My mortgage application was sent to my Vendor!

bluerose_3

I received my mortgage application in the post today and it had been sent to the wrong address. What makes it worse is that it was sent to the property I want to buy.

The lady who owns the property had to open the letter to find our address and re-direct it so she's now seen all my details including the fact I can afford to pay the full asking price for her property.

This mistake could literally cost me thousands.:mad:

I've been to my building society and they have asked me what I want them to do but won't tell me what the options are.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

dangeroussports

A pound of flesh?

I suggest you contact the banking ombudsmen and inform them of whats happened.

Squiffy

About 11 years ago a credit card provider sent my completed credit card application form to another customer.

I received £400 compensation for not revealing details of their embarassing gaffe.

Instead of a formal complaint, this could be a means to get some financial redress for any potential losses.....

Nicki

Do not ask for a defined amount of compensation at this stage, as if you do and are gazundered, then you will not be able to go back and ask for more.

Write to Building Society telling them what has happened, and that you are quantifying your losses and will contact them again when you have done so. In the meantime say that all your legal rights are reserved. If they write back with a cheque for a small amount do not cash this, but write back and say that you are considering your position as to their offer. It is very important that you do not cash the cheque as you will then be relinquishing all your rights.

Then bide your time until you exchange contracts. If the price goes up before exchange, then ask the building society to pay the difference on the basis that their negligence has caused the problem. If you exchange at the price agreed, then ask for a token amount to reflect the minor inconvenience this has caused. £400 sounds about right.

You have plenty of time within which to bring action against them (longer than your mortgage offer is valid for) so there is no need to rush into any action here, except that you should have a written record of your complaint on file as soon as you can

barvid

Even though I do think that this is disgraceful, I'm not sure I'd agree that the vendor now knows how much you can afford to pay for the house. Fine, she now knows your salary and the relevant multiples etc., but she doesn't know any of the personal factors that would influence your decision. Just because I earn £50,000 and the bank will lend me 4 x salary doesn't mean I can afford £200,000 for a house. Maybe I need money for something else - could be that I'm planning to refurbish the place, so I can only afford £190,000. Even a millionnaire would have an upper budget of what they think the house is worth and wouldn't go above that, regardless of affordability. I think you might be okay.

Mrs_B_12

Actually, I'd be peed off at the woman for opening it instead of returning it to sender like she should have. I know it was the building society that made the error in the first place though so maybe make a formal complaint to them in writing asking that they waive all or some of the fees they'd be charging you for arranging the mortgage.

Butlers1982

They made the mistake but the lady who opened the mail broke the law by opening correspondance that wasnt addressed to her.
I would now make a written complaint to the building society and then make a new application with a different company.
I dont think your going to get any compensation at all to be honnest and they wont offer you a gesture of good will either in my opinion

Fruitcake

The lady that opened your letter did not break the law. As long as she does nothing with the information in the letter she still will not have done anything unlawful.
If she uses the information to your detriment, like putting up the price, then she may have broken the law. The problem is proving what she may do was a result of opening you letter.

Fruitcake

You Only Listen To Me When I'm Wrong

bluerose_3

Hi everyone,

Just want to say a big thank you for all your advice.

I'm going to contact them in a few days and I'll let you know what happens.