Has Santander lied to me?

The_Deep

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]I am moving house shortly and wish to port my existing mortgage to the new property. The mortgage is for .>£90,000.00 so LTV is about 12%.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]
[/FONT] [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]To this end on 18[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]th[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif] September I applied for portage and over the next 16 days provided all the documents requested and spent several hours on the telephone to Santander staff.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Among the documents I was asked to produce were bank statements, rental agreements for the three let properties which I own, and details of a trust fund I set up for my children which owes me £25,000. [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]My wife and I have a substantial income will be able to repay the mirtgage in full, (it is interest only) out of saving when it expires in five years. . [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]I was advised that, in order to port my mortgage I must pay off the existing mortgage. Naturally, I assumed that this would be paid from the proceeds from the sale of my house which was calcutated would realise an excess of £186,000 after all expenses hqd been met.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]However, on 4[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]th[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif] October I received and email asking me to account for a further savings of £20,000. I telephoned Santander and was told that, unless I was able to pay off the old mortgage from savings I would not qualify for a new mortgage. I asked why I could not pay off the old mortgage from the proceeds of the sale of my house and was told that Financial Conduct Authority regulations did not allow this. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]
[/FONT][/FONT] [FONT=Times New Roman, serif][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Thinking this very odd, I wrote to the FCA and asked them why this was. They have written back to say that, as far as they are aware, no such regulations exist,[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]
[/FONT][/FONT] [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]If, as I suspect, Santander have misled me I shall regard this as a very serious matter indeed and may take action against them.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]
[/FONT] [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Have others encountered this condition?[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]
[/FONT]

YHM

I would expected, that this would come down to what you initially disclosed as your repayment strategy / vehicle with your original Interest Only (IO) Mortgage.

If they have you down as using savings as your repayment strategy on your original mortgage offer, and then you don't use savings, but instead use sale proceeds, they may see this as you breaching the original terms of the mortgage offer and may use this as a way to not continue the facility further. Lenders don't like IO due to regulatory pressures, so if they can get out of extending this facility to you, I think they will try.

In terms of the FCA not allowing sale proceeds as a repayment strategy, that isn't accurate. Some lenders do still allow this as an active repayment strategy, so it cannot be an FCA issue. This sounds more like a localised Santander issue and you potentially getting an inexperienced member of staff who just quoted FCA as a fallback...

The_Deep

Thank you YHM, most useful.

There has been no breach on my part as a few months ago, before my existing house was sold, they asked me how I intended to repay the original mortgage when it became due. I replied I had several l options, savings, from the sale of another property, or from mortgaging an unencumbered property.

The mortgage is for £90,000 the property is today worth £625,000, I am at a loss to see why I should have to commit today to an event five years in the future.

I very much suspect that you are right about the advisor(s) lacking experience. One told me my mortgage was not a flexible mortgaga when it clearly states that it is, they knew nothing about tax efficient mortgages, Trust Funds, Loans in Trust, etc., and seemed interested only in selling me a more expensive product. My current mortgage is a tracker at 0.50% above base so they are not making any money off me.

I have set out what they must do to put the matters right, failing which, complaints will be sent to the BO and FCA.

amnblog

This sounds like a miss-communication, miss-understanding, which someone with a little experience at the lenders end should resolve.

Thrugelmir

The_Deep wrote: »

My current mortgage is a tracker at 0.50% above base so they are not making any money off me.

Which explains their reluctance to port the product to a new mortgage. From a business perspective totally uneconomic. Fully understandable. There's no right to porting. At the discretion of the lender.

The_Deep

Having been an Immigration Officer in Lagos and Bangladesh for several years dealing with some devious people it sounds to me like lies.

I believe that it has all been recorded and I am satisfied that there was no "miscommunication" either way.

I expect that staff are under pressure to get rid o ultra low interest rate trackers. They seemed quite ready to sell me a more expensive product.

The_Deep

There's no right to porting. At the discretion of the lender.

Perhaps, but customers have a right not to be lied to.

Look how much being economical with the truth over PPI cost them, and was there not some unpleasantness some years ago about excessive end of life fees?

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-1606732/Mortgage-fees-How-much-are-you-owed.html

The_Deep

Result.

Ombudsman awarded me £300 compensation

stator

I'm sure it was worth the effort

Thrugelmir

The_Deep wrote: »

Result.

Ombudsman awarded me £300 compensation

Did you port the mortgage in the end?

John_G_Jones

The_Deep wrote: »

Result.

Ombudsman awarded me £300 compensation

As long as you didn’t spend more than three or four hours on it that’s a reasonable outcome.