Remortgaging - who adds up the numbers?

secretdancer

Currently going through our first remortgage process and what seemed to be going really well has suddenly come unstuck. The story goes like this,

Approached our current lender to get as accurate a redemption figure as we could knowing that this is likely to change a little due to interest and payments made because the remortgage process can take a while. Then approached mortgage broker (L&C) to find the best new mortgage. Agreed to go for a Halifax mortgage. Received and accepted a mortgage offer from the Halifax through L&C then started the legal work to wrap it all up.

Now this is where the problem now starts. Who is responsible for getting the exact redemption figure from our current lender and matching that with the exact new mortgage from the Halifax? Our solicitor is saying the Halifax but the solicitor is the one that receives the redemption statement?

As you can probably gather I'm a bit confused, but more annoyed as the solictor rang to say there is a shortfall of over £800 between the redepmtion figure and the amount Halifax are offering as a new mortgage. What's more annoying is that they want to complete in a couple of days, have had the redemption quote for nearly two weeks, but only called yesterday to say there was a problem.

So where does the blame lie - me for not requesting enough in the orginal conversation with L&C, L&C for not working out that there would be a shortfall due to interest payment, Halifax for not offering enough or solicitor for not working out the exact figures?

MortgageMamma

Have you spoken to L & C about this? as your brokers they are responsible for making sure everything is running smoothly. Get L & C to do the investigating and talking between Halifax soliciors and your existing lender. The service shouldnt just stop at the point of sale.

AndrewSmith

It is normal practice for the legal work to be underway before the final mortgage offer is produced. That way the solicitor will request your redemption figure in plenty of time for the new mortgage figures to be adjusted accordingly.

If you are using the lenders internal legal team then it should have been almost an automatic process, with a phone call to you to clarify the new mortgage amount if there were a shortfall.

As to where the fault lies?

Not with L&C as they only go on the figures they are given and have no way of knowing the exact redemption figure. They should chase the case and check it's progress but I would say the blame does not lie at their door.

Halifax? Possibly if it their legal team administering the remortgage for you, however they also only work on the original figures supplied.

Solicitor? Depends how far into the process he was instructed. If he was instructed at the beginning then yes he should have made you aware sooner of the redemption figure. If he was instructed after the mortgage offer was produced then it is, somewhat, your fault for waiting until then, and his fault for not telling you quickly.

Andy

secretdancer

Solicitor was instructed once we were happy with the mortgage product and before the actual mortgage offer. My feeling is it's down to them but they're denying it.

AndrewSmith

The Halifax are reasonably good at sorting out these type of problems.

Firstly ask the solicitor by how much exactly the new mortgage offer needs to be increased.

You then need to speak to the Completions Department of the Halifax and tell them of the shortfall. Tell them that the completion was set for a couple of days time and is it possible to fax a copy of the new mortgage offer to the solicitors asap with the amended figures on it.

As long as the increase of £800 doesn't put you outside lending limits or the criteria for the product they should be able to sort this out for you in a matter of a couple of days.

Andy

Gorgeous_George

Have you added up what the change of lender is costing?

Admin fee to close
Solicitor
Broker
Valuation
Arrangement fee
Your time

Do you save enough to justify these additional costs or are we just encouraging middlemen to take a cut and banks/building societies to employ additional admin staff?



GG

secretdancer

Just looking back through things - the solictors were instructed over a week before the final mortgage offer came through. They told me they automatically request a redemption statement on the day of instruction. This would cover them for a month which seems optimistic to me as the process takes longer usually.

Anyway, I would have thought that once they received the statement they would then go through the figures and work out if there was a shortfall, notify me and the halifax, then a finalised mortgage offer could be made


None of this was done and almost a month later, 3 days before expected completion I recieve a call saying there is a shortfall. Something's wrong somewhere.

So now having made additonal mortgage payments, interest has changed, they need to go back and request a new redemption statement (for which there is a charge) and work out if the current Halifax offer is enough to cover the redemption. It just all sounds like shoddy conveyancing to me. Not happy.

I agree that the fees are an important consideration, but I'm saving £100 a month by remortgaging, compared to £800 in fees. OK, so it takes me 8 months to reap the benefit, but at least there is a benefit. Something does need to be done about the rising fees lenders charge for all sorts of admin.