Can a mortgage underwriter advise please?

Windsorcastle

I am very confused about the following situation and am wondering whether an expert in this field can advise:
- currently selling a house on which I had a subsidence claim in the past few years
- damage was caused by neighbouring trees which have all been removed or cut back and managed
- no underpinning was required - my repairs were crack-filling and redecoration
- I have cert of structural adequacy plus 6 year written guarantee from my insurer that they will reopen my claim if the new buyer suffers a recurrence within 6 years

I disclosed all this to the buyer's solicitor from the outset. However, he only disclosed it to the lender last week, just as we were waiting to exchange contracts. Everything else is in place: valuation survey indicated no problems whatsoever with the house; my insurer agreed to insure the new buyer (the insurer happens to be the same company he is borrowing the mortgage from).

We haven't heard anything further for over a week. What is likely to have happened when the lender received this info? Would they reexamine the whole mortgage application/refer to an underwriter/refer back to the surveyor?

I am beside myself with worry because I don't know what the process is now, and I am terrified the lender will just refuse to lend. I would be very grateful if anyone can advise...

Windsorcastle

Shameless rebump - anyone at all? The buyer's solicitor has said they are still waiting for a response from the lender (has been with them since Thursday before last). Does anyone know what they might be looking into or doing with the info?
I'm wondering why the solicitor even needed to go back and tell them about the subsidence repairs, when the mortgage offer was already confirmed and the survey didn't mention any problems.

At times like this, I wish I hadn't been so honest...

Jimbo1976

In the vast majority of cases the lender will rely on the surveyor to pick up subsidence issues. If the buyers surveyor hasn't said anything then i don't think there is too much to worry about. If your insurer is happy to extend cover to the buyer then that's also a good thing.

I think that the underwriters are very busy at the moment and it will take them a while to come back to you.

Goldiegirl

When I was working for a lender, if we received new information like that, we'd have referred it to the valuer for guidance.

They are probably waiting to hear from the valuer.

Windsorcastle

Jimbo1976 wrote: »

In the vast majority of cases the lender will rely on the surveyor to pick up subsidence issues. If the buyers surveyor hasn't said anything then i don't think there is too much to worry about. If your insurer is happy to extend cover to the buyer then that's also a good thing.

I think that the underwriters are very busy at the moment and it will take them a while to come back to you.

Thanks Jimbo, that is reassuring to hear...

Windsorcastle

Goldiegirl wrote: »

When I was working for a lender, if we received new information like that, we'd have referred it to the valuer for guidance.

They are probably waiting to hear from the valuer.

Thanks Goldie, I was wondering if it had to go back to the surveyor. But does the valuer just reiterate what they said in their report or do they normally tell the lender to get a specialist report if they are worried?

Dave_Ham

The Solicitor is duty bound to report and you being honest is the right thing.

Which lender is it?

Windsorcastle

Dave_Ham wrote: »

The Solicitor is duty bound to report and you being honest is the right thing.

Which lender is it?

Hi Dave, it's Lloyds. They also happened to be my current insurer (well, Halifax, but since they are now under the same umbrella) so their insurance arm has already agreed to insure the new owner who is happy with the quote they gave him.

I know it was the right thing to be honest; but I just feel a bit miffed that this then holds things up and causes me more sleepless nights when I'm sure there are unscrupulous people who lie and cover things up and see their sale go through smoothly! But I'm hoping the good karma will pay off as long as Lloyds give it the green light:) I'm worried they might now insist on a full structural survey - we're now in week 14 with no exchange and the property is empty so I'm pretty much out of money to fund the mortgage, CT etc if this goes on much longer...

Dave_Ham

Assuming you mean C&G (Lloyds) rather than another of the Lloyds Group, none of us will have any recent experience of them in this situation I am afraid.

Suggest you chase them yourself often, as solicitors and C&G completions team are not known for their urgency.

Chase, chase, chase - best of luck

Windsorcastle

Dave_Ham wrote: »

Assuming you mean C&G (Lloyds) rather than another of the Lloyds Group, none of us will have any recent experience of them in this situation I am afraid.

Suggest you chase them yourself often, as solicitors and C&G completions team are not known for their urgency.

Chase, chase, chase - best of luck

Thanks Dave - I'm not quite sure which part of Lloyds it is; I didn't even know they were linked to Halifax until all this was going on!

Unfortunately I can't chase them as I'm the vendor, not the buyer. I have begged the buyer to chase but nothing seems to be happening very quickly and my nails are now bitten to the quick!

Hoping for some movement soon though - at least you and the other posters who have been kind enough to respond here have given me a bit more hope for a slightly less restless night's sleep tonight!

Dave_Ham

Sorry, long day..

You can chase your Solicitor, who can at least check with their Sols as this potentially could be on someone's desk.

As much as we love to hate Estate Agents, they can and possibly are applying pressure to your buyer to pressure their lender/solicitor.

If your buyer is using Halifax, this will almost certainly be ok as have had something similar recently (although was all signed off earlier in the process by the sounds of it)

Do not suffer in silence, still do chase hard and you will be surprised at how quickly things can pull together.