Buyer's mortgage company

TheYoda

Mrs Yoda and I are selling our home to a buy-to-let company.

My buyer's mortgage company has written to Mrs Yoda (not me, and not us both) as follows:-
"XXXX is currently processing a mortgage application for a client who is looking to purchase your property.
"In order to validate the purchase, I would be grateful if you would contact me, upon receipt of this letter, on telephone number 0345 xxx xxxx."

I'm not happy about ringing, seems very peculiar. We've bought and sold a few times and can't remember anything like this before.

csgohan4

TheYoda wrote: »

Mrs Yoda and I are selling our home to a buy-to-let company.

My buyer's mortgage company has written to Mrs Yoda (not me, and not us both) as follows:-
"XXXX is currently processing a mortgage application for a client who is looking to purchase your property.
"In order to validate the purchase, I would be grateful if you would contact me, upon receipt of this letter, on telephone number 0345 xxx xxxx."

I'm not happy about ringing, seems very peculiar. We've bought and sold a few times and can't remember anything like this before.

Why not ask the Buyer via EA about this letter to ensure it is genuine. No reason why they would need to contact you

AdrianC

Pass to your solicitor.

davidmcn

Never encountered this before. When you say "mortgage company", do you mean a recognised lender? Which one? I would just pass to your solicitor (whose response ought to be more convincing anyway).

chunkytfg

have you googled the phone number?

silvercar

Why wouldn't you make a quick call if it assists your sale?

steampowered

ring them

It might be an anti-fraud thing to confirm that they are dealing with the people who live there.

Personally I would just ring them. At least you'd then know what the letter is all about.

Of course I wouldn't provide any personal details over the phone, apart from name and address which they already have.

G_M

Either pass to your solicitor, or write back.



They wrote to you, so you write back. Check that the address on the letter head is genuinely the address for whichever lender it is.


I wouldn't ring. No way to verify who you're speaking to really, and very easy to find yourself being asked to 'verify ID' and passing out personal info.

kingstreet

How are they going to book a valuation? Perhaps the application contained your wife's contact details?

Is there a selling agent?

Marvel1

something else

silvercar wrote: »

Why wouldn't you make a quick call if it assists your sale?

Id be googling the number first.

TheYoda

OK all, thanks for the replies and suggestions.
1. Yes I checked and double checked the number and the company - both appeared genuine.
2. I passed the letter to the Estate Agent.
3. He contacted them and verified why they were contacting us.
4. It is because the property is "unencumbered" (we don't have a mortgage) so they couldn't verify directly with another mortgage company.
5. They wouldn't deal with anyone other than us - this was a fraud prevention measure.
6. They verified information which was basically in the public domain and a tiny bit that wasn't (purchase price).
7. Their explanation as to why they had only Mrs Yoda's name was a bit woolly but they almost admitted that they hadn't actually looked at the paperwork properly.