Mortgage Go-Slow

PontLad41

I am currently in the position of trying to buy a house. I have the deposit, I have found the house - it's a vacant possession that requires a lot of work to be done to it (Approx £20k). The mortgage company has, at every step of the way, sought to undermine my mortgage application. They have tried to find reasons based on my credit rating, they have deliberately undervalued the property post-refurbishment to the tune of between £10-24k, and now they are simply going as slowly as possible. They have refused to acknowledge my brokers e-mails, instead they will only deal with telephone conversations.

To date, the mortgage company has taken over 3 MONTHS to process this application. It has taken so long that the vendor is now about to walk away!!

Does anyone else have a similar experience and how have you managed to speed things up????

What if any leverage do I have with them?

Mrs_Bumble

Who is the lender? Some are notorisously slow at the moment because of good rates and some because of internal restructuring.

Lenders tend not to acknowledge emails from us brokers, all part of the game, so we harrass them in every other medium, fax, letter, telephone. General badgering on the telephone usually work!

Is your broker harrassing them by telephone? What is the most recent delay?

Afraid you don't have any leverage at all, just need perseverance! Nothing to stop you calling as well as the broker, 2 lots of harrassment.

Oh and the vendor might well be saying that they are about to walk away but dont forget that they are 3 months down the road with you, if the offer lands tomorrow could all be complete in the next few weeks, so not really worth walking away and starting the process all over again, especially as it sounds from what you have said that any applicant will probably have delays getting the app through because of the refurbishment works required.

brit1234

PontLad41 wrote: »

they have deliberately undervalued the property post-refurbishment to the tune of between £10-24k,

How do you know? Banks know prices are set to continue falling so they are protecting their investment, if you don't like it you can go else where?

We still have years of this house price crash to go.

Conrad

Pontlad - don't you watch the news?

You've heard the term 'credit crunch' I take it. You know we were on the very edge of total meltdown, soup kitchens etc, and that Banks lost trillions.

And you wonder why they are very cautious?

tek-monkey

Cos there is a very slim chance the taxpayer wont bail them out a second time?

PontLad41

Right, Taking all of your points one at a time:

1. Conrad, please don't patronise or use that tone - it's not very helpful or constructive is it?
2. The Lender is Halifax
3. I can prove that they have deliberately undervalued the house, as I had my own survey done - whilst I wouldn't expect the 2 surveys to be identical, I'd expect them to be on the same planet. It is also worth noting that where I am buying has not been subject to such great adjustments as elsewhere....
4. I know the vendor personally, and I also know that he has a cash buyer lined up
5. It is also worth noting that many estate agents are reporting similar problems with lenders using delay tactics

Conrad

I input 2 Halifax cases in the last 2 weeks and both are progressing quickly.

If you can prove the valuer to be mistaken - then go ahead.

Your 'own' surveyor will have a differnet remit to that of one valueing for a lender that is putting funds at risk.

PontLad41

I just have proved their surveyor to be hopelessly wrong - but this has now caused a further delay of yet another 3 weeks. This is the game that has been played by the Halifax since June, and they continue to do so. This is the point I am making.

I am now waiting to see what their next excuse will be.

I appreciate that both surveyors have a slightly different agenda, but I would expect their results to be at least on the same planet!!

ILW

Has it occured that they probably could not care less whether they get your business or not?

PontLad41

yes it has - so it would appear that I need them more than they need me.....

it's not a very accpetable way to behave tho is it....?

bmunky7

I am in a similar situation to PontLad41 with my mortgage app with the abbey having taken almost a month now and they haven't yet booked the valuation to be done. They also seem to be finding reasons to delay like not receiving documents, requiring more documents they hadn't asked for originally.

I appreciate that lenders are being more cautious but they should still be adhering to some sort of internal processes and service level.

The trouble as well is although you could go somewhere else they will have to start from scratch which may or may not take even longer.

Just keeping fingers crossed for the process to speed up soon.