charged their customers $36 billion more than the services cost. The Banking Royal Commission revealed that many of them act illegally, dishonestly and deceptively. That is why as a farmer/HELP consultant I established the Borrow Better concept and service. It is how you lay the foundations for a loan that determines how well it works for you

The key to farm borrowing in Australia is to:

Prepare a good loan application explaining to the bank why it should lend to you
Use the Borrow Better presentation to each of the banks most likely to lend to farmers
On receipt of offers negotiate the cheapest loan with best terms and most friendly bankers
Ensure that all loan terms are clearly understood to avoid unpleasant surprises
Ensure that loan repayments are readily affordable in all seasons and circumstances.
Establish systems to ensure that repayments can be made in advance in good seasons to cover relief in bad ones.
Aim to clear the debt as early as possible
Ensure title deeds are safely recovered and mortgages discharged on repayment.

That is why it is better to borrow the “Borrow Better” way. And it is run by people not robots. Put some competitive pressure on the banks to win your farm loan business. We all work better under pressure. That is when banks give you the best deal.

Unseen brokerage costs farmers dearly
For every $1 million borrowed through a bank broker, the bank pays the broker around $7,000 which the bank recovers in interest and charges from the farmer. The farmer will possibly get the loan, but how the contract terms suit the particular farmer’s budget or circumstances is another thing. Neither the bank nor the broker will be that much worried about the farmer paying the loan back as long as the security is enough for the bank to sell the farm up anytime it wishes. The contract probably lets the bank do that anytime. But as long as the farmer works sunup to sundown to pay the bank interest of $60,000 to $100,000 a year per $1m borrowed, the bank will be no hurry for the loan to be repaid. But just when things get tough on the land is when the bank will often cut and run, calling the loan in at the worst possible time for the farmer. That is often when farmers call me at GBAC.

Borrow Better
That is why I set up the Borrow Better human app in 1987 when banks were first de-regulated. Some farmers will remember we called it Moneygrams then. One of the first users paid the $100 fee and made a cool $300,000 in interest savings because of it, without moving banks! It is better to get the right help earlier rather than later. We help farmers obtain the most suitable, cheapest loan, with the most suitable contract terms from the most agreeable banker, right at the start. GBAC is a HELP consultant.

When taking the bait watch out for the hook
What is not obvious to most people when borrowing is that the money is the bait and the contract the hook. Like fish, many farmers offered the loan happily grab it while it is going, without noticing or even reading the contract on which they are hooked, with their family farm on the line.

The Borrowers’ Broker
Sometimes I think of us as the Borrowers’ Broker because we take the borrower to all the banks and tease out the best one for each particular borrower on the basis of the farm production, seasons, prices and government policies and the family needs of the farmers. We also help the farmer to clear that debt as fast as possible because very often the bank earns more out of the farm than the farmer does. (Compare your “Interest paid” with your “net profit” or “taxable income” to see how it is for you).

Inherited debt – the farmers curse
Leaving the debt to be passed on to the younger generation is not a good idea. Plenty of farmers remember when the interest rates went up to 24%. At present, rates are low because recession is hanging over the world and has been since well before Covid struck. The good thing about recession for farmers is that they can usually feed the family, but it can make a big difference if the farm income drops and the debt goes into default, so that the bank forecloses. My second cousin, from whom I purchased the beef cattle property settled by my great-grandfather, told me that when he was young and depression struck, the only reason the bank did not sell the farm up from under his family was that its value had crashed and would not nearly cover the debt. Today the bank just sells the farm and writes off the rest of the debt. Banks make so much money that a write-off is just like a drop in the ocean. We often turn that to the advantage of the farmers tricked into unaffordable loans by ruthless bankers. My cousin took over running the farm, cutting costs to near zero. The day, decades later that he cleared the debt and recovered his title deeds he took his staff to the pub to celebrate. It concerns me greatly that some rural consultants and counsellors may be encouraging farmers to have their children borrow from a bank to buy them out. One farmer described that to me as “Child Abuse”.

