Due diligence on purchasers borrowing chances

Just1n71

Our house sale has just collapsed after nearly 6 weeks of being STC. We have just found out our buyer only has an Indian Passport with no right to reside and who knows what other factors would prevent him getting a mortgage which turns out he can't. What I don't understand is how he can get a mortgage in principal if he was never going to get a mortgage with his circumstances. Surely there should be thorough checks by the estate agent and mortgage broker before he could even possibly be considered to move forward in making an offer. We have now lost out financially and probably will lose out on the house we were hoping to buy. Surely the law needs to be changed to prevent this sort of thing. I hope someone can help me understand why this sort of things can happen and if there is something that I can do .
Thankyou 

maisie_cat

I would think that the estate agents didn't do a thorough job, we had a sale fall through last summer where the AIP was in one name only and it turned out that the other party couldn't get a mortgage.

davidmcn

Had anyone told you that they had made such checks?

kingstreet

Funnily enough, if you ask on here more people would view greater scrutiny by agents as an invasion of privacy. You see lots of threads about EAs asking for stuff they have no right to. This is the other side of the coin.

[Deleted User]

The presence of a passport with no indefinite right to remain is not a reason to not get a mortgage.  There would be no real way to find out the real reason it declined.  

Even with all manner of checks on AIP and speaking to the client there is always things that can crop up and decline a case.  Some people also go direct and get declined and then call it quits thinking they cant get a mortgage, they may have been able to get a mortgage but just not with the lender they chose.  

Its unfortunate its happened to you but in reality its a risk that cant be completely removed from the process.  Just in the same way that deals collapse due to lease details, or title issues, or survey issues, or missing documentation for things.  

Just1n71

davidmcn said:

Had anyone told you that they had made such checks?

This is purple bricks so you just have to presume they just do the basic checks. Will never use them again. They don't care as they get their money either way. I'm sure when things are straight forward it works well for some. 

hazyjo

Did he actually have an AIP? I've never provided one, and bought 8 or 9 properties over the years.

Can't imagine PB doing much in the way of checks. What do their terms say?

Cakeguts

I would be very surprised if an Indian citizen was not allowed to buy a holiday home in the UK.

AdrianC

Cakeguts said:

I would be very surprised if an Indian citizen was not allowed to buy a holiday home in the UK.

...or a BtL. Or a property for a family member to reside in.

Surrey_EA

Just1n71 said:

davidmcn said:

Had anyone told you that they had made such checks?

This is purple bricks so you just have to presume they just do the basic checks.   don't do any checks of any sort.

...

MCI

Deleted_User said:

The presence of a passport with no indefinite right to remain is not a reason to not get a mortgage.  There would be no real way to find out the real reason it declined.  

Even with all manner of checks on AIP and speaking to the client there is always things that can crop up and decline a case.  Some people also go direct and get declined and then call it quits thinking they cant get a mortgage, they may have been able to get a mortgage but just not with the lender they chose.  

Its unfortunate its happened to you but in reality its a risk that cant be completely removed from the process.  Just in the same way that deals collapse due to lease details, or title issues, or survey issues, or missing documentation for things.  

That's true about the indefinite leave to remain--i don't yet have ilr and got a mortgage here. But if he has no right to reside aka no Visa at all I could see him running into problems. For what it's worth my Visa was checked by our mortgage broker and the estate agent. I don't know which providers would offer a mortgage to someone without a visa. I guess I figured foreign buyers with holiday homes here were cash buyers.