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Lender having second thoughts...?

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Hi Folks,

Myself and my girlfirend are currently in the process of buying a property. All seemed to be going well - survey completed and valuation is fine, solicitors seem to be on top of things.

However today we received a letter from our mortgage lender asking for the following:

Last 3 payslips from my girlfriend and "reasons why she had missed some payments on her credit commitments".

I have an excellent credit history, but hers is not as good. We were aware of this and over the last two years have worked hard to ensure no other black marks would appear on her credit report. When we originally applied for the mortgage we were careful to ensure we paid no fees until credit check was done. However, we have now spent around £1000 on surveys, mortgage application fees, searches, etc, and are now concerned the lender will refuse to proceed with the mortgage.

We called them this evening and asked them to be more specific re: which card/account they are referring to, but they said the would not provide this information. So I've sat down tonight and gone through her Experian credit repoprt. There are a couple of months she went over her credit card limit within the last 12 months. Apart from this, all other missed payments are from over 2 years ago and most of those accounts are now marked as settled or have a £0 outstanding balance.

Are we right to worry about this letter, or is it just another hoop we have to jump through? In addition, some of these missed payments of from several years ago before I met her. She says she can't remember why she missed the payment. What is she supposed to say?

I am thinking if they had decided to reject our application, the letter would have send this rather than requesting further information. Or am I just in denial?

Many thanks.

Comments

  • Anyone with advice?
  • barnaby-bear
    barnaby-bear Posts: 4,142 Forumite
    HairyBear wrote: »
    Anyone with advice?

    Muppet head Mrs B-B didn't have automatic DD set up for her CC min. payement and got sent overseas with 3 hrs notice and missed a payment, then did the same a year later (GRR!) - 3 yrs later on remortgage got letter asking for full written explanation of late payment records.... these were small amounts (£5), letter very formal, mortgage deal was great (last year 0.49%+BOE), worried any excuse not to lend, were thanked for honesty and given mortgage - was told it helped we had checked credit record and provided dates and explanation for each and every example - as it went to underwriter and personal decision (very good deal in throws of being closed).
  • Ian_W
    Ian_W Posts: 3,778 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic
    Or am I just in denial?
    Hope not, but quite possibly you are.

    They wouldn't be asking the questions unless the answers might influence their underwriting decision on whether to lend you the dosh or not, IMO.

    Lenders are reported generally to be tightening up on lending criteria but I was recently told by an EA that many/most lenders now underwrite the borrowers before they expend money on things like surveys. Apparently they have been criticised for not "treating customers fairly" (an FSA requirement) by allowing costly items like surveys to go ahead for punters who clearly would be rejected.

    Obviously you need to respond with the payslips and an answer. They haven't asked about the recent indescretions so I'd ignore them and explain that you weren't together when GF missed those payments and that she is now much more disciplined financially now you're together. I'd also express mild surprise that they are enquiring AFTER you've expended money on these items given the FSA requirement to TCF, I wouldn't go OTT but probably worth a mention.

    Best of luck.
  • lemonslap
    lemonslap Posts: 72 Forumite
    HairyBear wrote: »
    Hi Folks,

    Myself and my girlfirend are currently in the process of buying a property. All seemed to be going well - survey completed and valuation is fine, solicitors seem to be on top of things.

    However today we received a letter from our mortgage lender asking for the following:

    Last 3 payslips from my girlfriend and "reasons why she had missed some payments on her credit commitments".

    I have an excellent credit history, but hers is not as good. We were aware of this and over the last two years have worked hard to ensure no other black marks would appear on her credit report. When we originally applied for the mortgage we were careful to ensure we paid no fees until credit check was done. However, we have now spent around £1000 on surveys, mortgage application fees, searches, etc, and are now concerned the lender will refuse to proceed with the mortgage.

    We called them this evening and asked them to be more specific re: which card/account they are referring to, but they said the would not provide this information. So I've sat down tonight and gone through her Experian credit repoprt. There are a couple of months she went over her credit card limit within the last 12 months. Apart from this, all other missed payments are from over 2 years ago and most of those accounts are now marked as settled or have a £0 outstanding balance.

    Are we right to worry about this letter, or is it just another hoop we have to jump through? In addition, some of these missed payments of from several years ago before I met her. She says she can't remember why she missed the payment. What is she supposed to say?

    I am thinking if they had decided to reject our application, the letter would have send this rather than requesting further information. Or am I just in denial?

    Many thanks.

    They do this sort of thing! This is what we went through: My payslips are printed on A4 paper so they needed bank statements then my wife is on maternity leave so they needed written prove from her company saying she will return on a given date however the mortgage company wouldn't write to them for it! then they needed more payslips from her it delayed things by about 3 weeks (vendor got twitchy because the survey hadn't been done) we did get accepted though so hang in there i'm sure all will be fine
  • DVardysShadow
    DVardysShadow Posts: 18,949 Forumite
    HairyBear wrote: »
    Hi Folks,

    Myself and my girlfirend are currently in the process of buying a property. All seemed to be going well - survey completed and valuation is fine, solicitors seem to be on top of things.

    However today we received a letter from our mortgage lender asking for the following:

    Last 3 payslips from my girlfriend and "reasons why she had missed some payments on her credit commitments".


    I have an excellent credit history, but hers is not as good. We were aware of this and over the last two years have worked hard to ensure no other black marks would appear on her credit report. When we originally applied for the mortgage we were careful to ensure we paid no fees until credit check was done. However, we have now spent around £1000 on surveys, mortgage application fees, searches, etc, and are now concerned the lender will refuse to proceed with the mortgage.

    We called them this evening and asked them to be more specific re: which card/account they are referring to, but they said the would not provide this information. So I've sat down tonight and gone through her Experian credit repoprt. There are a couple of months she went over her credit card limit within the last 12 months. Apart from this, all other missed payments are from over 2 years ago and most of those accounts are now marked as settled or have a £0 outstanding balance.

    Are we right to worry about this letter, or is it just another hoop we have to jump through? In addition, some of these missed payments of from several years ago before I met her. She says she can't remember why she missed the payment. What is she supposed to say?

    I am thinking if they had decided to reject our application, the letter would have send this rather than requesting further information. Or am I just in denial?

    Many thanks.
    It looks to me good news that they are asking rather than rejecting - and the fact that they are not telling you what the problems are is actually your opportunity to 'fess up to them the scale of the problem, so they can see whether you are transparent about what has happened. That is to say it is more important to be honest about what went wrong than to provide a list of excuses for the things they tell you about.
    Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam
  • HairyBear_2
    HairyBear_2 Posts: 10 Forumite
    edited 27 July 2009 at 1:45PM
    Just to update the thread should anyone else encounter a similar situation.

    I called the lender last weekend and was totally honest and explained all missing payments going back 7 years including those for accounts that had been settled and closed.

    The lender called me on thursday to say our application had been successful, and today we finally received our formal mortgage offer through the post. What a relief!

    Thanks to those who offered advice.
  • Soot2006
    Soot2006 Posts: 2,184 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Yay, congratulations!
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