Vendor EA want's contact details for my Mortgage....

the_hatter_2

Hi,

I'm a FTB, I've had an offer accepted and mortgage approved so things are well on their way now.

Anyway, the other day my GF had a call from the EA (she seems to get all the calls since she made the booking for the initial viewing) asking for contact details of our mortgage broker. Anyway, we have just gotten around to calling the back about this - we sat on it over the weekend since it felt like an unusual request! When querying why exactly they need these details the response was "so we can push everything along", firstly we applied directly for our mortgage and I don't know of many (any?) banks that will just hand out application details to anyone that calls about them.

So long story short she refused to pass on the details after explaining that the application was done directly with the bank and we don't have a single point of contact. She also informed the EA that any future requests like this should be handled directly with our Solicitor which the EA has the details for.

Did we handle this correctly? Is this request legitimate? We've felt that every EA we've seen has taken us for mugs as soon as we mention that we're FTBers though we have done as much research as we can and feel fairly well informed.

Just interested in thoughts/opinions on the EA's request really....

Thanks! :beer:

Ian_W

When you say mortgage "approved" do you mean you've had a mortgage offer on that particular property or an approval in principle to lend you £x? If it's the latter then the EA is simply trying to get some liaison going so they can verify ASAP that you have an actual offer from a lender.

Part of the EA's job, if they're any use at all, is to liaise with the various parties involved including lenders, brokers, solicitors, other EA's (if there's a chain), their client and you to ensure all progresses as smoothly as possible. Obviously it's very much in their interests that the sale goes through as they don't get paid if it doesn't.

You've made an offer but until your mortgage is agreed on that particular property the sale is still questionable - the earlier the can confirm the offer the quicker they can reassure the vendor that you are in a position to buy. The fact you went direct to the lender is your choice and whilst you may not have a single point of contact - they probably do. Nothing sinister or untoward that I can see.

the_hatter_2

When I say approved I mean I've been through a full application, sent of the require documents, had everything rubber stamped and paid for the arrangement fee & survey - just waiting for the survey to be done now. How approved is that?

Anyway, I'm still dubious that the EA should be contacting the Bank rather than my solicitor and I still suspect that due to Privacy laws the Bank would not actually provide the EA with any progress details - judging from the number of questions they ask when I phone up before they will talk to me I suspect the EA will fail at this point....

pawpurrs

At present you only have a mortage offer in principle, untill they have been out to the property and done the rest of the paperwork, you wont have a full offer.
A mortgage broker would normally talk to an EA but I doubt the bank will.
I would show the EA your mortgage offer in principle if you have one, that will ease their minds and those of the vendor slightly.

chickmug

It is normal for an EA to expect to be given such infrmation before even a sale is agreed and the confirmation paperwork issed. In my case I would of spoken to the broker to make sure that they were able to achieve your fiance for you.

If you had asked me to only deal with your solicitor (which was very rarely the case as solicitors do not like straying outside of their remit). I would of asked you to write to your solicitor, copy to me, giving authorisation to speak with me on such matters.

If you had shown this obstructive side to providing information I would of been well on my guard advising the seller we need to be very careful about your intentions and sometimes trying to find an alternative more cooperative buyer.

So there you go from the mouth of an agent so I think you need to chill and not look for conspiracy theories or get too hung up on the matter.

oldone_2

chickmug wrote: »

In my case I would of spoken to the broker to make sure that they were able to achieve your fiance for you.


If you had shown this obstructive side to providing information I would of been well on my guard advising the seller we need to be very careful about your intentions and sometimes trying to find an alternative more cooperative buyer.

The O.P does not have a broker, but have dealt direct with their bank.Are you saying you will only deal with purchasers who have arranged a mortgage through a broker.

If being carefull who they give their personal financial data to is being obstructive, then well done to them.

maninthestreet

chickmug wrote: »

It is normal for an EA to expect to be given such infrmation before even a sale is agreed and the confirmation paperwork issed. In my case I would of spoken to the broker to make sure that they were able to achieve your fiance for you.

If you had asked me to only deal with your solicitor (which was very rarely the case as solicitors do not like straying outside of their remit). I would of asked you to write to your solicitor, copy to me, giving authorisation to speak with me on such matters.

If you had shown this obstructive side to providing information I would of been well on my guard advising the seller we need to be very careful about your intentions and sometimes trying to find an alternative more cooperative buyer.

So there you go from the mouth of an agent so I think you need to chill and not look for conspiracy theories or get too hung up on the matter.

There is no mortgage broker involved.
No financial instiutuion is going to discuss someone else's financial details
with anybody that contacts them and starts asking questions about those details, including a mortgage application. So there is little point in asking for a contact at the bank, is there? The vendor and their agent can, quite rightly, expect the buyer to provide proof that they have some way of raising the funds for the purchase - an agreement in principle should suffice at this stage of the property purchase.

the_hatter_2

I'm not trying to be obtrusive! I just have a natural fear of handing out details without a good reason, I worked for a computer security firm for several years and it's made me paranoid about ever giving out details that could be used for something naughty....

Anyway, I'm very happy to provide proof of the offer etc to the EA or Vendor if they need something to ease their concurns or allow them to proceed with their house purchase.

Welshwoofs

the_hatter - I'd expect what they're after is proof that you have an offer. Unfortunately, as you'll see from another thread on this board, mortgages can fall through even after exchange of contracts and if that happens - and your vendor was also due to complete on a purchase - it leaves everyone in an incredably nasty situation.

Rather than obstruct (which will most likely be interpreted in a suspicious way), I'd offer up all the proof/paperwork you have on this mortgage to put their minds at rest.

the_hatter_2

Welshwoofs wrote: »

the_hatter - I'd expect what they're after is proof that you have an offer. Unfortunately, as you'll see from another thread on this board, mortgages can fall through even after exchange of contracts and if that happens - and your vendor was also due to complete on a purchase - it leaves everyone in an incredably nasty situation.

Rather than obstruct (which will most likely be interpreted in a suspicious way), I'd offer up all the proof/paperwork you have on this mortgage to put their minds at rest.

I totally understand, I've been reading your thread with interest, disgust and shock at how some people can behave! I really feel for you!

I'll go to the Agents at the weekend with all the stuff from my Bank on Saturday (the agent we deal with is off this week anyway), maybe some face time with the agents would be better allowing them to explain in more detail what they need and why

Soot2006

Ditto previous comments - EA probably just wants the confidence that you're in a position to proceed. Our EA was very jumpy about us (we're also FTB) and seemed to constantly want reassurance that everything was OK on our side.
We later found out that the sale of this house was very emotional for the vendors and they were terrified of things becoming even harder if we changed our mind, got held up in the process, etc, but at the time is felt like we were being scrutinised a la Big Brother!