How do mortgage lenders know you have a mortgage??

wadaw

Hello,

This may seem a slightly odd question, but...

I have a joint mortgage with another family member, which is currently nearing completion. During the progression of this mortgage application, we made enquiries regarding a BTL and applied for another mortgage (which we did not proceed with). Within a couple of days of having applied for mortgage number 2, I received a letter from the first lender stating that I had applied for another mortgage and they needed proof that it was for BTL or that the 2nd mortagage application had been cancelled before they would continue - how did they know this?

Any thoughts are appreciated.

stanmoresaver

Lenders, like insurers, share information, your declaration on the application approves them to do this- also be aware that many seemingly unrelated lenders are owned by the same parent company and are gradually merging systems etc.

(to demonstrate this- Bank of Scotland. Halifax, IF, BM Sols and TMB are all owned by the same company)

HTH

SS

TangentMan

Lenders also share information on mortgage applications (routinely) on the look out for fraud.

Several lenders pool mortgage application data with a third party. The third party churns through it looking for patterns of behaviour which are then spit out in reports back to the lenders.

Then the lenders have a rummage and perhaps, as this one appears to have done, write to the applicant with some questions.

Also remember that, as a rule, lenders want to be the first charge on the property, if they discover another charge is pending then that might raise a question.