Trying to be nice can get you in trouble. Just ask the EBS Building Society. The State's largest remaining mutual is planning its first securitisation of mortgages in an effort to free up some of its capital for further lending in the current credit boom.

While selling off about €400 million of mortgages to another investor, or group of investors - in this case thought to be Citibank - it has reassured customers that it will continue to manage the mortgages on that investor's behalf. From the point of view of the customer nothing will change. They will retain their flexibility vis-avis the loan, and the normal EBS practice regarding repayments and defaults will apply.

That hasn't stopped some customers worrying about others having access to their details apart from the EBS and being beholden to investors many of them know little about.

In truth, it seems the EBS is paying a price for openness. The mortgage contract into which their borrowers have entered allows the building society to securitise their mortgages in this way with or without the borrowers' knowledge or consent.

Still, while it appears they did not have to let their members know what was going on, having done so, they might have explained the process with less jargon and more layman's language - and they might have granted a bit more time.

Some borrowers received letters dated May 25th on June 5th, telling them they had 14 days from the date on the letter to reply in writing if they did not want their mortgage included in the plan. Not much time to digest what's going on.