Legal advice re: mortgage credit consolidation

Tangoed66

We are in the process of remortgaging and have qualified for free legal fees with our lender:T they have however told us to seek separate legal advice as we are borrowing extra in order to consolidate our credit card debt which is in my husbands name although I also have a secondary card. They have said that we need to have a document drawn up to state that I wish to have my husbands credit card debt transferred to out joint mortgage.

My question is do we really need to do this through a solicitor wouldn't a letter signed by us both and witnessed by a third party be sufficient for their needs and save us the hassle and cost?

Thanks in advance
Heather

Annisele

I suspect that the lender's issue is that your husband might have exerted "undue influence" over you to get you to agree to the borrowing (there's a bit about undue influence here). The lender will want to make sure that in ten years you can't say "but I just signed what my (now ex) husband told me to sign, I didn't understand what I was doing, so you can't enforce your charge against me".

If my guess is right, then the lender will want you (i.e. just you yourself) to have legal advice independent from your husband's advice. That way a solicitor can warn you what you're getting into, and it will be much harder for you to plead ignorance later.

Senior_Paper_Monitor

Annisele is 100% correct - its simply the lender covering its *rse in this growingly litigious society (see the daily press for the 'were you missold your mortgage' adverts and blame them) !

..... and if you want the mortage you have to do what they tell you.

Radiantsoul

Some banks used to accept a waiver, a letter waiver which was a letter whereby both parties would state they didn't really need independent legal advise. This failed to stand up in court and so this sort of thing is always going to require you visiting a solicitor.