Santander trying to enforce Change of Borrower

mrfracas

Hi,

My father passed away in May, and I've since had to deal with few creditors and lenders, thanks to his sensibility with his finances. Unfortunately, the most relentless has to be Santander, because there is an outstanding balance on my father's property.

I am the only beneficiary and sole executor of my father's estate, and I intend to retain the house that he left behind. However, my circumstances may mean that I am unable to have the deeds and equity transferred into my name.

There is more loan to value on the property - it is about 58% paid. And there is a little more than 5x the monthly payment in the savings account associated with that mortgage, indicating that my father was paying more than the monthly agreed repayments.

Since he passed away, I've been paying towards the mortgage, but not the full payment, because I cannot afford it. I have informed them of my movements surrounding obtaining probate; and after 3 months I had received grant of probate, and asked them to advise me how to proceed with the transfer of deeds and equity. They suggested that I arrange a meeting at a branch.

I visited what would've been my father's local branch for advice on the transfer. I was informed that I need to pay for a solicitor, and that I need to pay £140 administration fee to complete a Change of Borrower application. Unfortunately, until this all happens, they cannot confirm whether or not I will be successful, because of several things that may count against me:

• I do not live at the property.
• I am not registered on the electoral roll at the property.
• I rent and work in another county, where I am also registered on the electoral roll.
• The income from my employment may not be enough.
• My mother is living in the property, and she pays me rent; which I pay towards the mortgage, however I'm uncertain if this can be counted as income.
• I have an acceptable credit rating, but this will obviously be taken into account.

These were the points that were raised in my meeting.

In addition to these points, I cannot afford to pay for a solicitor at present; and I am seeking help from a financial advisor. I aim to make my circumstances acceptable enough for Santander to agree to the change of borrower; otherwise, I will have wasted a lot of money on a solicitor, as well as £140 in administration fees.

The member of the branch, with whom I had a meeting, spoke with someone over the phone, who advised that it was acceptable to continue paying towards the mortgage in the interim. Up to this point, I had been paying by cheque; so I decided to contact one of Santander's numbers, and after being passed around the houses, I ended up speaking to someone who was liaising with the 'Underpayments Team', following my concerns that I was not going to be able to meet the agreed monthly payments. This gentleman said that it was ok for me to do this, and to set up a standing order directly to the account - the difference would be paid out of the savings, calculating around 10 months for me to make arrangements for the change of borrower application.

I received a letter from Santander yesterday, requesting that I tell them 'whether the loan is to be paid back in full or transferred to the beneficiaries'. The letter goes on to repeat what I've already discussed; 'contact [my] local branch to discuss and fill in a Change of Borrower application'; and that 'if the property is to be transferred to the beneficiary, the mortgage must be transferred as well'. To coincide with this, I made my first standing order payment in October; but I have checked my account this morning to find the payment has been transferred back into my account.

I'm worried because I feel like everything that's been discussed since my father's death has been completely ignored; and I'm concerned that I will lose the property.

I am going to visit a Santander branch today; I will also visit my buidling society and asked them how they could help; I will also try to arrange a meeting with Citizens Advice Bureau.

Has anybody got any advice?

Many Thanks

EDIT: I forgot to mention that there is only 4 years left on the existing mortgage to pay the loan, which is why the monthly repayments are so high. If it was over a more realistic period then there would be no problem with paying the repayments, as even for a 10-15 year mortgage the payments would not exceed £400.00 per month.

KarenBB

Only a little information from me. The standing order may have been returned if you didn't put all of the details on the standing order, I pay nationwide and have to put a sort code, an account numbr and then for reference my mortgage account number. Without the account number as referernce the standing order would be rejected by the computer as it wouldn't know where to put the money. That bit might not be anything to worry about, just check the details.

Can't help with the rest of the query, good luck

Leon_W

Firstly, sorry for your loss, I know how that feels.

The following might not be what you want to hear but I'll be honest with you how I see it.

1. Did your father not have any life cover to protect the mortgage ? This would have totally prevented you current situation.

2. You say your mother lives there. Was she not a party to the mortgage ? If she was, although not an ideal solution, as long as the mortgage payments were made she could have continued with the mortgage.

I am presuming that your mother wasn't a party to the mortgage and there was no life cover for the following ............ here you have to look at things from Santanders point of view.........

They are not receiving the full mortgage payment and the account is in arrears which is a situation that cannot continue. Therefore the options are either sell the property to repay the loan or transfer the mortgage to someone else. As you have stated it appears that you are not in a position to take over the mortgage as you cannot afford it this does not seem like an option.

Santander CAN'T transfer the mortgage to you even if they wanted to as it seems to be clear that it is unaffordable to you. For any mortgage lender to advance you money it HAS to be affordable otherwise the FSA would be all over them like a rash.

I wish you luck but if my assumptions are correct then the only option is to sell the property.

silvercar

Firstly, sorry for your loss.

