Mortgage offer renewal rejected due to late payments

binky21

Hi MSE,

My Fianc!e and I started the process of buying a new build flat at the beginning of the year using the Help to Buy scheme. Everything was going perfectly; our initial mortgage offer went through without a hitch, we exchanged contracts, and we've been playing the waiting game before completing in September/October. We always knew that we'd have to renew our mortgage offer in July, as the offer only lasts six months, but our Broker assured us that these are usually incredibly quick and we shouldn't face any problems.

Fast forward to the beginning of this week, I get a call from our Broker telling me that our offer has been rejected due to "adverse credit data". I went through both of our credit files and I found three late payment marks on my Fianc!e's report that were placed on there by Orange between our initial offer and our renewal. I talked to her about this, and we found that this was for an iPad Sim card contract that we got a demands letter for in April/June of this year, which was paid off immediately and promptly cancelled.

We phoned Orange/EE on Monday night, and we found that the root cause of the issue occurred during October/November 2014 when she upgraded her phone contract. Orange/EE cancelled the existing Direct Debit and reinstated it incorrectly, only charging her for the phone and not the iPad Sim. The Customer Services team have confirmed that they made a mistake and have put us in touch with their Credit Referrals team to have these marks removed.

Our only problem now is time. Orange/EE are claiming the removal process can take up to 20 working days from their end, and that doesn't include the amount of time it might take for the marks to disappear from her report. Plus, there still isn't any guarantee that they'll remove the marks.

To make matters worse, I accepted a new job offer about about 12 days ago. I start the new role on September 23rd, so this would complicate things if we have to start looking for a new lender who specialises in bad credit.

Our plan is to try and get these marks removed ASAP and apply with a different lender in parallel so we have a back-up offer in place. Aside from this, I am genuinely terrified that we're going to lose our house, to the point where I'm barely sleeping and I can't concentrate at work.

Has anyone experienced anything similar to this and come out the other side?

lee111s

I suggest you request a letter from EE confirming that it was their mistake and that they have now requested the incorrect data to be removed from your credit history.


This should be sufficient for your lender however I would get your broker to speak to the lender to check this will be acceptable.

stephenni1971

Your broker was wrong to say that getting an offer renewal would be no problem.

There is always the risk that exactly was has happen to you could happen - which is why I tell my clients its better to wait and not submit the application until completion date is within the offer term.

Unfortunately I have seen a few builders insist on an offer up to a year before completion ( and a contract signed ) and in both cases I told my client only to sign if there was a clause releasing them from their contract if they could not secure a mortgage nearer the time.

What can you do? Without the offending information removed from your credit file it will be difficult enough. There are a few lenders who will ignore arrears on bills from communication providers but ideally you want to stick to mainstream lenders. Of course even if you sort the EE bill the fact you have handed in your resignation and are due to start a new job in September will add it's own problems...

binky21

Hi Stepheeni1971,

Thanks for your comments.

That's exactly what happened to us. The builders insisted on a fixed period between reservation and exchanging, which got us into this mess in the first place. I believe our contract states that we're able to back-out of the contract if we are unable to procure a mortgage, but I'll double check this. Of course this is the last thing that I want to happen, but at least it provides us with a safety net.

We're currently playing the waiting game with Orange/EE. Their customer services team have confirmed the mistake and have engaged with their Credit Referrals team, so hopefully we'll receive some sort of communication soon that we can forward on to the lender.