Household HSBC Watch

TAMPA — A gloomy outlook for a portion of HSBC Holdings’ loan portfolio means a boom for the Tampa Bay area economy. The London-based financial institution has boosted employment at its offices in Tampa and in Brandon Florida as it faces fall-out from its mortgages to sub-prime borrowers.

The company has roughly doubled the number of collections specialists at its Bay area operations centers and now has more than 850 collections specialists locally, said Kate Durham, a Chicago-based spokeswoman for HSBC-North America. They are working seven days a week, contacting HSBC customers about missed payments and trying to work out payment plans.

Consumer advocates at Household - HSBC Watch say some families were pinched by higher gas and food prices, while others were duped into a loan that turned out to be totally different from the loan they were expecting. “We invite people to read our paper called ‘The secrets of HFC and Beneficial’“, and you will see things HSBC doesn’t want you to know, said a group member. On the other hand some of the problems are from adjustable rate first mortgages. Other problems may be from late application of payments and pyramiding.