In probate situations you should expect to be dealt with sympathetically, many banks have separate departments handling this.

That said the bottom line is that money is owed. The options seems to be transferring the mortgage to you or you taking a mortgage with a different lender and repaying Santander. There is certainly no reason why you, being younger, couldn't take a mortgage over a longer term to reduce monthly payments.

If you stick with Santander they may be more relaxed over you meeting their mortgage criteria than they would for a new applicant.

If you go elsewhere then you not living in the property and renting to a relative makes it slightly tricky. Some lenders won't allow BTL mortgages where the tenant is a relative, then again some lenders would allow you a residential mortgage where the occupier is a close relative.

mrfracas

Leon_W wrote: »

1. Did your father not have any life cover to protect the mortgage ? This would have totally prevented you current situation.

Unfortunately, he did not.

Leon_W wrote: »

2. You say your mother lives there. Was she not a party to the mortgage ? If she was, although not an ideal solution, as long as the mortgage payments were made she could have continued with the mortgage.

No, my parents divorced a long time ago; and my mother had been living nearby. I am the only beneficiary. My mother moved into the property because that was what she had planned to happen with my father, once her tenancy at the previous property came to an end.

Leon_W wrote: »

They are not receiving the full mortgage payment and the account is in arrears which is a situation that cannot continue. Therefore the options are either sell the property to repay the loan or transfer the mortgage to someone else. As you have stated it appears that you are not in a position to take over the mortgage as you cannot afford it this does not seem like an option.

Santander CAN'T transfer the mortgage to you even if they wanted to as it seems to be clear that it is unaffordable to you. For any mortgage lender to advance you money it HAS to be affordable otherwise the FSA would be all over them like a rash.

They are not advancing money to the account. It's a flexible mortgage; so they were putting my father's overpayments into a savings account. They have been making up the difference with the savings; so at present there are no arrears.

If I am successful in the Change of Borrower application, then I can alter the repayments so that it is over a longer term; I have confirmed this with Santander. This will mean that I will be able to make affordable repayments.

Nevertheless, thank you for your advice.

mrfracas

silvercar wrote: »

In probate situations you should expect to be dealt with sympathetically, many banks have separate departments handling this.

Well, there's only so much compassion that they can provide; but thank you for pointing that out.

silvercar wrote: »

If you go elsewhere then you not living in the property and renting to a relative makes it slightly tricky. Some lenders won't allow BTL mortgages where the tenant is a relative, then again some lenders would allow you a residential mortgage where the occupier is a close relative.

I know that Santander no longer offer Buy-to-Let Mortgages.

All I need to know is what I need to change to make my Change of Borrower application successful. So if someone can advise this, I would be very grateful.

Thank you

Thrugelmir

mrfracas wrote: »

All I need to know is what I need to change to make my Change of Borrower application successful. So if someone can advise this, I would be very grateful.

Thank you

In your opening post you cite plenty of hurdles that would hinder you in your quest when it comes to underwriting the mortgage application.

mrfracas

Thrugelmir wrote: »

In your opening post you cite plenty of hurdles that would hinder you in your quest when it comes to underwriting the mortgage application.

Thank you, Thrugelmir. I presume you're suggesting that it's pretty clear that these are the things I need to alter in order to be successful.

Unfortunately, it is not easy to change everything. But I assume that there are things that I can change.

At present, moving into the property, or even into the same town or county is not an option.

Thank you all for your comments. If anyone has any further advice, then I would really appreciate it.

mrfracas

KarenBB wrote: »

Only a little information from me. The standing order may have been returned if you didn't put all of the details on the standing order, I pay nationwide and have to put a sort code, an account numbr and then for reference my mortgage account number. Without the account number as referernce the standing order would be rejected by the computer as it wouldn't know where to put the money. That bit might not be anything to worry about, just check the details.

Can't help with the rest of the query, good luck

Thank you, Karen.

I acquired the correct account number and sort code from Santander; but I will check with them on your advice. I can't seen why they wouldn't accept a payment now, when they've been accepting my cheques for the last few months.

Leon_W

Thrugelmir is right.

You have to meet the lenders criteria, with living overseas, not living at the property and not earning enough then it falls down on all points.

Santander only lend to residents, HAVE to have proof that the loan is affordable and don't do Buy to Lets.

That seems pretty unsurmountable realistically.

Perhaps an option would be a regulated Buy To Let for an expat to get away from Santander ??

You'll need comprehensive advice from a broker to see if this option is open to you though.

mrfracas

Leon_W wrote: »

Thrugelmir is right.

You have to meet the lenders criteria, with living overseas, not living at the property and not earning enough then it falls down on all points.

Thanks for your advice, Leon.

I live in England, but not in the same county/region as the property.

I think there are things that I can do. But it's going to be a serious workaround.

Best Wishes.