Mortgage brokers - a good and FAST alternative to London and Country?

veggieninja

We have had a poor experience with London and Country and need to urgently rectify the situation.

My sister made an offer on a house back in September that was accepted and was a fair price for both parties, though noticeably lower than what was originally asked. She had a lot of savings so we tempted the seller with the prospect of a fast turnover as with her excellent credit history and very large deposit, we thought the mortgage would be a piece of cake. Accordingly I suggested she use London and Country as a broker as I had used them on Martin Lewis' recommendations (independent of mortgage providers, no fee etc) and had no problems at all with the service. The broker recommended a mortage with Nationwide and my sister started the process of closing down 15 various accounts and other financial packages and putting the money into her current account to transfer the deposit. This took longer than it should as she had misplaced some of the documentation, but the broker was aware of efforts to move the funds. However, once this was shown to Nationwide they were immediately suspcicious of a money laundering racket because of the amount of recent large transactions into her current account and asked for proof of the funds' origin. She was very worried as she was obliged to vacate he current premises by the end of the year (she tells me that staying is not possible), and did not want to be homeless or have to live in a hotel, but she contacted teh various institutions where she formally had accounts to get documentation from them. On production of these, Nationwide said this was not enough and asked for further credit history, which is difficult for her to get in such a short space of time from 15 lenders when her accounts are now closed. She feels very let down by the Town and Country broker (whose expertise she was relying upon) for not advising her that this might happen when she was getting together the deposit in the first, and only finding out she would need a more extensive credit history for each account so late in the day. Understandably the seller is also upset at the prospect of the formerly quick sale dragging on indefinitely with no progress to report. On top of this, the broker is on holiday and she tells me that others she speaks to are of no help and wastes her time by forcing her to regurgitate the whole story on each call. As we only have weeks left, I was wondering about advising her to change her broker or going directly to a bank, to find another good deal quickly with an institution who would be happy with the documentary proof of her finances origins that she has already accumulated. Can anyone advise on this? Presumably as she has not signed a contract for a mortgage yet, she is not tied to 'London and Country'? It seems inevitable now that she won't be able to move before the end of the year, but speed is still very important to stop the seller from getting exasperated and dropping out.

Many thanks in advance for any help you can give.

Dave_Ham

Hi, she can freely go to another broker and/or directly to a bank. This needs to be handled well though as any bank and/or solicitor may have the same issue validating the source of deposit funds.

L&C are fee free and take a lot of quick and easy mortgages and given her situation it may be more cost effective paying an experienced broker to manage the entire situation for her and save money in the long run.

Good luck

Leon_W

Too right Nationwide would be suspicious of money laundering ! And so would every other lender.


I cannot see how London and Country can be held responsible for the convoluted way your sister arranges her finances for which she managed to misplace documentation causing further delay.

veggieninja

Leon_W wrote: »

Too right Nationwide would be suspicious of money laundering ! And so would every other lender.


I cannot see how London and Country can be held responsible for the convoluted way your sister arranges her finances for which she managed to misplace documentation causing further delay.

Clearly we are not holding them responsible for the state of her finances, as is obvious from what I have written. We are disappointed that knowing that she was closing all these accounts to consolidate the funds the mortgage 'expert' failed to tell her it was likely to be rejected unless she provided a full credit history from the old accounts - before she actually closed it!

I was in a similar position 7 years ago when I used London and Country to arrange my mortgage with Alliance and Leicester. I also closed down about 7 ISA accounts, and they did not query whether I was money laundering - but if there was a risk that I was, I would have expected my broker to advise me to have the documentation ready before I emptied and closed the accounts.

In any case I was politely asking for advice on a resolution to this issue, and I am not sure how your reply is pertinent in this regard?

besti

What were the 15 various accounts?

Leon_W

The resolution is to supply the paperwork and evidence that Nationwide require.


Money Laundering rules are a week away from what they were back in 2007 and lenders are required to obtain and ask pertinent questions of the source of the deposit much more. The way this usually goes is that people think it best to consolidate large separate deposits of money all into one account, the statement is then offered as proof of deposit. This will not suffice !


The lender when confronted with this one statement is, quite rightly, then going to ask where all these sudden deposits have originated. Hence the request for further proof.


Now, with 15 originating accounts and misplaced (by your sister) paperwork then this is going to take a very long time indeed to sort out. London and Country, as brokers, cannot always second guess what a lender is going to be happy with, sometimes just a statement IS sufficient, sometimes not, but they obviously have to come back to your sister for further information if that is required.


I don't think changing brokers or lenders is really going to help you here as it's probably very likely that the same questions are going to crop up again but even further down the line.

Simon_gloster

A simple case of lender status. Prove the origins or don't have the mortgage. The broker is in not 100% liable and comparing her mortgage application to yours us a joke.

Leons right, this issue will crop up with solicitors wherever you go.

Wh05apk

Nationwide in fairness are probably one of the easiest as far as proof of deposit, and will normally only ask for it for large deposits (£50k + for ftb's) most other lenders will need it in all cases.