Fines for leaving mortgage early

mover16

Hi all,

I know this is probably a long shot but thought I'd ask just in case...

Myself and my husband bought our first house 3 years ago with a 4-year fixed mortgage from Nationwide. Our situation has changed and we're now selling the house and not transferring the mortgage. As a result of leaving our mortgage early we're looking at having to pay thousands of pounds to the bank. Does anyone know of any loopholes or ways we might possibly be able to get around this?

Thanks!

tacpot12

You signed up to a contract that should have made the penalties for early repayment clear. The best you could hope to do is to look at the contract to see if there is any uncertainty as to when the penalties are payable.

You might have some leverage if the penalties are excessively severe. How is the penalty payment worded? (It is often described in terms of the number of days interest that is chargeable)

ACG

Early Repayment Charges are not normally avoidable.
They are in the KFI and Mortgage offer - both of which you get before you complete.

It is your choice to redeem the mortgage and yours also to not port the mortgage to the new property. It is you who is wanting to break the terms of your contract early. Can you not ask to port the mortgage with you to the new property? Even if you do not need it, it is probably cheaper than paying the ERCs. That will not work if you do need a mortgage and are choosing a different lender.

AnotherJoe

It's two way contract, equally binding on both parties, so no, otherwise Nationwide could find a loophole amd equally say "hey you know what we fancy raising your payments by £1,000 a month".