Mortgage Rejection Query

alphapapa_2

Hi all,

I appreciate I am a new poster, but I wanted to get some advice from those in the know. I would be very grateful for any assistance!

I am a British expat, living and working in Hong Kong for the last 2 years. I bank with HSBC. A colleague of mine recently completed a purchase of a Buy to Let property, using the HSBC expat mortgage service. Seeing as UK based expat mortgages are very expensive to arrange, I thought it would be a good idea to follow his lead and invest some money in my own BTL property. Incidentally, he works for the same company as me, in the same job and has the same HSBC Advance account that I do.

In short, my mortgage application has been rejected because 'I do not have an HSBC premier account'. As a result I am now down a significant amount of money in solicitors fees, not to mention wasting the vendors time, and my own.

When I made the initial inquiry to get a DIP, I told every person I spoke to that I only had an HSBC advance account, and I was assured that it wouldn't be a problem. So to find that my application has been rejected because of this makes me feel like I have been led astray. I spoke to the underwriter today, who said that she would have no issue lending me the money, the only problem was the wrong account type.

My question is now, where do I stand? I feel I have done nothing wrong; my application was in good faith and at no time did I try to hide any financial aspects. I have no reason to! Clearly if I had known from the beginning that only HSBC Premier account holders could apply, then I wouldn't have made the application in the first place. Also, why has my application been allowed to go so far? Surely at the DIP stage, something as basic as account type should be picked up?

Am I wrong to feel aggrieved?

Thanks very much in advance for your assistance.

AP

alphapapa_2

Anyone got anything on this?

tlc678910

I can't pretend to know anything about this but as even the briefest explanation of your circumstance shows you would not be approved (if they have stated to you clearly written or verbal that the reason you were rejected was the wrong account type) then I think you should write to them outlining your experience and ask for your application fee back as well as other out of pocket expenses and possibly compensation for your time and stress (when you could have been purchasing through another company. The danger is if you don't have any proof they may say your application failed for a different reason so if it was verbal try to state by who, the day, time and exactly what was said. If the decline and reason was written send them a copy and keep the original.

If it was the case that your basic circumstances were not suitable for the product it would feel to me like my application fee was stolen. How can a fee be justified for stamping "wrong account" on the paper.

Anyway I would write and tell them you are giving them a chance to settle this with you and await their fast response before you pass it on to the financial ombudsman. You could even cc the Ombudsman to your letter (and let the bank know this). It may not be the correct chain of process but I think it would make their response quite swift.

You have had shoddy service so it is worth a go.

Good luck

jonesMUFCforever

Can you not open a Premier account or convert your existing account?

alphapapa_2

Thank you for the responses. I just wanted to check that I was not being unreasonable!

I'm now being told that the mortgage rejection is to do with my affordability criteria, NOT account type. I am being told to contact the underwriter to discuss the case, however the underwriter told me personally that they were happy to lend the money and that I did meet their criteria. She told me to contact the broker/adviser in Hong Kong to discuss it because it had been refused because of my account type.

So, it seems to me that no one actually knows what they are doing. It's endangering my prospective purchase, not to mention causing stress and tension.

I can accept not meeting lending criteria, what I cannot accept is being passed from pillar to post, and being told conflicting information. I am considering sucking up the £400 solicitors fees deposit, and cancelling the whole application.

Would I have a valid claim for compensation in this case?

TrickyDicky101

They might make a discretionary payment to you for the trouble caused, but it doesn't sound to me like they would be duty-bound (or legally liable) to pay you anything.

Thrugelmir

I'm surprised that you managed to speak directly with an underwriter. Likewise that they said " they were happy to lend the money and that I did meet their criteria".

Your solicitor shouldn't have spent any of the money yet. As this will be for searches that won't be conducted until a mortgage offer is on the table.

Suggest that you contact broker who specialises in matters expat and that can direct you to the right lender for your circumstances.

alphapapa_2

TrickyDicky101 wrote: »

They might make a discretionary payment to you for the trouble caused, but it doesn't sound to me like they would be duty-bound (or legally liable) to pay you anything.

I agree with you actually, I suppose my problem is with the lack of customer service that's been offered, and also that no one wants to take ownership of customers needs.

Thrugelmir - yes I have had the underwriters number, who has been assigned to my case for a little while now, and I have to say that she has been helpful, but it seems her hands are tied. I'm a little confused as to the conflicting information I am receiving, however, trying to get to the bottom of it seems very hard indeed! As I mentioned, no one has full ownership of the case and therefore it seems difficult to know exactly who is making what decisions.

I shall keep going with it though, and try and make some sense of it all.