Mortgage & Maternity

Hhen

Hi,

I need a bit of help please. My husband and I received our mortgage offer and we are hoping to complete end of May. I'm on maternity leave and due to go back middle of June but not planning on returning. We were initially told my husbands wages were enough but, after we paid the fee, we were then told they weren't so I sent the details of my wages and secured the mortgage. I will have to hand my notice in at the middle of May. So my questions are:

1. are we obliged to tell the mortgage company if I don't go back to work?

2. what will happen if we don't tell them and I simply don't go back to work? Would our mortgage be void or is it likely they would find out at all?

3. they never contacted my employer (I had all the details they needed). Could my employer contact THEM to tell them I'm not going back to work?

4. could I wait until the beginning of June and use my accrued holiday in lieu of my notice? (I'd rather not do this as I'd like to leave on good terms)

I hope all of this makes sense and I'd really appreciate as much help as you can give me.

For the record, my husbands wages are more than enough to make the repayments but his overtime and bonus were not included.

Wh05apk

1. are we obliged to tell the mortgage company if I don't go back to work? Yes

2. what will happen if we don't tell them and I simply don't go back to work? Would our mortgage be void or is it likely they would find out at all? They would be unlikely to find out, although you would technically (and actually) be committing fraud if they did find out

3. they never contacted my employer (I had all the details they needed). Could my employer contact THEM to tell them I'm not going back to work? Does your employer even know you are taking a new mortgage, if so would they know who with? Unlikely they would contact the lender, unless you really upset your employer!

4. could I wait until the beginning of June and use my accrued holiday in lieu of my notice? (I'd rather not do this as I'd like to leave on good terms) Once your mortgage completes, you can do what you want, obviously there are employment conditions to consider.

Hhen

Thanks for your help. Unfortunately I inadvertently sent my boss our ref no. and told him (long story). I'm hoping to leave on good terms but some employers simply wouldn't be happy with me for not coming back... other than that I've no reason to think they might do anything. Oh dear, there aren't really any great options for us then... I may have to just bite the bullet and go back to work.

bigadaj

Also review your employment contract, if there are any enhanced maternity benefits that you've benefitted from then these can often be claimed back if you don't return to work. If so then it might be an idea to look at going back for a few months which might solve both problems, though with associatedroblems for child care etc no doubt.

Hhen

Thanks bigadaj, No I just got the statutory maternity pay so there shouldn't be any problem. I would have told them a long time ago that I wasn't coming back only I'd miss out on some holiday pay if I did that apparently. I don't want to mess anyone around but the circumstances mean that I have to. So our choices are: 1. move completion date forward and have to pay rent and mortgage in one month (probably won't suit the sellers though), 2. lie and hope we never get found out, 3. use holiday pay in lieu of notice and leave work on bad terms, 4. go back to work (for nothing after we've paid childcare) until it's all been sorted out, 5. lose the mortgage. None of these are great options .

So once we've achieved completion, we can do whatever we want? If I was in my notice period, I would technically still be employed though? Is there no loophole way around it? I'd obviously rather avoid committing fraud if at all possible

Thrugelmir

Hhen wrote: »

I'd obviously rather avoid committing fraud if at all possible

All at your risk. Should you be found out then a listing on National Hunters will no doubt be made. This would exclude you from obtaining finance in the future from virtually all mainstream lenders. A black mark can remain for a very long time.

my husbands wages are more than enough to make the repayments

Borrowers normally are far too optimistic with regards to their own finances. As borrowers under estimate the money required to purchase and maintain a property. Too often the unexpected happens and there starts the slippery downward slope. .

kingstreet

Go in the lender's online affordability calculator and key your circumstances as they would be without your income. Remember to enter a dependent (you) and a child. You can also enter child benefit, if asked.

Is the output more, or less, than you need?

Hhen

Thrugelmir, thanks for your reply! I understand where you're coming from but my husbands bonus and overtime amount (on a bad year) to more than my wages but they won't include them as it's not guaranteed (although they've got them for 12 years now and the company is thriving). When we initially applied, they said that didn't matter and that they could count his overtime and bonus. That's why we're in this mess now as when we paid the fees they suddenly changed their mind and said they couldn't loan to us and they didn't give us a reason as to why the figure changed. We're very good with our money and would not apply for a mortgage that would cripple us. We don't just want a mortgage 'at all costs', we know the implications of the unexpected happening and we will have as many insurances in place to protect ourselves as we can.

A black mark does not sound like something we want at all. I'm just really angry that we've been put in this position now. Why can't they be honest with people from the beginning, rather than lure them in and then leave it so one of their only options is to lie? If they told us no, or that they'd need my figures, we simply would have gone elsewhere.

Hhen

kingstreet wrote: »

Go in the lender's online affordability calculator and key your circumstances as they would be without your income. Remember to enter a dependent (you) and a child. You can also enter child benefit, if asked.

Is the output more, or less, than you need?

I've done this and the output is more. Something happened at one point where the figure they could lend us dropped by about 20,000 and they said they didn't know why and they wouldn't offer us a reason. The whole process has been horrible to be honest. Now we've finally got the offer though, we obviously just want to proceed and get into our house.