URGENT advice needed re Santander incompetency

kitty123

A family member is having ridiculous issues with a mortgage offer form Santander.

They had their offer accepted on a property over 6 weeks ago and Santander still haven't offered the mortgage. Santander lost all the initial documents and since then, have fobbed off my family with excuse after excuse. They now say it's an IT problem.

Their buyer is ready to exchange and the company who own the house my family are buying has put it back on the market as they are so fed up with waiting.

They have no issue getting a mortgage and they have done EVERYTHING they can. They are on the phone CONSTANTLY every day, badgering them and have still not even managed to get the valuation organised. They can't move mortgage companies due to the huge redemption penalty. The finanacial ombudsman takes 8 weeks todo anything and they have already put in a formal complaint to Santander. How can they be so incompetent??

Please can anyone advise? They are having a baby soon and this has caused so much stress as they are going to lose the house and their buyer. They are desperate :-(

dumpallhere

When were the initial documents submitted? At the time of initial mortgage application for the property they currently live in? Or more recently?

Re: your earlier post, has the family member applied for a new mortgage at a new interest rate or transferring the existing mortgage (at the existing rate) to the new property?

kitty123

The initial documents were submitted exactly one month ago. Then a few days later Santander said they had lost them, so they were emailed across the same day. They have emailed far more information since then as well, just to make sure.

Sorry, I don't quite understand if this is the answer you want. The mortgage was initially taken out for their currernt property in 2007.

dumpallhere

Ombudsman will not do anything. The lender is not bound by a time-frame to offer a mortgage within. Likewise, the lender is not obliged to approve a porting application - they may simply refuse the application if it doesn't meet their qualifying criteria.

Keep chasing them.
Hopefully, someone will pick the complaint and act on it faster than the norm.

kitty123

So if it is so normal to wait this long to not even have the application acknowledged/be informed of any waiting , how come their buyer has got a mortgage and is ready to exchange already and the vendor has put the house back on the market because it's taking too long? Santander's customer service is appalling.

Dave_Ham

Santander get a fair amount of stick and their porting process is not a decent experience by all accounts.

Assuming they are doing this directly with the lender, do not rely upon their processing centre and would hit the local branch and get someone senior to take responsibility.

Santander instruct the valuation as the last item though, unlike many other lenders who instruct upfront and therefore they may not be as far off as they believe.

Good luck

kitty123

Funny....after an email to the CEO last night and a complaint on Santander's Facebook page, they suddenly received a phone call from a manager this morning and the mortgage was approved by 1pm. It just shows what happens when you don't sit back and let them walk all over you!