Mortgage data protection breach

GT376

Hello,

I was hoping for some advice on a hugely stressful situation my husband and I are currently in. We are first time buyers, we applied to a high street lender for a mortgage, via a broker, they completed their free basic survey, a very ambiguous report was made and we were notified a there was a retention placed on the property. Unbeknown to us the vendor was also a mortgage advisor (obviously not ours) and worked in a different part of the county, not for the same company or any affiliated company to ours. She went into the estate agent and caused somewhat of a scene stating the mortgage was not declined due to the survey it was due to “x,y&z” listing a lot of very personal and accurate details of my husbands finacial circumstance. Which were also flagged up as concerns by the lender.

The estate agents informed us that she had access to information she shouldn’t have, also a manager from the HS lender who the vendor deals with on a daily basis contacted our broker informing us of the outcome of the application. It appeared he accessed the file when he had no reason to. I assume he or someone their area provided her with the information however the HS lender state they have no email trail to prove this happened and are dismissing there even was a data breach. The estate agent and my mortgage broker are all happy to provide statements as to what information they received.

Is there anything I should be doing as the HS lenders have “investigated” and closed the complaint with NFA.

TIA

IAmWales

If they can demonstrate that they have done relevant checks and can find no evidence of a breach, then if you wish to pursue this, you need to prove there was.

Or you could just let it go and get on with your life.

dunstonh

This is very much an evidence-based complaint. If there is no evidence that physical data was passed over, then they cant really uphold the complaint. Assumptions of what may have happened carry no weight.

Is there any physical evidence backing up your allegations?

ACG

A retention is not a decline, so I would be a surprised a broker went in and said it had been declined due to anything. I would expect them to know the difference.

I have never known a retention to be due to an individuals personal circumstances, I could be wrong but I am sure it would always be down to the property.

Dont forget, the agent works for the vendor. So it could even be them who had loose tongues. Make a complaint to the lender. If everyone is saying it is the lender who has made the mistake then call them and ask them to investigate.

GT376

Thanks all,

The mortgage was not declined due to the retention we just didn’t have the £25k they wanted, the other issues they had with my husbands length of self employment may have been surficed with additional information but it was pointless as the retention would have remained. The only proof there would be is the estate agents as they called us and the mortgage broker to let us know the vendor had been in their office shouting with a bunch of papers in her hand, she told them the lender had declined due to the length of my husbands self employment and some other factors.

The lender has confirmed that her manager had no need or right to access the application and yet he did?

Fiesto88

Since it would appear you have already made a complaint it’s a case of expressing to the lender that you are not satisfied with the outcome. If they cannot or will not investigate the matter further, you’d need to take the matter to the ombudsman.

But I’d say you’ll need more evidence. At the moment, all you have is hearsay. And you don’t state what the circumstances your vendor has allegedly disclosed to the EA are. Are they things that they could have deduced from informations you’ve given away in your previous dealings with them? If so, it sounds more like they’ve jumped to conclusions, added two and two together to get five and gone in all guns blazing.

GT376

Thank you,

The estate agents are willing to document the conversation they had with her, other than that I was only told about it by them.

She knew about our deposit amount, my husbands tax bill and his difference in profits from year one to year two.

I appreciate your advice I think it would need more evidence but in reality we got a mortgage with Halifax for another property so in the grand scheme of things we can move past it, just didn’t know if there was more the lender should have done.

Thanks

Fiesto88

If she was aware of the drop in profits, as a mortgage adviser, she’d probably already convinced herself that it would cause an issue. So first whiff of a hitch (the retention) and she’s jumped to conclusions and assumed you were declined.

That’s honestly what I think has happened. Be very careful about what you tell EAs and vendors about your own financial circumstances - beyond whether you can fund a deposit and have a DIP for the balance of the purchase price it’s none of their business.

EDIT just realised you might have meant she knows that stuff now and you don’t know how - not that she already knew it upfront.

In which case, it depends how concerned you are. You say you have a mortgage with Halifax now so i’m assuming you’re going ahead with this purchase. In which case, are you concerned enough to risk souring relations by pressing the matter? If you are, then I can only suggest starting with the Estate Agent and insisting they get to the bottom of how she knew this information. If it does transpire that it’s come from an employee of the original mortgage lender, then press harder with them. If anybody has accessed your mortgage application who shouldn’t have done, their audit records would show that.