Mortgage Advice gone wrong Can i claim? - Countrywide

hands2bfree

I have found myself in the following situation and have made the following complain to country wide:

• [FONT=&quot]A clear description of your complaint[/FONT]

It was recommended by the estate agents at Bairstow Eves to seek advice from FA on how much we could afford to borrow when looking for a house.
We made an appointment with her and we went through the finances to establish the costs and what we could afford (That was in May, I think)
We went through our out goings; which included the loan for £15000 @ £230/ month.
At no time did FA question about this loan and or what was the security being used for this, we presumed as she was the financial expert she would have advised on the consequences of this and how it would affect our calculation for the new mortgage. As a Financial Advisor we trusted her to give us correct advice.
(The loan was secured against our property as a second charge.)
On FA’s advice we were told that we could obtain a mortgage by the following sums:
£110000 – price of sold house
£80000 – outstanding mortgage
£30000 – left over
So...
£5000 – fees
Leaving £25000 as a 15% deposit
This meant we could look at houses priced at an approx of about £166000.
We found a house priced at £162500 and had the offer accepted.
The chain was complete and the process of exchange started. (Mid June)

It wasn’t till our Solicitor informed us, that the loan we had was secured on the property. (Mid August)
The mortgage that FA was arranging FA was with NatWest and they have a LTV policy of 95%.
The loan company, which we had the £15,000 with, have a LTV policy of 90%. It was then that we were then informed that unless we could pay up £10000 we would not be able to proceed with the move.
We had no spare money as the advice that FA had given included that we to use some of our equity for the fees, now we are out by £15000!
Please bear in mind that at this time the rest of the chain was ready to exchange!
SO it was some two months later were finding out this information. I would stress that if we had been given the correct advice we would have looked for a house that we could have afforded within our budget.
Now we were put in a position where we would have to pull out of the sale, we had paid HIPS, some solicitor’s fees, and taken credit hits leading up to this move.
We were looking at losing several thousands of pounds, not only that but the time we have lost too, and in this housing market time is money lost on the house value.
Also consider the other members in the chain who would be at a financial loss.

I know moving house is a stressful time, so it doesn’t need unnecessary aggravation that comes from bad and unprofessional advice from the financial advisors to add to the situation, they should help not hinder the process.

My wife and I have had to take time off work because of the stress that this has caused. The unnecessary pressure as a result has cost us. I personally have broken out in Psoriasis over this.

On the 22nd of September I had to contact FA about pulling out due to the afore mentioned situation.
When I notified the Agent about my position and that I would have to pull out of the sale he came back to me to advise that the seller of NEW HOUSE was willing to drop the house price by £10000.

Here again with advice from FA , it seemed that we could now proceed, I should have learnt from my first mistake!
It wasn’t till several phone calls later with her that although the property value had dropped.
The LTV % was still a criteria.
£152000 new house price
£130000 new mortgage
£30000 left over from sale of house
So...
£22000 deposit
£8000 left to pay the part of the loan, which would decrease the LTV to 90%.

Another example of incorrect advice and direction

Now this left me with the problem I have now. I have no money for fees!
So I could pull out and still have to pay fees or I could continue and gain the house I want, and have waited for and still pay fees.
Granted Bairstow Eves is a fee, of no sell no pay.
But I still have solicitor fees and the fees I have already paid to consider.

I also asked if the mortgage could be amended to include the fees, but FA was unwilling to go with this and said to do that would mean a new application. Whereas lowering the mortgage was just a straight forward amendment. I thought an amendment was just an amendment??
I have to wonder whether FA was unwilling to produce another amendment because she had made a few mistakes already. At this stage we did know that the FA’s Regional manager was aware of the situation.

So we have decided to proceed.

I have requested the estate agents, through FA, to reduce their fee or fore-go it, due to the mis-conduct in the advice that has been provided but this has been ignored. I was somewhat annoyed and dismayed at the ‘cavalier’ attitude when the as the estate agent put it “all is fair in love and war”?!?!

Can you imagine how that made my wife and I feel?! Not only stressed due to your employees bad advice but now we have the lack of professional courtesy to help a customer out in this situation which by all accounts I feel we have been forced into by your selves.

