Urgent help needed

mrnmrsb

We are due to be visited tomorrow by a representative of THE MORTGAGE REVIEW COMPANY based in yorkshire - has anyone had any dealings with them - are they ethical/trustworthy as i have a feeling they're not. They have said over the phone that "having spoken to the underwriters direct, they have a Decision In Principle from the Halifax for a remortgage for us" but when I have approached the Halifax direct to save their highly inflated charges, after a soft search our application "did not meet the Halifax's credit score". I am worried that we have been misrepresented in some way!

Any insite, advise would be VERY much appreciated.

kingstreet

Do not agree to pay any fees in advance. Tell them you will pay their fee only on completion of the remortgage.

Tell them you want to see a copy of the application they make to Halifax, a copy of their fact-find and that is in addition to the key facts illustration, initial disclosure document and suitability report letter they must provide if you are accepting advice and recommendation from them.

A Halifax Mortgage Promise does not guarantee you'll be accepted as the hard search done at full application is more thorough and there are a number of threads on here saying they were turned down after "being promised a mortgage by Halifax."

Do not agree to purchase any kind of insurance products from them until you obtain alternative quotes. Remember they are getting around 0.3% of your mortgage amount as commission from Halifax, plus what you are paying them. They also make a lot of money from selling insurance.

As an independent mortgage broker I charge £495 for a mortgage and rebate any commission I get from the lender back to the client to subsidise their fee. I don't charge much more for a difficult adverse credit case. Plenty of us do this. You do not need to pay thousands to get advice on a remortgage.

Ask friends and relatives for a recommendation close to where you live.

Senior_Paper_Monitor

No such company on the FSA register as far as I can see

At least one of the following regulations broken it woudl appear ...

not providing details (approvals, charges etc - IDD, client agreement) at first point of contact

cold calling financial services

accessing and distributing personal data with your permission



No sign of them on the internet

It is easy (and not expensive) for someone to identify when properties were bought (or even remortgaged) and who holds a mortgage/charge on them.


This sounds a very dubious situation - be careful. My opinion - cancel the meeting (but I probably don't have enough detail to be sure).




That's it ... my last post on this forum (didn't mean to do this one but was horrified by the initial post), having had a post deleted by a moderator this morning without any justification I am throwing my toys out of the pram and going to play elsewhere.

ACG

No dealing with them, but how can they get you an agreement in principle without first doing a factfind. They wont have enough information.

As has been said, they have to give an IDD to you before they do ANYTHING.
So they are either lying or breaking very clear rules we (as mortgage/financial advisors) have been set by the FSA.

Personally i would avoid anything like this like the plague as they sound like cowboys.

As has been said, you can ask for a copy of the factfind/application form. Personally ive never been asked for a copy of any i have completed, but i would have no issue giving out a copy - if anything it gives me more confidence that the info i have given has been taken down correctly.

I like Kingstreet charge a fee, i only charge it on application after i have an agreement in prinsiple, so its not uncommon to get charged a fee - the amount can vary though, ive seen anything upto £2,500!

mrnmrsb

Thanks for the reply and to clarify I did give information over the phone as we are actually looking to remorgtage the house due to being on a 6% fixed term (I know way too high) and we need a further advance in order to knock down a delapidated sectional garage and rebuild it in block and brick.

Unfortunately we're not a straight forward case due to my husbands ex marital home being reposesed 2 years after he left because his ex had not paid a penny on the mortgage and he'd paid 17K. Unfortuntely he didnt get to find out about the arrears into they were 3 months (ie no payment from her for 6 months) and by that time he was deemed to be a bad risk and wasn't allowed to take over the mortgagein full without paying the arrears first - money he just didnt have and couldnt get cause of the mortgage arrears. 3 years or more later FOS have instructed barlays to pay compensation (£150) and to reduce outstanding amount and they have agreed to remove hubbys name from account on payment of 50% of o/s balance so to be told we could get a joint mortgage would have been a real line drawn under a terrible situation. especially as the rate stated by them was standard rate and not highly inflated due to him being a bad rick NOT!!

It's so unfair we just want someone to help us who we can trust and not get ripped off

ACG

Why not speak to your current lender? Ask if they can help?

they still shouldnt be getting you an agreement in principle until they have disclosed their IDD to you - its like theyre trying to hook you in then tell you their fee, my guessing its probably £1k if not more.

Id tell them to walk, also check any mortgage KFI you receive for fees charged! Anyhting your not sure about ask on here.

mrnmrsb

I have also just called them back and stated my concerns apparently the Mortgage Review Centre is not the actual broker, they are a marketing part of the same firm the brokerage is called Chatsworth Mortgage Co. I have also advised them that I require a certified copy of the application that they have given to the Halifax, a copy of the DIP and I have advised them that I will not be parting with any of their fee which totals £2000 + inc valuation, mortgage app fee and solicitors fee (as going from single named mortgage to joint) until the mortgage offer letter is received.

I think they have got the message that I don't trust them so we will just see what happens. Having worked as a Financal Advisor in the late 1990's and for Welcome Finance and HFC Bank before I saw the light I am very well aware of how being ripped off feels. And before you all start shouting at me I didn;t stay long at either as I refused to rip people off or sell PPI unless they needed/wanted it

mrnmrsb

As for my current lender unfortunately my salary isnt enough to do the further advance and they wont consider hubby

ACG

how can they tell you its £2k?
How do they know what mortgage they are going to recommend to you without ever meeting you?
You might tell them you want a mortgage which includes free legals, valuation and no booking fee in exchange for a higher interest rate.

If the actual broker has already told you the full costs then you have either given them a lot of information over the phone or theyre cutting corners.

Part of my factfind is to find out what is important to the customer with regards to their mortgage, not everyone wants the cheapest rate as that may result in higher upfront costs which might actually work out more expensive over the tie in period. Some people are the total opposite, but without asking the question how will the broker ever know.

mrnmrsb

it was done over the phone and they did an electrol roll check and a soft search - the chap is coming tomorrow to go through a full financial review and bringing with him the documents I have requested sight

ACG

Ok so from your opening post we have now got that you have actually completed what sounds like a factfind over the phone.

If you want us to answer you honestly then you need to give us all the information.

It doesnt sound as dodgy now as it did on your first post although they should have still discussed the level of service they offer (ie advised/non advised) and whether they are tied, whole of market or independent for mortgages and protection.