Drought
As he handed the farm over to me on a substantial cash deposit and long payment terms, he warned me, “Remember, when you come out of each drought, you are heading into the next one.” It was sound advice. As revenue came in I saved money and hay for those long hot sunny days when there was not a blade of grass on the ground. Then I adopted a policy of gradual de-stocking as drought hit and breeding up numbers again in good seasons. That worked surprisingly well. A neighbour commented on how fast our place re-stocked after drought without ever buying cattle in.

Whip Hand
Farm profit is a mental process. Decisions on spending are the key determinants of being able to continue the farming life. We help farmers make those decisions, because we know that farming is the best life in Australia, but it is hard won. We also help farmers guide governments into doing what is needed for farmers. Farmers, as voters, mostly hold the whip hand, but too often don’t use it.

HELP Consultancy
A HELP consultancy is there to help its clients, not to focus on making money out of them. Today we see too many consultants and government services based around the service providers getting rich whilst the farmers battle seasons, governments and prices. My grandparents and great-grandparents would be happy that I have been able to establish a HELP consultancy that has helped farmers from the tip of FNQ to King Island and up to the Kimberleys then into the centre. There are many better farmers than me, but to run sheep at Tullamore and cattle at Braidwood along with a national HELP consultancy that grew out of my Chartered Accountancy practice is thoroughly enjoyable.

Profit-sharing with the bank!

Check it out

How much are you profit-sharing with your bank or other moneylenders?

A quick look at the Profit and Loss Statement in your tax return this year will tell you. If you don’t want to wait that long, look at your 2023 tax return

Go to the Profit and Loss Statement and highlight the Net Profit at or near the bottom

Then go up the column to the line for Interest or Interest paid and highlight it.

Compare the two figures.

If Net Profit is four or more times the amount shown as “Interest” then you are probably going okay. If Net Profit is 10 times Interest, or more you are certainly not working for the bank.

If Net Profit is about the same amount as Interest paid then you are sharing your profit equally with the bank or other moneylender. That means that if you are working a 12 hour day on your farm or in your business, you are working 6 of those hours for the bank.

If interest is 3 times your Net Profit there is a more serious problem. That means you are working 9 hours a day for the bank.

If interest is 10 times your Net Profit, you are working about 10 hours a day for the bank. Time to change that.

It’s good to know

It is good to know who is making the most out of your working day, because sometimes we work long and hard to make a mountain of money for others but very little for ourselves.

The solution is usually to plan your finances to increase the profit you earn and decrease the interest paid to the bank. A budget that increases profit and decreases debt is the best solution.

Plan your profit in advance

I had always known that, but when I first bought then expanded my merino sheep property at Tullamore and then added my beef cattle property at Braidwood, the truth came home to me in my own financial statements as well as those of my clients all over Australia. It is one thing to consult others but a quite different thing to do it yourself.

Doing my own budgets and changing the farm financial structure so that we were making most of the profit took a bit of time but was very rewarding. When we farm, our focus tends to be mainly on crops, livestock, vehicles, fences and feed. Finances do not enter the daily routine except when the bills come in and we look for funds to pay them.

As a friend once comment to a group discussion, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Financial Farming is what delivers the financial rewards for those long hard days of work

Greg Bloomfield, GBAC

Farmers Friend or Foe

Who is the Aussie farmer’ friend?

The good farm debt consultants, of course!

Don’t be misled into cash-draining debt by some foe working for the bank or government. Good debt is debt to buy an appreciating asset like more land. Bad debt is debt to cover operating costs or farm succession. There’s more than one way to finance farm operations and succession.

On the Australian Bankers Association website is a bank-friendly warning from ASIC, “AFCA and consumer groups continue to raise concerns with ASIC about the conduct of debt-management firms” –

Who is on the farmer’s side? Not the Bankers’ Association! Nor ASIC! Both are trying to frighten farmers from getting good advice about farm loans. Farmers can wonder whether ABA and ASIC know anything about livestock or crops and imagine that “fencing” is a sport played with swords.

Banks made to refund billions. A farmer who did this would be in gaol!

