Will gambling transactions affect a first time mortgage?

koloko

Hi

I am three quarters of the way to my deposit goal of £20,000.

The £15,000 I have saved over 4 years have been entirely derived from gambling transactions. (risk free/low risk/+EV gambling).

I maintain a seperate bank account for all gambling transactions to keep the money complately seperate from the house finances. Over the four years the statement of this account clearly shows that it was used for nothing but betfair, bet365, ladbrokes, pokerstars and maybe a hundred other gambling institutions. There are no ATM transactions, nor utility, phone or wages going in or out.

Am I right in thinking that the bank is required to ask me where I got the money from, and will study my bank statetment?

Will having a bank statement such as the above affect my chances of getting a mortgage?

If so - is there anything I can do over the next 12 months to mitigate against this?

thequant

knowing people who have been in this situation before, this didn't use to be a problem, as banks where only interested in cash flow and total cash. However I gather that banks are now studying where this cash comes from, and gambling is a big NO

harvey115

Gambling transactions is a cause of concern when the underwriter sees them as it may mean the person is not able to control their gambling habbit.

I would say you speak to a good broker to get your mortgage sorted rather then trying on your own and getting delined after incurring charges on survey etc.

koloko

In that case, would it be wise to transfer £1500 a month over from the gambling account over to my house finances over the next year and then close down the gambling account?

Or will this also look suspicious?

HelpWhereIcan

Just to add a bit of an overall picture- there are two reasons the source of any mortgage deposit could be subject to scrutiny:

1. Money Laundering purposes - fairly self explanatory and most likely to be of concern to your Solicitor (although the lender and any Mortgage Broker will also consider this - whether they tell you or not).

2. For the most obvious i.e. to check the deposit is your own, from your own resources etc - fraud prevention.

The lender and any Mortgage Broker are the ones most likely to be concerned about the gambling sources rather than a solicitor.

In reality, the solicitor is the one most likely to ask to see the source of your deposit as lenders do it less frequently than some would have you imagine - as long as it does not seem out of keeping with your age, occupation and income/expenditure.

However, as far as the Money Laundering side goes you have no issues. The gambling sources you have used are legal and legitimate - although they may look closely to ensure the transactions in and out are not massively out of kilter.

As far as the underwriting side goes most lenders will want to see a bank statement going back no more than 12 months (most are happy with 6 months).

Generally an underwriter looks to make sure it hasn't just arrived in your account (while checking it against your credit file to ensure it does not coincide with the date you took out a loan for a similar amount).

If it has moved from another account in your name over 6-12 months there should be no problems and they would probably leave their checks at seeing your savings accounts statements.

Simple money saving says you should move some of it to a Cash ISA and keep the rest in a decent 60 or 90 day account anyway.

While I am sure you know that it is also the sort of thing a lender expects to see and could help to allay any fears they may have that any gambling is current and a potential issue - even if they go back as far as the 'gambling' account.

After all, if you are not leaving it somewhere you could be tempted to gamble with it again, it is more likley any gambling is recreational rather than habitual and they are likely to be happy to see just your ISA and Savings account statements.

That is why moving it to a 'normal' savings environment over the next 6 months is probably the best approach.

Hope all goes well

DVardysShadow

koloko wrote: »

In that case, would it be wise to transfer £1500 a month over from the gambling account over to my house finances over the next year and then close down the gambling account?

Or will this also look suspicious?

Goodness knows, every Bank !!!!!! and Harry expects to see your money and know where every last penny came from. I would withdraw it and use it as pocket money and put the surplus from my current account in another savings account. its known as laundering the proceeds of legal activity.

jamesml

If you are concerned, I would open a couple of good savings account (ISA, monthly saver and a regular high interest account, for example), and start transferring it into these accounts. If they ask to see your savings accounts statements, they will see the transfers from yourself. I've been led to believe they may also want to see your current account statements, although how true this is, I don't know. If they did ask though, they might wonder why you don't have any money coming out of it.

Are you not saving anything at all from your wages?

Also - good effort on the £15,000. No mean feat to have made that much by gambling. Do you end up spending all your spare time doing it?