Broker Error - What to do?

kingstreet

If you declare a piece of income, the lender will want to assess and verify it.

We wouldn't enter that income if it wasn't required as the mortgage is affordable without it and it couldn't be properly evidenced.

You need tremendous attention to detail to do this job properly and some people just don't have it. Once we have been out to "sign-up" a client, the pre-submission preparation can run to hours ensuring every detail matches the selected lender's criteria and we can answer any aspect of the applicant's circumstances should it be put to us post-submission.

jdc23

So it looks like there is quite a variance between the Natwest calculators and the achieveable borrowing. Just had an email from our brokers assistant saying that Natwest have assessed our application without my bonuses and the maximum they could lend would be £206,767. This is a shortfall of just over £20,000 from what we need to purchase the property.

The broker is now insisting that I need to find some evidence of my bonus income so they can make up the shortfall. However, if I calculate this out Natwest are only lending at 4.01x income, so therefore even if I could evidence bonus income for the last two years this would only come to just over £9,000.

I don't know what to do? Should I tell my broker to find another lender? If I do this will be our 3rd attempt at a mortgage application and I'm getting a little worried about all the search history.

ACG

Affordability calculators are not that simple. The lower part of your income will give a lower multiple than the higher bit - the lower bit covers the basics (food, bills etc).

As there is no calculationm made public it is impossible to work it out for yourself.

If your broker is asking you for something that does not exist, tell them. If they are asking for something that does exist then give it to them and see where you end up.

kingstreet

If the amount being offered doesn't match the affordability calculator, are there any credit commitments which have recently been reduced or repaid?

If the lender is seeing out of date data on your credit file, it may think you have more credit than you do/will from completion and will reduce your mortgage affordability accordingly.

jdc23

There is lot showing on our credit reports that has actually been repaid. There is also a couple of credit card balances outstanding that we have told the broker will be cleared by completion.

I have been very clear about these though and have confirmed all in writing.

I know the calculators can only be a guide, but I thought they were reasonably accurate. The difference between our calculated figure and our actual offered borrowing is £43,000 though.

kingstreet

The only time I ever find broker calculators to be out compared with the full application is when there is credit which has been repaid/reduced and the lender is still seeing old data, as I said.

Not so long ago we had a case where the old car finance had been repaid, but not updated on Equifax and a new car finance plan started. The result was the lender was counting both agreements as ongoing.

Once we knew, we could action it, but not many people obtain all three versions of their credit file and fully understand what lenders are seeing when they search.

jdc23

When I check my Experian credit report there is about £5000 showing as outstanding that has actually been repaid. I am concerned that the lender could be considering all this as still outstanding and that this is hurting our affordability. Maybe I should confirm this with our broker again.

kingstreet

jdc23 wrote: »

When I check my Experian credit report there is about £5000 showing as outstanding that has actually been repaid. I am concerned that the lender could be considering all this as still outstanding and that this is hurting our affordability. Maybe I should confirm this with our broker again.

Yes, but what does your Equifax file say as that is what NatWest searches, not Experian?