Halifax withdraw their signed mortgage offer just before contract exchange

kingstreet

Given this is a standard rule across most of the UK lending industry, I'd expect an agent selling a property to someone needing a mortgage to ensure this was disclosed early in the sale process.

The EA already complete a couple of sales for them the other lenders have no problems at all

Which may purely have been coincidental. Did the agent tell those buyers or were they just lucky?

silentfire

My solicitor said:

The problem is that the seller's solicitor only recently send us copies of the title register with their name on it. We were working on the old title register in the mean time. No one was therefore to know that the seller had only bought in December. The seller and agent should have said something at the start but they owe you no duty of care and you are not entitled to compensation. We can ask but I don?t hold out much hope. How much did you spend in getting the Halifax mortgage?

So does that means I'm doomed? No one tells me it might be a problem that they own the property for too short time because they are not liable to do so; and no one tells me they do care about this because it's rare?

MissMoneypenny

silentfire wrote: »

The seller is big investor who buy portfolios and sell them.

Then he should have known about the 6 month rule as it has been commonplace for quite a while. Landlord sites like the singingpigs, are well aware of this as it upset many a plan when it first came out.

Did he tell you he had owned the property for less than 6 months, or did he keep quiet about it?

MissMoneypenny

silentfire wrote: »

So does that means I'm doomed? No one tells me it might be a problem that they own the property for too short time because they are not liable to do so; and no one tells me they do care about this because it's rare?

Doomed...or a lucky escape? Do you want to do business with someone who is unethical?

silentfire

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

Then he should have known about the 6 month rule as it has been commonplace for quite a while. Landlord sites like the singingpigs, are well aware of this as it upset many a plan when it first came out.

Did he tell you he had owned the property for less than 6 months, or did he keep quiet about it?

No, the first time I know about six month is when Halifax told me that they are going to withdraw the offer.

kingstreet

The agent wants to sell a property to ensure he gets paid as quickly as possible. Witholding the ownership duration has caused you a problem which means you're going to have to find a new lender because the one you chose won't accept the situation. That means the agent will not be paid as quickly and may lose the sale altogether.

You can't hold the vendor, or his agent, or legal representative responsible, so you are understandably looking for someone else to blame.

My opinion, FWIW, is that blaming a bloke sitting in a Halifax office for not asking you about this is unfair. However, if you feel you have been wrongly dealt with, make a written complaint to Halifax and see what they think. If they don't answer your complaint to your satisfaction, or within eight weeks, you have the right to escalate the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service for arbitration.

silentfire

kingstreet wrote: »

The agent wants to sell a property to ensure he gets paid as quickly as possible. Witholding the ownership duration has caused you a problem which means you're going to have to find a new lender because the one you chose won't accept the situation. That means the agent will not be paid as quickly and may lose the sale altogether.

You can't hold the vendor, or his agent, or legal representative responsible, so you are understandably looking for someone else to blame.

My opinion, FWIW, is that blaming a bloke sitting in a Halifax office for not asking you about this is unfair. However, if you feel you have been wrongly dealt with, make a written complaint to Halifax and see what they think. If they don't answer your complaint to your satisfaction, or within eight weeks, you have the right to escalate the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service for arbitration.

Thanks for the advice. What should I do next? Should I looking for another lender who don't care or walk away?

MissMoneypenny

He would be wasting his/her time blaming the Halifax. The vendor and maybe the EA is to blame, but as the solicitor has already told them, they are not entitled to compensation.

Either stay with the snake in the grass and look for another lender who allow this. Or more on, find another property and leave the vendor of the first house, back at square 1.

The_J

If you really want the property kick off to the estate agents for not mentioning it, make them feel bad enough to take it off the market again and give you 4 weeks to sort out a new mortgage.

kingstreet

Only you can decide on your next step. Using an independent or whole market broker may result in you finding a better mortgage deal (Halifax aren't great right now) and allowing you to proceed with the purchase.

Alternatively, if you feel you don't wish to purchase this property, withdraw your offer and start looking for something else. Halifax should allow you to change to another property and only have another valuation fee to pay.