HELP! AIP without credit search? Halifax?

hanfrangipane

Hi All,

Cany anyone advise whether Halifax still only do soft searches at 'Mortgage Promise' stage?

Having a nightmare due to not yet being on the electoral roll as my application is 'in process' between the government and the local council, due to clear on the 1st August (if I can rely on what they say!)

Want to get the house that we want off the market whilst I go through application with Post Office (Nationwide rejected saying I passed but they wouldn't lend until the roll was update) so I need an AIP that either doesn't search or does soft search only.

I'm absolutely fine on affordability and everything else but it's just this one timing issue that is tripping me up.

Any ideas as I'm desperate! I'm not asking for advice on lenders for those advisors that can't be seen to be giving advice, I have chosen my preferred product. Just asking for details on lenders processes so I can do my own research.

Cheers Guys.

Han

Kirstyb1987

I believe Halifax is a soft search but I know they do refer a lot of the AIP's so you may not get this straight away.

ACG

Halifax do a soft footprint but part of the softprint is checking the voters roll i believe. If anything you would be better going to a lender who does a full credit check I imagine.

Speak to a broker. They could probably get this through straight away.

Alternatively have you thought about going to who you bank with? - certain lenders can be better whether you have a history with them, others treat you the same as any other applicant in that sense but it might help.

Edit:
Just to expand, a soft footprint is based on limite information. If part of that limited info is missing, it is more likely to refer/decline than a full search that has a bit missing off.

hanfrangipane

Thanks Kirsty,

That was my understanding with Halifax but on their website it says it does credit search at 'Mortgage Promise' stage.

For now I have got an Intention to Lend from Natwest, which specifically said it was just a soft search. I have forwarded this to the Estate Agents and am praying that this is enough to have the property removed from sale.

Buys me the couple of weeks that I need to progress the Post Office application and make sure that the Council has done what it says it will do and has added me to the electoral register by the 1st August.

kingstreet

You want an AIP from a lender you have no intention of using just to buy you time until the electoral roll updates?

hanfrangipane

ACG wrote: »

Halifax do a soft footprint but part of the softprint is checking the voters roll i believe. If anything you would be better going to a lender who does a full credit check I imagine.

Speak to a broker. They could probably get this through straight away.

Alternatively have you thought about going to who you bank with? - certain lenders can be better whether you have a history with them, others treat you the same as any other applicant in that sense but it might help.

Edit:
Just to expand, a soft footprint is based on limite information. If part of that limited info is missing, it is more likely to refer/decline than a full search that has a bit missing off.

Hi ACG,

Thanks for the reply. As you will see from my latest post, I seem to have got something that I think will be enough from Natwest for now.

My initial application was done through a broker and I've now lost confidence in him since I asked if this electoral roll delay would be a problem and he brushed it off as not being an issue despite me expecitly stating my concerns.

I now plan to speak to the agent to see if they're happy to take the property off the market based on the Natwest Intention to Lend and then try and hold back slightly with the Post Office application and ask them to do the credit search after the 1st August, which is when I should be showing on the council records.

My understanding is that Experian updates daily as I called them last week, so it should show up promptly once the council records are updated.

hanfrangipane

kingstreet wrote: »

You want an AIP from a lender you have no intention of using just to buy you time until the electoral roll updates?

This is what the Estate Agent advised me to do - I'd rather not have to as I'd like to just choose my lender (Post Office) and progress with that.

But they just need SOMETHING to get the property taken off the market, which the Natwest calculator thing seems so have done as it has produced an email. The agent just wanted something sent directly from a bank, she wasn't bothered whether a search was done or not, she's just covering her back to have something on file.

amnblog

Ignoring your broker, doing what the vendor's estate agent suggests, and applying direct when you have already had problems being accepted does not sound smart to me.

hanfrangipane

amnblog wrote: »

Ignoring your broker, doing what the vendor's estate agent suggests, and applying direct when you have already had problems being accepted does not sound smart to me.

I haven't applied directly yet - I had called them to see what they could offer a few weeks back, knowing that my broker couldn't give us Post Office deals, and he was aware of this.

I called them again today to see what their stance was on Electoral Roll. They are ok with is as long as I can prove identity and are offering a better rate than what broker has found so far.

I've stepped up my own searches today since my Broker said this morning that he didn't know where to apply now. Given that his first application for me was to somewhere that categorically doesn't lend if you're not on the Electoral Roll (I called earlier to check), even though I'm not registered, I don't feel at ease to let him do any more applications on my behalf as he clearly hasn't listened to my initial concerns.

The only reason I'm following the EA 'advice' is to just try and keep the vendors happy whilst everything else gets sorted. All she wanted was what she calls an AIP, but in reality what she was asking for was confirmation of affordability, but I couldn't find a lender where they email you those results until today when I tried Natwest.

So I've not done an AIP any further than the affordability calc stage, and don't want to do that with anyone but the lender than I choose to use and have them do all the credit searches etc.

kingstreet

hanfrangipane wrote: »

knowing that my broker couldn't give us Post Office deals

Post Office have been dealing via brokers since 8 May.

http://www.postoffice4intermediaries.co.uk/

hanfrangipane

kingstreet wrote: »

Post Office have been dealing via brokers since 8 May.

http://www.postoffice4intermediaries.co.uk/

Ah - he said he couldn't do it. I will double check with him tonight! He's fee free/commission based - would that make a difference.

The agent has just called and said that she can accept the affordability calculation from Natwest to get the property off the market which is all I was trying to achieve today so that I have that breathing space until the 1st August.