Valuation Fees Scam??

ken_and_dot

I recently used a Financial Advisor to find me a mortgage on a flat. I have used him before and had every confidence in him. The flat was in a block which is limited to buyers aged 50 or over.

My advisor spoke with Northern Rock on the telephone to confirm that they were prepared to lend on this type of property and was told that they would. I paid £450 to my advisor for fees including a survey fee.

The survey valued the property at the purchase price but Northern Rock then declined to offer a mortgage on the grounds that they did not lend on this type of property. Under the circumstances I asked my advisor to request the return of my money as they should have rejected my application before the valuation. My advisor tells me that they have refused although I have no proof he has spoken with them.

I have asked him for a copy of the application form so that I can take the matter up myself. If the application form indicates the type of property I cannot see how they can refuse to refund my money, but my advisor tells me he submitted the application on-line and does not have a copy.

Any suggestions?

dfwz

You could contact the lender directly and ask for the information from the application form under the DPA.

Although, did it not strike you as odd that you paid the fees before completion ? I've never done this and absolutely never would. I'm not sure it's legal to charge an arrangement fee when nothing has been arranged. I'm sure a broker/IFA will be along to give more details on that shortly.

Leon_W

What you need to find out is why Northern Rock do not lend on that type of property.

In my experience NR can be quite fussy about property types so you will not be the first or last to have this problem. Some lenders will not mortgage flats over a certain floor level, concrete builds, flats over shops, next to petrol stations etc etc. The crux of the issue is should the broker have known that NR do not accept that type of property or not. If you think that was the case then ask the broker to refund the fee.

I had a case recently with Norther Rock for a flat which I conducted over the phone. The guy phoned me up, I went through all the detail and proceeded. I get a call from NR saying they wont lend on it because the only access to the flat is across some decking. I can't possibly know this as I've never seen the flat, NR don't know this until a survey is carried out, so who's fault is it ?

However, if I knowingly sent an application off for a property that I knew wouldn't be accepted (why would anyone ?) then I would expect my nuckles to be wrapped and refund the fee.

Regards

Leon

AndyWallace

Ask your adviser to give you a copy of the application form, which you can print off in the online system.

Leon_W

That's quite true Andy it's easily done (and should be kept on file for compliance reasons anyhow)

Here is a link to the questions they ask about the property

http://www.northernrock.co.uk/downloads/General%20Mortgage%20App%20Form.pdf Page 14

As you can see it's pretty comprehensive with warnings about unsuitable property types. I also note they ask about deck access now ! I certainly remember in my own case that question wasn't asked at the time.

I certainly think that if the broker ticked all the right boxes and took into consideration the warnings about types of unsuitable property then he has done his best.

The only other thing I can think of was is it rejected because of the 50 and over rule. Was the broker aware of this ?

homer_j_3

I can't really add much more than what has already been said but understand the position you are in having had my fingers burnt with Northern Rock on a few occassions due to various issues.

I now always ask that they fully underwrite the case before instructing or paying for valuation because it seems that they can get a bit picky even if they have had agreed it in principal.

Clearly where valuation brings up issues, it is a tough one as Leon says.

dwight-van-man

NR won't lend on this type pf property because of the age limitations as their feeling is that this limits the future sale-ability of the property (should they have to repossess). It sounds to me like the broker phoned the broker helpline (Intermediary Support Unit). They should have referred the query to the staff valuers if they weren't sure of the answer. This however depends on the call centre staff knowing whether they were unsure of the answer. I would suggest you get the broker to contact his BDM to raise the issue, as moast of the ISU calls are recorded, so if he can provide the date and approximate time of the call, they should be able to track down whether the wrong advice was given. If they can't, the call wasn;t recorded, or it turns out the broker wasn't specific about the proeprty type, then you've lost your survey fee. The sum you've paid is inclusive of a valuation commission fee - this may be transferable to a different property, so worth getting your broker to check that out too