In March 2023 banks were ordered to or offered to refund $4.7 billion dollars they had wrongly taken from customers. One farm debt consultant says that could be the tip of the iceberg. “ASIC protects dishonest banks instead of gaoling their directors who have ruined farmers’ lives. How can banks steal $4.7 billion from customers and yet the directors who direct bank operations have not even been prosecuted for theft or fraud, let alone gaoled?”

Negotiating with bankers and marking calves have a bit in common

As a 4^th generation farmer, Greg Bloomfield was fortunate enough to qualify as a Chartered Accountant, CPA, Chartered Company Secretary and Fellow of the Institute of Directors (AIDC) by his early 20’s.But like his grandfather and great-grandfather what he really enjoys is running sheep and cattle. When banks were de-regulated in 1987 and given free- rein to rob customers, he decided to focus his Australia-wide professional practice on helping farmers fight back. He did that while running sheep at Tullamore and cattle at Braidwood. The difference between bankers and livestock are that the stock are pretty honest, but both lose a bit in the process. He still does that and not one farmer anywhere has had anything but praise for his determination in getting them a fair debt write-off. The “about” page on his website displays the glowing praise of his past clients.

Greg Bloomfield and GBAC are on the farmer’s side. For years he headed the largest branch in NSW Farmers and toured the state visiting farms to get huge debt write-offs and addressing local groups. While he says “I’d rather be working cattle or fixing fences than battling banks”, the internet has meant that the time he spent traveling from farm can now be spent in earning farmers more money from debt negotiations with their bank, than many have earned in years of farming.

Borrowers beware and ensure you know what the repayments will be.

It was Greg’s wise neighbour, Frank, at Tullamore who cut to the essence of farm loans by saying “Borrowing’s the easy bit! It’s the paying it back that’s hard.” That is a truth that can be forgotten as we scramble to find someone to lend us the money we need.
The services that farm debt consultants like Greg provide are unsuitable and uncomfortable for dishonest and predatory banks and include:
making banks write off debt caused by predatory dishonest lending practices,
making banks share the suffering for setting debt-traps from which farmers cannot escape,
persuading the banks to give farmers a repayment holiday when the season or prices go bad
helping farmers increase their profits with cheaper more suitable loans in the first place
working tirelessly to help farmers clear debts, recover title deeds, farm debt free and enjoy the farm lifestyle.

The one who pays the piper, always calls the tune.

Banks have the opposite priority to farm borrowers. What makes the banks rich, makes the farmers poor – interest and charges. When the farmer cannot pay interest the bank increases the interest rate. When the farmer can’t make a loan repayment the bank gives an overdraft at a higher rate to cover the payment. The loan grows and grows like a cut-and-come-again weed crop. This can continue until the farmer is sold up when it reaches 80% or 90% of the farm’s market value.

Government too has the opposite priority to farm borrowers. It seeks an ever-expanding economy where money moves around and around to end up in the government coffers through taxes each time it moves. Farmers borrow then spend the money with the rural store, which pays the wholesalers who pay the manufacturers who pay their staff who pay the supermarket etc, etc. Farmers become the pipe through which the stock and crop sale money flows out to the great unknown.

If the government or banks are paying the people advising you, recognise that there is a line they do not cross. Because the person doing the paying determine what advice is given.

Don’t fight bank alone because they do it every day

What Greg and GBAC do is get alongside the farmers to make as much of the farm revenue remain in the farm finances tank as possible so that the farmers can turn on the tap and spend it on themselves and the family whenever they want.

That is what decent farm debt consultants do. They work exclusively for the farmer and family more than anyone funded by the banks or government are ever likely to do. If they are any good they produce a huge return on the investment in their fees. Because they are serious, persistent and have a few secret weapons up their sleeves. Greg works for the farmers, not for the government or for the bank!

As farm debt consultants for many decades, with their own farming, accounting and business experience, the GBAC consultants don’t apologies for making billionaire banks write off dishonestly obtained debt to help farm families struggling with flood, fire and drought, price fluctuations and government policies. You can ring Greg on 0428 417 496 to see whether he might be able to help you borrow better or shed some of the debt.

