Do I have the right to take this further... (solicitor)

itsnothing

Hi,

Looking for some advice.

I applied for a mortgage with the Halifax, it was a 10% deposit, which was ideal as I had the money to afford it.

My solicitors (who I will never use again) provided all of the information across to the Halifax etc etc. The day before exchange and completion my solicitor rang me to say the Halifax has asked for some new information as they wanted to check if it was a buy to let property (this has never been discussed at any stage of me buying the home) with the Halifax or the solicitors. My solicitors told me that they have asked for this information.

Halifax re assessed the application and changed the deposit to 15% although nothing had changed, this mean't needing to find an additional £9000. I managed to get this through family but it wasn't what I wanted to do.

I complained to the Halifax who said it was due to it needing to be reassessed and they were not prepared to do anything, I said I wasn't happy with this so they checked the calls from my solicitor.

My solicitor rang them up and for what ever reason told them it was buy to let, the Halifax then explained to her it would be re assessed, this happened, the deposit went up. She then rang up in the afternoon to tell them it was a mistake!!

The Halifax wouldn't do anything because it was my solicitors error and I agree with this. Low and behold that solicitor 'no longer works for the company'!

Do I have any basis to complain to the firm about this or do you think I have a case?

If it wasn't for her miss leading and advising them, I wouldn't of needed to of found an additional £9000. This has been confirmed by the Halifax in the response I got from them.

Please let me know your views or perhaps smilier experience.


Thom

Yorkie1

Did the Hx say what facts led the solicitor to suggest it might be a BTL situation?

The solicitor has two 'hats' on in a conveyancing transaction - they act both for the buyer and also the lender. So, if any information came to light which the lender needs to know, they have to disclose it to the lender - even if it isn't what the buyer would want to be revealed.

Could there have been anything in your communications with the solicitor which might have given her the wrong idea?

On the question of money, are you paying a higher interest rate as well having to find an extra deposit?

If not, then in a way you are in a better position than you were with only 10% deposit. You will have reduced monthly repayments and will pay less interest over the lifetime of the mortgage.

You can certainly complain to the complaints partner of the solicitors firm (the details will be in the initial letter from the firm when you instructed them), but as part of the complaint it is useful to think about what you seek to achieve from it.

The solicitor has left (for whatever reason) and you have suffered no financial detriment. You need to identify whatever else is appropriate to you.

opinions4u

Halifax accepted a 15% deposit on what they believed was a buy-to-let application?

Don't believe you.

maninthestreet

So was this a BTL property or not?

itsnothing

Sorry, no it wasn't a BTL, it was indeed just a house purchase.

The letter from the Halifax reads:

Following your complaint relating to your mortgage application, we are sorry you remain unhappy and have found it necessary to contact customer services again.

I have reviewed your application and listened to the calls made to us by your solicitor. The first call made at 11.01am on 28 August confirms that the property is to be let and we confirmed that this information would impact on our decision to lend as a buy to let purchase needs to be assessed differently.

The second call was received at 3.00m on the same day, during this call your solicitor confirms that a mistake has been made and the property being purchased was to be used for residential purposes.

Whilst I appreciate that we were given the incorrect information during the first call which led us to reassess your application, the information has come from a trusted source. As this information would change the application type, it would impact on our decision to lend and not acting upon it would have been irresponsible.

...........

Wyndham

I think the Halifax have behaved appropriately. If you want to pursue a claim, it would need to be with the solicitor. You could pursue your claim with the company first, rather than the individual.

But, what do you want to happen here? What are you looking for?

JQ.

What would the claim be for? You've not lost any money, and you were'nt forced to buy the property, you could have walked away when told the LTV decreased. Are you paying a higher rate of interest now?

Ivana_Tinkle

I don't understand why, when your solicitor rang the Halifax to correct their earlier mistake, the Halifax didn't just change the required deposit back to 10%. I'd certainly query that with them although I wouldn't hold your breath - they'll presumably say that you accepted the terms of the mortgage and they can't change them now.

I'd be writing to the senior partner at the solicitors outlining what happened and asking for a partial refund of the fees. I did this once when an incompetent solicitor meant that a purchase of a flat took months longer than necessary. I got the full fee refunded, which was a surprise because although it had been very stressful I hadn't actually lost any money through their incompetence.

princeofpounds

You need to make a formal complaint to the solicitor's firm. If that doesn't work, then look at the law society website for details of how to take things further.

Given that you were not charged more for the mortgage, but only required to find an extra 5% deposit, I don't think you will ever be able to look for large sums of compensation or anything like that, but I would think that pushing for a refund of your fees is quite reasonable.

Yorkie1

princeofpounds wrote: »

You need to make a formal complaint to the solicitor's firm. If that doesn't work, then look at the law society website for details of how to take things further.

Given that you were not charged more for the mortgage, but only required to find an extra 5% deposit, I don't think you will ever be able to look for large sums of compensation or anything like that, but I would think that pushing for a refund of your fees is quite reasonable.

Just a couple of things.

It's the Legal Ombudsman, not the Law Society, for escalating the complaint after giving the solicitor the chance to respond.

Something which has just occurred re. a compensation claim, is if the person providing the additional deposit incurred quantifiable costs as a result, that might be worth including in any claim / complaint.

GDB2222

This whole complaint is not quite believable. BTL mortgages are assessed completely differently. For example, the lenders would need the surveyor to certify the likely rent, and it's probably dealt with by a different department. So, they wouldn't just say that the original application could go ahead but with a higher deposit.

So, this story has loads of holes in it.