Buyers "fudging" figures

Sandra2

Hi all,
I would appreciate some advice/opinions on my situation.
We have sold to a married couple only when the contracts came through only Mr was listed as buying the property. We questioned our EA and solicitor and have done some investigations ourselves as they both have publically funded jobs. We have discovered that they are "fudging" (to quote the EA) things in order to purchase and been told that if we want to make a fuss then it is up to us but the mortgage has been approved and the housing association who are funding their deposit are aware and are okay with it. This is somewhat smaller than the MP expenses scam I realise but morally we feel uncomfortable that they are taking money from other FTBers who may not have got the funding from the homebuy scheme and a bit disturbed that this seems to be okay practice. It appears that although normally you have to purchase together on a homebuy scheme and have a joint income of less than £60k they have managed to get around this. Our solicitor described it as like self-employed people who have one set of figures for the tax man and one for the mortgage broker. Would others simply ignore the dodgy dealings and take the purchase or not? I would be interested to hear views! Cheers

silvercar

Take the purchase.

G_M

This is where the credit crunch came from. Fiddled figures, lax morals, loose rules, poor enforcement.

If you're comfortable with this, sell. If not, whistleblow.

Doozergirl

It's not my business how they fund it as long as they have the money. I can't say I've ever known anything in depth about how the purchase is being funded, nor would I bat an eyelid if the contract were in someone elses name altogether - it doesn't concern me.

northerner79

Don't worry about this! If there was no fudging they may not be buying your property!!

CluelessJock

and if they don't buy yours they will buy someone elses!

If it bothers you so much blow the whistle when the deal is done.

poppysarah

Get a newspaper editor to tell you what evidence you need of the fudge to get a big cash reward for dropping them in it after you've sold.

Nenen

Doozergirl wrote: »

It's not my business how they fund it as long as they have the money. I can't say I've ever known anything in depth about how the purchase is being funded, nor would I bat an eyelid if the contract were in someone elses name altogether - it doesn't concern me.

So sorry to interrupt thread but I've sent you an urgent pm DG. Apologies to OP

Sandra2

Thanks for the feedback - it is a rather uncomfortable position to be in - they are now asking if they should book the survey or not so it appears they are nervous about things which would suggest that if they are not being entirely honest about earnings then more things may be uncovered. It would be awful to break the rest of the chain though...what a dilemma!

superfran_uk

Sandra2 wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback - it is a rather uncomfortable position to be in - they are now asking if they should book the survey or not so it appears they are nervous about things which would suggest that if they are not being entirely honest about earnings then more things may be uncovered. It would be awful to break the rest of the chain though...what a dilemma!

Their pay slips etc will all have to be submitted, and possibly their bank statements too. If the world were fair (and they weren't your buyers) everything would fall down around them when they had already paid for surveys etc and they would get a black mark for ever trying the scam- but things aren't like that in reality.

I would say 'go ahead' but keep your house on the market and open to viewings. We are going through a similar scheme (but were honest!) and our house was on the market the whole time - we complete next week.