Farm or business debt needs caution in uncertain seasons

ABARE executive director Jared Greenville completed a recent article for farmers on volatile seasons with these words:

“Rather than growing the size of the enterprise or productivity by much, they’re setting the business up to manage the downside risks by simply not being as eager to borrow.”

These are wise words because the future looks quite risky when it comes to refinancing. But it is not only farmers who need to think carefully. Family businesses are under threat from climate change, the economy and big business. It pays to reduce risk in times like this to avoid a major disaster if things go wrong. Recession is looming in many places. The best way to minimise risk is to look for ways to relieve cost pressures. Debt relief would be one of the first. A perfectly happy loan can morph into a dangerous debt in just one or two years. That can also happen when banks appoint receivers to manage the business or farm.

Banks have been very lenient to borrowers since Covid. There are signs that they are starting to lose patience with loan defaults and look to recovery action like receivership. The current boom in prices of real estate has been partly caused by a decade-long boom. Banks seeking to recover debt, may seek to sell mortgaged properties before the boom busts. Many small business loans are secured by a mortgage over the business owner’s home

“Borrowing in good times; Refinancing in the bad”.

The annual Profit and Loss statement often shows banks earning more out of the enterprise than the business owner or farmer. A business loan consultant would know that dangerous debt can be reduced by a variety of means. The sale of an unproductive block may be one way. A write-off by a bank that has treated the borrower badly might be another.

Debt refinance can allow a farm or business loan to be cleared much faster or managed more easily. Borrowers coming to GBAC find, that negotiations with the bank can sometimes yield them more profit than they have earned for years in the business or farm. That particularly applies to those who have been tricked by the bank into unaffordable debt.

In running my own equipment and art hire businesses in Sydney I paid very close attention to my loans and creditors. Developing techniques and strategies with Profit in mind was the main goal. That is because profit is the main way of clearing any business debt.

Business or Farm Debt Refinancing

To make sure business owners, including farmers, get the right loan at the right price with the right loan terms we invented the “Farm Loan Seeker” (FLS) service four decades ago. Today it is an electronic means of borrowing without using an expensive bank-paid mortgage broker that just adds big costs to the loan. When a bank pays a broker up to $10,000 in brokerage to deliver customers on a plate, it expects to make a lot of money out of them. My view is to keep the total borrowing costs as low as possible. Business and farm borrowers can do their own loan hunting very successfully online with an FLS. The inexpensive FLS comes with a guide on dealing with the bank to get the best deal. GBAC will provide inexpensive optional support for various parts of the process if needed.

Borrowers should not assume that the people offering them a loan will look to their interest before their own, any more than the person buying from them will. People look after their own interests first. The Farm Loan Seeker we originally invented in 1987 when banks were first de-regulated. As well as helping other business owners get a fair go from the banks, I was running my two hire companies and a sheep property at the same time. A borrower should never trust the lender to do all the work. Lenders can be ruthlessly efficient at looking after their own interest. That often means agreements that put the borrower at a disadvantage.

Refinance Risks

Why refinance can have risks.

Refinance risks can vary, depending on a wide variety of circumstances. That is because a person who is refinancing is sometimes under more pressure than before. If refinance is not arranged within a specified timeframe, the existing bank could threatening receivership, appoint a manager or foreclosure and sale at auction. The borrower is looking for loan relief.

The best way to deal with that problem is to turn the tables on the bank from whom one is refinancing, by researching its behaviour to identify where it broke the law, the code of conduct or fair trading laws and then sitting down and telling it some home truths about what happens when you raise that by Votergram to some 225 Federal Politicians

Assessing refinance risks by comparing loan repayments against farm profit

“Generally, farmers’ confidence in the agriculture sector drives the demand for debt to fund land and capital acquisitions,” a banker said recently. The average farm profit was reported as $29,000. While many small country roads businesses are not so vulnerable to weather and commodity prices, many are with our major cities somewhat dependent on beach weather. Recent floods have devastated many businesses. Often such disasters dramatically reduce the security value of a mortgaged property. That is the ideal time to start gentle negotiations for the bank to write off a good bit of the debt. When the debt is reduced, the chances of refinanced are enhanced. Those who have played their cards right will often find themselves refinancing a much smaller debt. That is converting risk into advantage.

