RBS 'yes' 9/10 mortgage - don't be fooled!

Beam4000

They may say yes, but their lending policy could mean that at the last minute your approved mortgage is useless.

Am I a marketing statistic and not a valued long-term customer?

Hi everyone,

This is my first post but I felt compelled to share my dreadful experience with ‘RBS Yes’ with you.
I have banked with RBS my whole adult life. I won’t be a customer much longer.
I recently applied for a mortgage with RBS (to buy my sister out) and went through the whole process with them. This included two RBS mortgage adviser sessions (3.5hrs total), credit checks, numerous questions etc. all of which took about a month.
Happily, they approved my mortgage and then arranged a surveyor to come round to value my property.
It was all very straight forward…

Until I was declined for a mortgage on my property:

The Colchester based surveyor that RBS had outsourced the valuation job to, valued my flat at ‘nil’ (the definition used was ‘unsellable’).

The reasons that RBS gave for this was that my property was in the vicinity of shops, bookmakers and restaurants (a similar scenario in many a UK city) and they may not be able to sell it if I defaulted on my payments.

So, I have a mortgage, I just can’t use it on the flat I need it for.

Now, I could be bitter, but brushing that aside, I feel their reasoning was utterly unjustified and their lack of customer service was awful. So please learn from my experience, so you don’t have to go through what I did:

1. My flat is in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland (in Bruntsfield one of the most sought after locations in the city) and the shops are considered a reason for buying in this location.

2. If their rationale was valid…why did they not simply tell me this in the RBS mortgage advice meetings at the very start of the process before putting me through the credit check process? The adviser seemed very familiar with the area so it would be a reasonable question ‘Are you above a shop’? Why did they wait to tell me at the very last minute?

3. The reasons they gave me for declining my mortgage were riddled with factual inaccuracies (there are no bookmakers in my area and my flat is not above a restaurant as stated – it’s barely even above part of a shop).

4. An independent property advisor at Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre (ESPC) wrote to me to tell me that 46.7 % flats in my area sell in less than 90 days…so surely RBS should be able to sell my flat quite easily?

5. ESPC also stated that the volume of two bedroom flats in my area is up 12% annually during the first seven months of 2013.

6. Six independent estate agents said that flats in my area don’t tend to stay on the market long.

7. The flat above me recently sold after a few months.

8. My flat looks out onto a quiet side street away from nearby shops on the main street.

9. The re- mortgage I was asking for is for less than a one bedroom flat in my area – well within value.

Is this a true customer experience?

I queried this decision with my RBS mortgage adviser – who seemed as confused as me about the situation.
This resulted in RBS sending me a text message to say that ‘they believe that they have a resolution to my complaint that they would like to discuss’.

I phoned RBS only to be told that this ‘resolution’ was that my mortgage was declined.

So what can you learn from this?

• Don’t go to RBS for a mortgage if you live in a sought after area in a flat above or near shops…E.g. Notting hill (London), Bruntsfield (Edinburgh) etc.
• Go armed to your mortgage appointment at RBS and ask what reasons they use in their lending policy to decline mortgages.
• Don’t phone – write a letter or demand to speak to a manager. Even when I phone RBS for customer service - they keep saying they will call me back but they never do.

This will stop you wasting your time and will prevent RBS approving people for mortgages they can’t actually use on their property.
9 out of 10…it’s a great statistic for RBS - but how many of these people get declined on a technicality after being approved

Help me:

Any advice on what I should do next would be appreciated as RBS are really unhelpful and clearly care more about marketing campaigns than treating their customers fairly.

Thanks,

Kieran

(Lives in a flat, above a shop, in Bruntsfield Edinburgh. Has an approved mortgage from RBS but can’t use it and is now looking for a good bank)

#RBSUselessMortgage

Thrugelmir

The Colchester based surveyor that RBS had outsourced the valuation job to, valued my flat at ‘nil’ (the definition used was ‘unsellable’).

Lenders set their own criteria as to what they will and won't advance mortgage monies for. Their prerogative always has been. As there's no automatic right to a mortgage.

Contact a local broker who'll be best placed to know which lenders will consider the application.

CFC

It's always hard to get a mortgage for a property above a shop, even in boom times a lot of lenders won't touch them. It sounds like the mortgage advisors were not very well trained.

Save your energy for discussing a mortgage with a broker.

And although you won't like it - they said yes to you but no to the property...

moneyshoe

I'm sorry you're having problems and I do appreciate how frustrating this must be for you........

however I feel compelled to say that I have recently had the complete opposite experience with RBS in edinburgh. We were buying an unusual property in the country and no other lender would touch us for several long winded reasons. I've banked with rbs all my life so went to them as a last resort. Their mortgage advisr was fantastic, came out of a training day to work with us, came in the next sat to finish our application, kept in touch by phone and e-mail and got the mortgage offer in about a week. The offer was upheld after the survey but finally the sale fell through due to an undisclosed agricultural tie. Throughout the process I couldn't have asked for more from RBS. We are going with nationwide now as the have better rates but I will continue to bank with rbs as they really helped us out when we were a hole.

ACG

Service may not be great but you cant say they havnt accepted your application as they have. Its the surveyors who have said no to the property - not RBS.

dunstonh

Lending decisions are always subject to valuation and criteria. You met their lending criteria. The property failed though (and it is not uncommon for lenders to decline flats above shops)

• Don’t go to RBS for a mortgage if you live in a sought after area in a flat above or near shops…E.g. Notting hill (London), Bruntsfield (Edinburgh) etc.

Which applies to a good number of lenders.

Go armed to your mortgage appointment at RBS and ask what reasons they use in their lending policy to decline mortgages.

I would not say that is a good idea as the reasons for decline could be extensive and obscure with many. Better to tell them the facts rather than hypothetical unless you know for sure you are looking to buy something non-standard.

Don’t phone – write a letter or demand to speak to a manager. Even when I phone RBS for customer service - they keep saying they will call me back but they never do.

I wouldnt agree with that either. A manager is unlikely to have any mortgage knowledge or experience.

To be honest, if you are going to be buying non-standard then you need to do your research or use a broker. You cannot blame the lender for your own research giving you the wrong result.