Mortgage Question - pulling out after application.

stigggeh · 21 May 2013 at 19:58

Hi,

We have applied and been accepted for a mortgage they are just waiting for us to send a piece of evidence before it goes through. We purchased a home*buyers report through the mortgage company and its filled with errors and both the surveyor and mortgage company are saying the contract is with the other. Even though I paid the mortgage company and they appear on my bank statement they are not having anything to do with it saying I need to complain in writing to the surveyor and its nothing to do with them. :mad:

Now I'm not happy about this as you can expect and would like to look elsewhere. (I've also spotted a slightly better deal).

If I apply elsewhere at such a late stage am i likely to be declined? I assume until i complete the process I'm not tied in to anything. (even though I've sent proof of income etc).

I'm aware that you can swap and change when you have a decision in principle, but not sure at such a late stage in the process. I'd like to keep them as a fallback just in case I'm declined (although we both have good credit scores)

I'm going to phone the bank tomorrow, but i'd like to hear from people who have had the same experience.

Adam · 21 May 2013 at 20:27

Have you exchanged contracts yet?

Orch · 21 May 2013 at 20:28

You can pull out even once you've had the offer, but you'll lose any fees paid so far.

stigggeh · 21 May 2013 at 20:38

No contracts exchanged. Solicitor just started doing checks, so still quite early in the process.

I've had a mortgage offer and sent my pay slips etc the underwriter has informed me they are just waiting for me to send 1 item.

So its worth a punt applying elsewhere? I'm just worried that I kill my credit score and end up unable to get a deal anywhere.

Only fee paid is for the valuation and survey which I don't mind losing because I'd save the money on the difference in upfront 'completion fee' the rate is slightly better too.

Thanks.

Orch · 21 May 2013 at 20:52

You wouldn't normally have received an offer if items are outstanding?

Your credit history is only affected as far as a search footprint in your history. No big deal. Offers are normally valid for at least 3 months, so why not give them the information outstanding, get the offer, tell the solicitor to hold fire and then apply for the other mortgage. If you get it, you can cancel the first one?

The second lender is bound to query your initial application, but I can't see why they would mind once explained. Never had someone willing to lose their fees and find out though!

ci_newman · 22 May 2013 at 09:38

It's probably worth speaking to your solicitor about it too to be sure that it won't make any impact in change lenders at this stage.

The owners may be curious as to why another survey is being done though.

Adam · 22 May 2013 at 10:09

Plus it could hold things up, mortgage lenders normally quote around 6 weeks to have the process completed (although realistically I have been advised it's quicker) so it's something to bear in mind if you want this done quickly.

div0 · 22 May 2013 at 10:38

It sounds to me like the insurance company insisted that you carry out a 'Home Buyers Report', as part of the application process? You've paid for this report (through the mortgage company), but are not happy with the contents of the report?

I think the mortgage people are just refusing to reimburse the cost of the report, because they say the content is the responsibility of the surveyor.

But this should be completely separate from any 'mortgage agreement'. The mortgage should only be finalised, when your solicitor completes on the purchase of the house (ie contracts are exchanged).

At this point you should be free to walk away from the mortgage company (minus any upfront costs so far, valuations/surveys/reports/etc).

It's not that unusual to use one mortgage company for an 'in principle agreement', in order to put an offer in, but then to go with another lender prior to completion.

Ideally, I'd speak to your mortgage advisor - as we had a very good one, who dealt with a lot of this stuff for us. But if you're doing it yourself, your solicitor should be able to give some advice.

Scrutinize · 22 May 2013 at 21:38

Who is your mortgage company, why would you walk away for this and what exactly are the errors? This is nothing to do with the mortgage company but the surveyor.

Speak to the surveyor and get them to correct the report or re-do the survey.

Is the better deal that much better, i.e. will saving £10-£20 per month (or is it that much more) offset the survey fees etc so far?

HangTime · 22 May 2013 at 22:28

Trust me pulling out doesn't work, you think you've got away with but then 9 months down the line *BAM* there they are all of a sudden leeching your money for the next 25 years...

Django x2 · 22 May 2013 at 22:39

Your biggest mistake was the giant scam that is the hom******s report. If you knew what they actually did for this so called "home buyers" report. You probably wouldn't have bothered.

Orch · 22 May 2013 at 22:56

Django x2 said:
Your biggest mistake was the giant scam that is the hom******s report. If you knew what they actually did for this so called "home buyers" report. You probably wouldn't have bothered.

More info and source please? Genuinely interested.

stigggeh · 23 May 2013 at 17:47

Scrutinize said:
Who is your mortgage company, why would you walk away for this and what exactly are the errors? This is nothing to do with the mortgage company but the surveyor.

Speak to the surveyor and get them to correct the report or re-do the survey.

Is the better deal that much better, i.e. will saving £10-£20 per month (or is it that much more) offset the survey fees etc so far?

Tried to speak to the surveyor who said I needed speak to the mortgage company. Spoke to the mortgage company and they said speak to the surveyor. The loop continues.

Mortgage company wont do anything they say my contract is with the Surveyor. Surveyor won't do anything because they say their contract is with the mortgage company.

Neither of them are willing to sort it and that's the reason I was thinking of switching. I'd be happy for them to send a different employee and produce another report, but neither are willing to take any action.

The errors are all quite small but that's not the point. I paid good money and expect it to be done correctly.

Kutter · 24 May 2013 at 06:39

Who did you pay?

Thats who you need to talk too!

Yaayuh! · 24 May 2013 at 08:38

HangTime said:
Trust me pulling out doesn't work, you think you've got away with but then 9 months down the line *BAM* there they are all of a sudden leeching your money for the next 25 years...

I was going to post something along these lines.
Beaten like a ginger kid.

f00b4r · 24 May 2013 at 11:45

stigggeh said:
Tried to speak to the surveyor who said I needed speak to the mortgage company. Spoke to the mortgage company and they said speak to the surveyor. The loop continues.

Mortgage company wont do anything they say my contract is with the Surveyor. Surveyor won't do anything because they say their contract is with the mortgage company.

Neither of them are willing to sort it and that's the reason I was thinking of switching. I'd be happy for them to send a different employee and produce another report, but neither are willing to take any action.

The errors are all quite small but that's not the point. I paid good money and expect it to be done correctly.

I've had that bull**** pulled before a couple of times (e.g. once when i moved into a new build and OpenWorld insisted the builders hadn't put in the required wiring and the builders insisted they had).
Ring one of them, let them spin the same line, then whilst holding them, conference in the other party. It is amazing how quickly the lies fall apart and things get done when they have to actually speak with the party they are accusing of being at fault.

EDIT: oh and because the bank will almost certainly be required to record the call (PCI compliance) you can also have that pulled for any future complaint; it means they are less likely to lie or they cannot back track on what is said later.