PCCW employee's loan turned down 'because of job fears'

A Pacific Century CyberWorks (PCCW) sales manager claims he was refused a home loan by the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation because the government lender thought his job might not be secure.

The 30-year-old says he was asked to either find a guarantor or produce a letter from the company giving an assurance he would not be laid off.

His rejection at the end of July came just two months after the corporation approved him for a bigger loan without any request for reassurances of his job security.

In between his two applications, the company cut 340 jobs in June and analysts believe there may be more job cuts in store. The corporation eventually granted him the loan only after he provided a guarantor.

'The HKMC employee in charge of my case told me the corporation was concerned about my job security because of the recent lay-off rumours,' the salesman said. 'I don't understand why they rejected my application this time. They approved my first loan application without much trouble.'

The salesman wanted to buy a house in Tsuen Wan that cost about $2 million. He had only enough savings to pay a 10 per cent down payment and applied for a 20 per cent mortgage insurance - commonly known as a second mortgage - from the corporation to top up his 70 per cent mortgage loan with the DBS Kwong On Bank.