Been stitched up by the Nationwide - what action can I take?

dt_matthews

Hi

Hope someone can advise me.

Six weeks ago, after getting a mortgage in principal from the Nationwide, I exchanged on a flat, the completion date being the 3rd Sept. After wasting FIVE of the six weeks between exchange and completion (despite chasing the Nationwide on an almost daily basis and reminding them of my deadlines) a few days ago they rejected my case. At one point in time, I heard absolutely nothing from them for almost two weeks. Two senior managers in Nationwide even agreed that the behaviour was dire, and my mortgage broker says he has never seen a case so badly mishandled by a lendor. I am livid, and more importantly this is risking the sale and my £21,000 deposit (non-refundable) if I dont get an alternative lender sorted (in hand and progressing).

My question however is this - what (if anything) can I do to get any money off the Nationwide for the extra costs I am going to incur because of their woeful behaviour? Should I complain to them or is their an ombudsman (FSA) that I should lodge a formal complaint with? (to date I am going to incurr interest charges for every day I miss the 3rd Sept and further Solicitors fees, ultimately I could lose the sale and my deposit (£21k!!!) and even be sued for the difference in price when the vendor re-sells and if it sells for less than the price I agreed to pay!

Any advice hugely appreciated!

dan

koexelek

I'd never ever advise anyone to exchange contracts until they had a formal mortgage offer. I'm amazed that your solicitor allowed you to do that.
An agreement in principle is not binding in any way on the lender.

Do you know why the Nationwide eventually declined it ?
If it was for a valid enough reason, sadly there is not much you can really do

FraudBuster

Confused............

dt_matthews wrote: »

:eek: Firstly, apologies if i fail to explain this very well, its a bit complex and i am a real layman at this stuff!

Scenario:
1. Just exchanged contracts on a flat, purchasing with my g/f.
2. It is being financed by re-mortgaging my current flat (current no mortgage on it).
3. She has a flat with some equity in but we are extending the borrowing on it as much as possible to finance new flat (i.e. drawing down equity).
4. Given the state of the market for selling we intend to rent out our respective flat's and live in our new 'joint' flat, using the rental income to assist with the mortgage repayments.

Now, the issue is this:
I dont know whether to get a repayment or interest only mortgage. I know if we go interest only its more tax efficient (offset rent against interest payments) than a repayment option but the difference between the two types is £400 and I just dont know what alternative investment 'vehicle' I would be able to use effectively? I was thinking one vehicle would be to over-pay her mortgage.

Apologies if this isnt very clear but I'm sure some bright spark can offer a nugget of wisdom but I have to make the decision TOMORROW and my mortgage 'advisor' isnt really living up to his title!!! :rolleyes:

TIA,
dan

dt_matthews

what are you confused about?

dt_matthews

we exchanged because it was an auction property and we agreed a sale before it went to auction . not advisable i know but we didnt really have an alternative

dt_matthews

koexelek wrote: »

I'd never ever advise anyone to exchange contracts until they had a formal mortgage offer. I'm amazed that your solicitor allowed you to do that.
An agreement in principle is not binding in any way on the lender.

Do you know why the Nationwide eventually declined it ?
If it was for a valid enough reason, sadly there is not much you can really do

to be clear, my issue is not that they rejected, completely agree they are under no obligation to lend, but the time taken to do it and the total lack of communication has been what has totally screwed me!

koexelek

dt_matthews wrote: »

to be clear, my issue is not that they rejected, completely agree they are under no obligation to lend, but the time taken to do it and the total lack of communication has been what has totally screwed me!

Well, if you think you have a case for complaint, this is who you should write to ....

The Financial Ombudsman Service
South Quay Plaza
183 Marsh Wall
London E14 9SR


You should make a formal complaint in writing to Nationwide first though, as the ombudsman would not want to get involved until you have done that and got a reply

dt_matthews

koexelek wrote: »

Well, if you think you have a case for complaint, this is who you should write to ....

The Financial Ombudsman Service
South Quay Plaza
183 Marsh Wall
London E14 9SR


You should make a formal complaint in writing to Nationwide first though, as the ombudsman would not want to get involved until you have done that and got a reply

thanks for that, and yes, I will complain to NAtionwide first and see what they say

dunstonh

or is their an ombudsman (FSA) that I should lodge a formal complaint with?

The FSA is the regulator and does not handle individual complaints. That is the role of the FOS. However, you cannot complain to the FOS unless you have complained to Nationwide first and exhaused their complaints process.

Nationwide though are not responsible for your decision to exchange contracts and their decision to reject lending is a commercial decision that the FOS will not have any power to overule. None of the costs you incur because of your decision to exchange are the fault of the Nationwide.

To be honest, a mortgage taking 6 weeks to get an answer is slow but if it had to go through their underwriting team and they needed to get further info then it could take longer. The slow service isnt desirable but its not massively slow for a borderline case.

Your complaint could be better placed with the solicitor that allowed you to exchange contracts with no lending confirmed.

we exchanged because it was an auction property and we agreed a sale before it went to auction . not advisable i know but we didnt really have an alternative

You did have an alternative. Not to do it.

I suggest you should focus on your efforts on getting lending arranged. The more you focus on trying to get £100-£250 out of Nationwide, the less you will be focused on the real problem.

opinions4u

While their decision making process was unreasonably slow, there is absolutely no way you should exchange contracts without having the finance in place.

My advice now:

1) Get the alternative finance sorted and fast.
2) Make an official complaint to Nationwide about their delays; name the people who work for them who have told you it was unacceptable, and request compensation. Do it after sorting point (1) out.

I don't think Nationwide are liable for any losses you incur - you made a decision and I'd be pretty sure your solicitor warned you of the risks. But you might be able to squeeze a couple of hundred quid out of them if you handle it well.

Advice to anybody buying a house through auction: don't! Unless you have the cash behind you.

dt_matthews

totally agree about the financing and buying at auction, we should be ok getting the property (fingers crossed!) as we have a 10 day period post completion date but this will incur interest. i feel that Nationwide complete lack of communication, and, the fact that they kept coming back with spurious reasons not to lend has been totally unprofessional and unreasonable especially when it was spelt out to them that this was a case that had really specific contraints time-wise.

i dont need lectures or advice about how i *should* have done it, i know this approach wasnt 'advisable', i just wanted some opinions from anyone who might have had what they consider to be totally unreasonable responses from a lender and it cost them money and what they might/did about it?