Origin of the deposit

matt9713

There is nothing that contradicts the mortgage application as far as I can tell. The advisor asked me on the initial application over the phone where the deposit was coming from, who never mentioned it being a problem. I've said this to the solicitor, but as there is nothing in writing addressed to them, they are unwilling to proceed.

GDB2222 wrote: »

i suppose that it wouldn't help if I were to say that this is a great opportunity to pull out of the purchase and avoid losing a heap of money when prices drop much further, as they will?

Thought not!

BTW, I am bemused by your solicitor's views on this. I am truly surprised that he feels able to divulge this information to the lenders, let alone a duty to do so. Does what you told him contradict anything on the mortgage application form? As it currently stands, the deposit is in the form of a very soft loan. Would it help if it were converted to a simple gift and the declaration of trust torn up? There's nothing to stop you from honouring the spirit of the declaration of trust later on, without the document itself.

silvercar

I've got my own savings as well, my parents are fortunate enough to have very little financial commitments themselves and we're happy to give me the money. That gives me the stability to have my own savings tucked away for any decoration, and security that I won't have to borrow any money if anything should need replacing over the coming years.

Tell your solicitor that you've changed it round. That the deposit is coming from yourself and the parents money will be used for decoration of the house.

Then remind him who is the client.

matt9713

That might have to be my next option. They probably won't believe me, but on the same level they can't call me a liar. I'm really annoyed that they are trying to make this more drawn out than it needs to be. The quicker we can exchange, the quicker they can get their money! Surely it's in their best interests to get me out their hair as quick as possible!

Thanks for the advice.

silvercar wrote: »

Tell your solicitor that you've changed it round. That the deposit is coming from yourself and the parents money will be used for decoration of the house.

Then remind him who is the client.

Richard_Webster

Lenders don't usually get that worried about this kind of set up but the problem often is getting someone to write a confirmatory letter saying they know about it and they are not concerned. They may say on the phone it won't be a problem, but sometimes getting it in writing is the difficulty.

As to confidentiality, OP's alternative is that the solicitor refuses to act further for either him or the lender and doesn't tell the lender why! Not a lot of help to anyone.

GDB2222

Richard_Webster wrote: »

As to confidentiality, OP's alternative is that the solicitor refuses to act further for either him or the lender and doesn't tell the lender why! Not a lot of help to anyone.

Is the solicitor really in that sort of difficulty? I haven't filled in a mortgage application for such a long time. Are there questions on that about the source of the deposit? If not, why would a solicitor feel under any obligation to inform the lenders?

Purely hypothetically, what about alternative scenarios?
Borrower lets slip that he has a (spent/unspent) conviction for arson?
Borrower lets slip that he has occasionally dreamt of committing arson?
Borrower says he's not sure how secure his job is?

It must be very difficult for the borrower if he has to spend his time worrying about what he can/cannot talk to his own solicitor about.

Presumably, there's much case law on this?

matt9713

Richard_Webster wrote: »

Lenders don't usually get that worried about this kind of set up but the problem often is getting someone to write a confirmatory letter saying they know about it and they are not concerned. They may say on the phone it won't be a problem, but sometimes getting it in writing is the difficulty.

As to confidentiality, OP's alternative is that the solicitor refuses to act further for either him or the lender and doesn't tell the lender why! Not a lot of help to anyone.

This is exactly the problem. I went in to branch earlier and spoke with the branch manager about the situation, who agreed it's a bit of a farce. The mortgage centre will not send out such letters, and neither will branch. He said there is no reason whatsoever to question where the deposit is coming from, so there should be no need for the solicitor to demand it in writing. He did agree to fax a letter over on my behalf today to the solicitor giving confirmation.

So fingers crossed, the solicitors will get their wish later today and we can proceed with exchanging. I'm still fuming that I've had to go to all the trouble of chasing these things up when it's the solicitors reposnsiblity to do so (and the reason why they get paid by me to do it).

Thanks for the advice so far, hopefully I'll be in a position to come back on here and confirm that we've exchanged within a few days

Matt

dander

It sounds crazy to me, surely if your parents give you the money, it's then your money, just the same as anything you've saved or whatever.

Maybe the reason the HSBC are being slow is that they can't understand why the solictor is worrying about it either!

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Ah, my post crossed with yours - I see the above was the reason! :-)

inamess200

We are FTB any the deposit is coming from my Dad - he had to sign a letter saying it was a gift and wanted nothing in return (ie equity) this was for a non high street lender though.

silvercar

We paid our deposit from my company, we weren't asked for any evidence that it wasn't a repayable loan. I think solicitors can get bogged down in the detail and can't see the bigger picture.