Mortgage Advisor ? He he a Rogue?

melanieK80

i need advice.
Went to see an Independant Mortgage advisor, who seems to have got a good deal. He arranged for a mortgage in principle and we asked when does he need solicitors details.
He said dont worry, we will talk next week and he will get some quotes. We had someone in mind who quoted us£574.00 all in (not VAT registered)

We called the MA a few days later telling him we had a quote and would like to that solicitor. He said, Im just waiting on quotes, dont do anything till i see you again.
Concerned that we should have appointed a solicitor, we called again 2 days later, and he asked us to send him the quote, which we faxed straight away. We text again the next day and expressed our concerns, to which he rang and said "I've sorted things, but I know her. I needed to put a solicitor down on the application".
We were a little annoyed that he was able to appoint someone without our written permission.

Anyway after that he became busy so i resorted to email, chasing the quote and asking for details.
He replied " She will be sending quote through soon, but it would be same" (I thought he meant she matched the quote")

Next day my husband rang asking for quote, to which he said i can discuss things now, Im busy, but she will be about same plus VAT.

That was Friday so I sent an email that night and said
Hi ***,
Sorry to trouble you, I know you're busy so I thought I'd better e-mail you with my querys.
1. EstateAgent still haven't heard anything with regards to a valuation on the property, I will pass your number to them, but I would also like to know roughly how long it will be before they go out too.
2. Also, could you ask your solicitor to send me a written quote through for my records or if you could let me know her contact details, just so I can start budgeting for things.
3. Will be any more fees that we need to pay up till completion?
4. What details do you need with regards to our Buildings Insurance, and when, or is this something I need to pass on to the solicitor.

He replied:
***
Spoken to Agents today and updated them,, all ok now
My solicitor will be sending quotes
Only solicitors fee and my ?100 on completion

Eventually after I sent another email that day he sent
Solicitor is **** solicitors, (quote includes my ?100 fee for doing the mortgage)
Who is your buildings and contents insurer and what is their quote ?

I immediately called his solicitor and had her fax quote...."£821.30" nowhere near same price as £574.
Now I was worried so
I replied:

let me know when you get some quotes, if its more than my quote I will stick with my insurers.

I have got the quote from Conveyancing. £821.30, and you said the quote is including your fee?

If not, thats considerably more than my quote of £574 plus your fee. Will I recieve the £250 mortgage cashback as per Key Facts too?
I have spoke with EAgents and she will ring you tomorrow if she still hasn't heard anything.

That was today, now he sent me...
ok fine
do you want me to change solicitors ? .... i am just worried that when the re credit score to change solicitors it could kick the case out completely.
..... Is this true? I switch solicitors and they have to re credit score me? I feel like he has backed us into a corner. Im worried he will force expensive insurance on us, and pocket our cash back.

He has been so vague, brushes past our question, appointed an expensive solicitor without asking. And now we have been asking direct questions, he's getting snappy. If he had been open and honest from start I wouldn't be hassling him.

This is going to cost us double what we anticipated and we just cant afford to spend £250 extra on solicitors that we didnt want.

Can I do anything without it affecting our house purchase, or do I wait till its over then try complaining. Im not sure what to say to his last reply.

melanieK80

Apologies for it being long winded. Just to add, its been 3 and half weeks since offer was accepted, valuation office still not called estate agents.

devotee

Get a new broker?

Changing solicitors won't affect your credit score. Have you actually found a property? AFAIK once you find the property and the application is made to the lender they then do a credit score and your solicitor's details are required.

devotee

Sorry cross posted.
Well is the bank happy to lend the money to you? If they are they will arrange the survey and normally they don't take that long. Them agreeing to lend you takes longer.

Yorkie1

Can I suggest that you edit out the names / references in the thread as they aren't relevant to the point you're trying to ask about?

melanieK80

devotee wrote: »

Get a new broker?

Changing solicitors won't affect your credit score. Have you actually found a property? AFAIK once you find the property and the application is made to the lender they then do a credit score and your solicitor's details are required.

They already did the credit score with the mortgage in principal. I think he means the bank will re check my score if I appoint my own choice of solicitor, and if i do that, my mortgage app might collapse.

We found the property and had the offer accepted, but Im worried he will make it difficult for the mortgage app to continue, plus we already paid mortgage booking fee and valuation fee to him.

melanieK80

Yorkie1 wrote: »

Can I suggest that you edit out the names / references in the thread as they aren't relevant to the point you're trying to ask about?

Sorry thought I had edited them all out!

devotee

He won't get his fee from the bank if the application does not go through.
I still don't get it how appointing a new solicitor will affect your credit score, your affordability has not changed. Well you wanted to spend x amount for the solicitor and he went ahead to appoint someone else who is more expensive, so if he wants to keep the deal he should cover the difference, otherwise if he's covered by a regulating body you can report him.
And why hasn't the mortgage survey been arranged?

melanieK80

devotee wrote: »

He won't get his fee from the bank if the application does not go through.
I still don't get it how appointing a new solicitor will affect your credit score, your affordability has not changed. Well you wanted to spend x amount for the solicitor and he went ahead to appoint someone else who is more expensive, so if he wants to keep the deal he should cover the difference, otherwise if he's covered by a regulating body you can report him.
And why hasn't the mortgage survey been arranged?

Me neither, I thought it may have been a scare tactic but didnt know for sure. He is covered by FSA, but as far as i can see has a clean record.

So if i contact my solicitor and tell him what has happened, he would be able to take over the communication with the MA without it costing me, maybe.

The application was submitted on 15th July, he told my estate agent he was waiting for paperwork from me, which i had sent him 3 times via fax over a week. So not sure what happened. He told the EAgents they would here from VOffice by Today, but nothing as yet.

SouthCoast

Are the firms of solicitors actually on the mortgage lenders panel?

timmyt

never allow a mortgage adviser to get you a quote, take a name and call them yourself. sounds dodgy so go elswehere