A Borrower’s Budget

It is vital for farmers and business operators to find out exactly how many dollars a year they will pay in loan repayments. Then compare that to their budgets. Make certain that the budget reflects the current reality rather than a fairy tale invented for a bank. Loan repayments and interest have to come out of profit. It is rash to think that the farm loan or the business loan will produce extra net profit. It often does no such thing and even if it does, it usually takes a few years to do so. A borrower’s budget is their best friend. It should regularly compared with the same period in the previous year and the actuals in the present year.

There is usually a big difference between the total income or turnover of the enterprise. Profit is the bit left after expenses. Loan repayments must be made from Profits. Don’t be misled by turnover!

Refinance Options

The problem is that a even a loan refinance can quickly turn into a debt trap. This can happen with a couple of bad years if the economy crumbles or flood waters cut business. My first reaction when confronted with refinance or even original loans has always been to see farm in drought if it is possible to achieve the same result without borrowing from a bank.

Over the years, I have shown farmers a variety of alternatives, from savings, to interest-free loans and trade-offs.

Assets can be acquired without getting the bank involved. Publicised interest rates and charges are not the best that can be achieved when borrowing. Offers of special rates and reduced charges requires negotiation. Those wanting to borrow on best terms and conditions, the “FarmloanSeeker” or “FLS” targets an enquiry to a range of banks. It is an easy way to check out what is available. Then negotiate the very best and cheapest loan possible.

Debt help!!

The need for Debt help

This year CBA will earn 10,000 times as much in real money terms as it did before bank de-regulation. The banks are pulling in massive profits just as their customers are drowning in debt. Why? Because the banks have been marketing their mortgage loans to borrowers with big asset backing and those borrowers are now drowning in unaffordable debt as the bankers knew they would. But in the process the banks have often broken the law and the Code of Banking practice as well as fair trading regulations, all of which the recent Royal Commission identified, but did not compensate borrowers for the damage done.

Traditionally we individual Aussies trusted the banks and put up with the way in which they treated us. That was because there was not much else we could do. To fight a bank in court could cost millions.

GBAC has found that by analysing and researching facts, figures and bank behaviour it often turns out that the borrowers have been deliberately tricked into loans with impossible terms that the borrower did not read. The banks often banked on that, particularly with busy family business owners and farmers who were more skilled in their own enterprise than borrowing and just trusted the banks to do the right thing. Prior to de-regulation the bank would have done the right thing.

Turbocharged Voter-Power for borrowers

Today mortgage borrowers, in their role as voters have great sway over government because GBAC realised that Parliament controls the bureaucracy which delivers government and the voters, control who sits in parliament.

GBAC has developed the Votergram Turbocharge system that allows each and every borrower to tell every single member of any or every Parliament, what the bank has done to them, how unreasonable the bank has been and how disastrous bank de-regulation has been when borrowers are literally robbed and financially abused so that banks can earn billions and their executives can earn multi-million dollar salaries.

Many banks faced with the option to sit down and sensibly discuss how best to deal with the debt in a way that treats the borrower fairly or have the matter discussed by the federal parliament, opt to confer with the borrower and GBAC’s negotiators for an outcome that is fair to the borrowers first. They are after all the customers and the most vulnerable party. If the bank does not act fairly the borrower with GBAC’s assistance can Turbocharge the campaign for a fair go, by Votergram for help

Today there is a completely free association of voters all over Australia. It is called the Australian Voters Network or Voters. It has no party politics and exists only to help and educate its members to persuade the parliaments to improve the fairness factor in Australian government policy. The more who join and share their own experiences, the fairer Australia becomes. It fits with the National Anthem doesn’t it? It is a good organisation for borrowers to join because it can help them a great deal when the crunch comes on.

