What are my rights? Please help. We shouldn't get a mortgage in a first place?

Janzzz

Hello,
I have a bit complicated case and I'm wondering if it's worth to take legal action against the bank which gave us mortgage.

So, what happen.... we got a mortgage on the flat 9years ago from Halifax.
The flat was repossessed by halifax and we got the mortgage from them.
We had a large deposit of 30% of the value of the property, which maybe explains why they gave us mortgage even with the property that had only 63years lease left. Now, only 53 years left.

So, what the problem is? We didn't know and no-one ever told us about the fact of extending the lease would cost crazy money thanks to 'marriage value'. Also, no-one ever told us, that if you are trying to sell your property, they will not get the mortgage if the lease is under 80 or 70 years!

We only found those things now, when we want to sell... when freeholder asks for £60k for leashold extension (the flat is on Brighton seafront).

When we bought the property, we used the solicitor provided by Halifax. Neither Halifax or solicitors told us about the lease nightmares and complications.

We feel cheated, because we wouldn't buy the property if we knew that.
I know this is not an excuse, but we are not British and we simply didn't have a clue that something like lease exists and we definitely didn't know that we will not be able to sell it in the future as easily and for the right price, because no-one would get a mortgage for it!

We all heard about PPI scam... this to me, feels very similar.
We shouldn't get a mortgage in a first place? Should we?

So, the question is... is there any way to complain to Halifax? Who should be the people we should try to talk? Or is there any organisation that is looking at those cases?

Thank you so much.

kingstreet

The lender isn't responsible for your decision to purchase a leasehold property, or not.

The solicitor acting for you should have pointed out the remaining lease term and perhaps also to have indicated the implications of this to you. Was that the case?

Presumably, you went direct to a lender, avoided getting independent advice?

davidmcn

No, the Halifax isn't responsible for your decision to buy the property.

It's quite likely that the price you paid reflected the remaining term of the lease. Did you get your own valuation of the property? Did your solicitor really tell you nothing at all about the lease? Or have you just forgotten what they told you?

Janzzz

kingstreet wrote: »

The lender isn't responsible for your decision to purchase a leasehold property, or not.

The solicitor acting for you should have pointed out the remaining lease term and perhaps also to have indicated the implications of this to you. Was that the case?

Presumably, you went direct to a lender, avoided getting independent advice?

Thank you for your reply @kingstreet
I understand... we are responsible, however, noone told us that people don't get the mortgage on those kind of properties and obviously we got the mortgage. Really, really strange to me.
The solicitors were provided by the Halifax and we haven't been informed about any implications it would have to us.

nicmyles

You're right in that it is surprising they gave you the mortgage without this issue at least being highlighted to you. But lenders can decide to lend or not as they choose, regardless of circumstances. You took the mortgage, ergo your problem.
The real issue is whether the length of lease was clearly identified by your solicitor in the paperwork they provided - you should check back and see. I suspect it probably was, though, honestly. If you had any questions about it, it was your responsibility to ask them, and that they were answered to your satisfaction, I'm afraid.
If the terms of the lease really weren't correctly described in your paperwork, then you might have some form of negligence case against the solicitor, I suppose.

ReadingTim

Why is this a scam? You could pay to extend the lease, or sell the flat to someone who doesn't need a mortgage.

Just because you haven't made a profit on a property doesn't give any cause for complaint.

Janzzz

nicmyles wrote: »

You're right in that it is surprising they gave you the mortgage without this issue at least being highlighted to you. But lenders can decide to lend or not as they choose, regardless of circumstances. You took the mortgage, ergo your problem.
The real issue is whether the length of lease was clearly identified by your solicitor in the paperwork they provided - you should check back and see. I suspect it probably was, though, honestly. If you had any questions about it, it was your responsibility to ask them, and that they were answered to your satisfaction, I'm afraid.
If the terms of the lease really weren't correctly described in your paperwork, then you might have some form of negligence case against the solicitor, I suppose.

Thank you very much @nicmyles we will have to find what have been said.

Janzzz

ReadingTim wrote: »

Why is this a scam? You could pay to extend the lease, or sell the flat to someone who doesn't need a mortgage....

I'm not saying it's a scam @ReadingTim
I'm trying to find out what is my right at the moment. ...after all, my flat has currently value of around 75% thanks to Bank's own policy of not giving mortgages to properties with short lease. I wasn't obviously looking at this because we got the flat - we got the mortgage.
So, I paid 100% and I have only 75% but the rules were the same.

I know this is a bit tricky. I should have known more but I also feel that it's not exactly fair. So, I'm only trying to find if there is a case or not.
Thanks

lincroft1710

You have no reason to complain about Halifax. The mortgage was clearly affordable as you paid it for 9 years. Regarding the lease, you will probably be wasting your time trying to pursue the solicitor. Put this behind you, learn from it and move on to the next stage in your life

davidmcn

Janzzz wrote: »

So, I paid 100% and I have only 75%

As I asked above, are you sure you paid "100%"? Or did you pay a price which reflected the short term of the lease? Did it seem relatively cheap at the time?

Crashy_Time

ReadingTim wrote: »

Why is this a scam? You could pay to extend the lease, or sell the flat to someone who doesn't need a mortgage.

Just because you haven't made a profit on a property doesn't give any cause for complaint.

Sounds like you have been spending too much time over at HPC HQ.