I have been given the wrong information from the bank

badmash1

Hi new to the forum (hope I am posting this in the right place)

2 years ago I applied to buy my flat under the right to acquire scheme. I am a first time buyer so I am new to the property game.
The housing association valued it at £55,000 meaning I would get it for £45,000

I went to my bank who told me that I would still need a 5% deposit so I went away and saved about a year and a half later I had the deposit.
Only by this time the housing association valued it at £77,000 meaning I would now be getting it for £67,000
I went back to the bank and saw a different person, who told me that I don't need a deposit as my discount would be my deposit.

So because they have given me the wrong information I have lost out on £22,000
I wrote a complaint to the bank who want to know who I saw the 1st time I went in. I can't remember but surely they should have a record of a formal sit down?? They also want the 1st offer letter which I have.

I'm new to all this but I feel I have been hard done by, by the housing and the bank.

Any advice would be appreciated Cheers

minimike2

It is possible that the bank changed its lending policy in that 18 months, so there might have been no mistake made. It could also be possible that the most recent person you spoke to is wrong.

Some lenders allow the discount to act as deposit and some still require a deposit from the purchasers own resources. It is not uncommon for such a requirement to change either way depending on the lenders appetite for that kind of mortgage lending.

dunstonh

I went back to the bank and saw a different person, who told me that I don't need a deposit as my discount would be my deposit.

That may be their criteria now but it may not have been two years ago.

I wrote a complaint to the bank who want to know who I saw the 1st time I went in. I can't remember but surely they should have a record of a formal sit down?? They also want the 1st offer letter which I have.

There are probably reference numbers on the offer letter which they can use to identify the individual.

davidmcn

badmash1 wrote: »

I went to my bank who told me that I would still need a 5% deposit so I went away and saved about a year and a half later I had the deposit.

Despite the fact it was going to take you a year and a half to save your deposit, you had only bothered to ask one person at one bank about getting a mortgage?

I can't see that you've got much of a case here - the banks would all have gone bust by now if they were liable for hypothetical profits people might have made if they had borrowed more money. Even if their current policy applied then, there may have been other reasons for why they wouldn't have lent to you, or why you wouldn't have proceeded with the purchase.

I'm new to all this but I feel I have been hard done by, by the housing and the bank.

What problem do you have with the housing association?

glosoli

badmash1 wrote: »

Hi new to the forum (hope I am posting this in the right place)

2 years ago I applied to buy my flat under the right to acquire scheme. I am a first time buyer so I am new to the property game.
The housing association valued it at £55,000 meaning I would get it for £45,000

I went to my bank who told me that I would still need a 5% deposit so I went away and saved about a year and a half later I had the deposit.
Only by this time the housing association valued it at £77,000 meaning I would now be getting it for £67,000
I went back to the bank and saw a different person, who told me that I don't need a deposit as my discount would be my deposit.

So because they have given me the wrong information I have lost out on £22,000
I wrote a complaint to the bank who want to know who I saw the 1st time I went in. I can't remember but surely they should have a record of a formal sit down?? They also want the 1st offer letter which I have.

I'm new to all this but I feel I have been hard done by, by the housing and the bank.

Any advice would be appreciated Cheers

Did you not do any research a year ago into lenders who would offer 100% of the purchase price? There are a number of lenders who do it...

ACG

The housing association have done nothing wrong.
The bank may have, but lenders criteria changes over time - I have hundreds of emails from lenders telling me about criteria changes - so it could be that the criteria at the time was to need a 5% deposit.

The problem you have is that, even if the person you spoke to was wrong, there is no guarantee you would have been accepted and added to that, there are other lenders. So unless they were the only lender available to you at the time, you have not lost out on £22k beause of their mistake, you have lost out on whatever products they had available. You could have gone to another lender and obtained a mortgage (in theory).

I would be VERY surprised if the lender gave you even 10% of the £22k. Let the bank investigate the complaint and go from there.