Banks and Big Businesses Monopolies

For a long time the moneylending banks and big business monopolies have controlled government by bribing our elected MPs with election donations and bullying them with highly paid lobbyists. It looks as though the federal parliament is going to reduce that and such a move will again help borrowers in trouble with their bank.

Anyone wanting to learn a little bit more can contact GBAC which is run by a former Chartered Accountant / CPA who has run family businesses and farms as well, so knows just how hard it can be to clear big bank debts.

Democracy is the best system of government in the world, but only when driven by the voters to fulfil its potential. Government for the people comes from government by the people via their parliament. Borrowers have a great resource in their parliaments and GBAC has developed the tools to help them access it.

Join Voters now and Turbocharge your Voter-Power. Then give GBAC a call and see how they can help you. If bank behaviour has really upset you, you can go to the BankWatch site to record what happened so that it can be taken into account in submissions to government.

Greg Bloomfield

Debt Solutions for a Borrower

“The Winning Borrower”

“I was phoned one day by an IT executive, just after I had spoken to a farmer whose total crop proceeds had been seized by the bank. The IT expert had a similar problem. His bank account had also been frozen after a large deposit had been made into the account. The bank’s receiver took it all.”

So begins “The Winning Borrower”, the story of how one Sydney Chartered Accountant with a farming and family business background became a “bank loan consultant” and took on the big banks to provide Aussie debt solutions for Aussie farmers and business owners.

Baseball bats to battle bank debt issues

In the process of negotiations, mediations and refinancing, he discovered the disturbing details of how banks lied, cheated and trapped farmers in debt they could not clear without selling the farms and did the same to business owners who had mortgaged their homes. The author relates how untrustworthy banks have exploited customers in their quest for multi-billion-dollar profits. He takes a metaphorical baseball bat to the bankers, explaining how some of his clients ended up making more profit out of their loan settlements than out of farming or business.

Royal Commission investigates bank loan problems

The day the Prime Minister announced that there would definitely not be a Royal Commission into the banking industry, the author sent a Votergram to each one of the 225 Federal MPs decrying the decision. Within days the decision was reversed and the Royal Commission announced.

Author makes book free to farmers during March

“The Winning Borrower” 85 page e-book by this businessman,4^th generation farmer, Chartered Accountant and CPA , who became a bank loan consultant by accident, is available during March as a FREE e-book to help business owners and farmers all over Australia enjoy more profitable and secure lives.

Succession plan for farm foreclosure?

Saying “No thank you”

Young farmers will be better off if they decline offers of farm succession based on them borrowing an interest-bearing farm bank loan. Their retiring parents and the farm will be safer too.

The inclusion of potential bank debt problems on top of fire, flood, drought, commodity prices and government policy, can be destructive to any farm family. I changed GBAC from a Chartered Accountancy firm to a farm debt consultant once banks were deregulated. They were promoting “asset lending” – loans that depended on sale of the farm, rather than farm profits, to repay the debt.

Debt enriches banks

Succession planning debt enriches banks, impoverishes young farmers and puts farms at risk. Serious lateral thinking by experts familiar with farming and bank loans will tailor a safer alternative for those who want to keep the farm in the family.

Passing on farm debt is rarely beneficial, so rather than refinancing debt to the youngsters, every endeavour should be made to clear all mortgage debt first, so the younger generation can begin with a clean slate. It is nothing like as hard as is thought.

Personal experience

When selling my Merino breeding farm to buy the beef cattle property that had been settled by my great-grandfather, the asking price was many times higher than what I had expected. That was due to a recent nearby sale at a price an agent called “ridiculous”. I could not have afforded interest as well. So I devised a plan that I could afford. It involved minimal external debt and it worked extremely well for my relative-vendor.

Good succession planning avoids the need to call in a farm debt consultant when the bank has appointed receivers to run the farm. The last thing any young farmer needs is a debt problem that leads to farm debt mediation, the forerunner to potential foreclosure and sale of the farm.

Avoiding mortgage stress

Bank debt is offered by banks because it converts farm revenue to bank revenue. Better to keep the money in the farm’s saving deposits and avoid the mortgage stress.

Greg Bloomfield