I know Countrywide can’t legally advise beyond 90% LTV and I appreciate that, but if that was the case that FA couldn’t advise then why did she not suggest going for a lower mortgage. I have to ask whether your company was just desperate for a sale or whether it was just someone who was not qualified to give us the advice we needed.

But extremely costly mistake, that has cost me £8000 loan and £5000 fees!!
Plus the extreme emotional stress and illness!

• [FONT=&quot]Details of what you would like to be put right[/FONT]

After you have read my details I would like you to consider what you would do to put right the situation?
I believe a compensation to cover the fees incurred of £5000.
And a monetary value to cover the stress incurred and days off ill at work.

Also maybe some training for FA, so that this mistake is not repeated and no further emotional or monetary harm is done to anymore of your customers?

I am not one who normally complains. I usually try to see things from other people’s perspective. But we are talking a lot of money here. Not only mine, but other people, which was put at risk.
Now I’m paying for that mistake.

My solicitor suggested I complain to you, that the Mortgage advisor was at fault.
The rest of the solicitors in the housing chain have pointed to FA as the hold up in this procedure.
NatWest mortgages suggested I complain to you, that the Mortgage advisor was at fault.
My father Managing Director of a large Residential Developer, who deals with the selling and buying of homes, even suggested going to the FSA and filing for misconduct with the Ombudsman. Do I need to do this?
Even the Estate agents at Bairstow Eves said that this would not have happened if FA had done her job properly.

The bottom line is:
Why should I be paying for your financial advisor’s mistake?

Regards

THANKS FOR READING, ANY ADVICE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED ON WHAT TO DO NEXT???

_Andy_

Can you summarise this rather than pasting the entire letter?
It's quite lengthy at the moment.

_Andy_

If I'm reading this right, you had a loan which the adviser took into account, but you didn't tell them it was secured (surely you must have known this as you would've signed a loan agreement to that effect).
Why do you feel this was the adviser's fault?

Cannon_Fodder

hands2bfree wrote: »

It wasn’t till our Solicitor informed us, that the loan we had was secured on the property. (Mid August)

You didn't inform the FA of all the facts.

What they did to try and correct things after that become apparent might have exacerbated the situation, but you are the one who took out the second loan. You should have said "its a secured loan".

Or, if you didn't know that, how was the FA supposed to know that?

Don't quite understand why the second loan wasn't the one paid off, so the 95% mortgage can proceed, but hey, its easy with hindsight.

Re "and in this housing market time is money lost on the house value." - you might find a similar house for less, now...it might have done you a favour.

You are asking for less than £10k "recompense", but the price drop offered is for £10k and you still cannot make the maths work..??

Yes, you may have had bad advice, but no made you follow it, get to another, independant broker, and get it done right, if you want this house.

betmunch

This is a tough one.

I feel the advisor has not asked about the secured status of the loan and has likely treated it as unsecured, because of this you were unable to buy the first house.

If you had stopped here and then complained to Countrywide asking for any fees you paid out after taking advice from the Mortgage Consultant then you would have had a strong case.

However, you then went after a cheaper house which you were able to buy.

I think it is likey you will encounter the stance of, if you didnt want to pay the fees you shouldnt have moved. The sale was on a no move no fee basis. If you used the Countrywide solicitors they would have offered the same. The only fees you would have acrued would be the HIP and Valuation on the property you bought.

As you went through with the sale and purchase you needed the HIP, and you needed the Valuation so no claim on wither of those fees. Also going through with the sale and purchase will be considered that you were happy with everything.

I think you will be lucky to get anything out of this as you went ahead with a purchase

6am

hands2bfree wrote: »

On the 22nd of September I had to contact FA about pulling out due to the afore mentioned situation.
When I notified the Agent about my position and that I would have to pull out of the sale he came back to me to advise that the seller of NEW HOUSE was willing to drop the house price by £10000.

Why is the value of house dropped from 162000 to 152000? The way I see it the house value is still 162000 (confirmed by valuation I guess), but the seller is prepared to sell it below its value for 152000. So basically the seller gave you 10000 you needed.

magpiecottage

Sorry to appear rude but you say that until your solicitor told you, you didn't even know you had taken a second mortgage over your home.

That is your fault, not your mortgage adviser's. Even if she could have read your minds it would not have helped.

I think you will do better to put this down to experience.