Mortgage Offer Conditions

Gem_M90

Hi all, sorry if there's already been recent threads about this... I had a quick search but couldn't see anything recent. 
I have had my mortgage offer through from Halifax with the following condition
"You have declared an intention to repay some or all of your outstanding credit commitments. Your mortgage application summary details the total monthly amount of credit commitments you have to repay on or before completion". 
Now, I had some ongoing issues with Halifax. First of all, I had to switch to the broker recommended by my home builder as my own independent broker didn't work with Help to Buy (Scotland). Since switching to them I was uneasy as I was passed about from person to person. They didn't ask for a copy of my up to date credit report, and simply asked me for my current credit commitments and based their application on this. The application went to underwriters and it was flagged for undeclared credit. It transpired there was still around £4500 in credit showing on my file which I'd paid off but it hadn't updated for 3 months. That was fine, and the broker resubmitted to include all credit listed on my credit report. He asked me if I could pay off everything on there before completion. I'd already paid half of what was on there and told him I'd certainly do all I could to pay the remaining £4500 on there but I wasn't confident the whole lot would be clear (completion will be February) due to the increased deposit we had to put down. 
I think he's gone ahead and ticked that it would be clear anyway. Now I have my offer, but with the condition mentioned above. 
Basically what I want to know is, will Halifax check this before completion (Ive read many posts saying they don't) and if they do, if I've cleared 75% of what was on my report at application and not added more credit, will this be satisfactory for them? This would still be within affordability according to their calculators. Obviously I'll aim to clear as much as I can, I just wanted to hear of people's experiences. 

FLB2796

I was under the impression it’s the solicitors job to check this, I’m clearing some debts on completion as well so I’m interested to know as well.

Gem_M90

My solicitor has said the condition won't stop him drawing down the funds in order to exchange but that it was my brokers job to tell me what he was putting on the application and he shouldn't have entered anything I couldn't commit to. Which I totally agree with. I wasn't happy with this broker from the start when they didn't want my credit report when I asked, I found that strange but I was stuck by this point as it was never my intention to go for a new build property and when my own broker didn't work with help to buy I just took the home builders broker. I'm reading that some brokers simply tick that it will be cleared in order to get the application through and that they know certain lenders don't check its been done on completion. 
If I've cleared 75% of what was in my credit report and I'm within the affordability I can't see why Halifax would decline it to be fair... I have 68% LTV 

davidmcn

Gem_M90 said:

Basically what I want to know is, will Halifax check this before completion

No - read the condition again, it says "on or before completion" - it permits you to settle the debt simultaneously with completion (which is what many people do), so there's no way the Halifax can check before completion. Whether they ever check after completion, I don't know - I doubt they do so routinely. But there's much less they can do about it at that stage anyway.

Gem_M90

davidmcn said:

Gem_M90 said:

Basically what I want to know is, will Halifax check this before completion

No - read the condition again, it says "on or before completion" - it permits you to settle the debt simultaneously with completion (which is what many people do), so there's no way the Halifax can check before completion. Whether they ever check after completion, I don't know - I doubt they do so routinely. But there's much less they can do about it at that stage anyway.

Ah OK, that makes sense. I did wonder how they'd go about checking ON completion. 

Gem_M90

Another question on this I thought about and wondered what people's experiences are. What proof would Halifax ask for to evidence the payments being made? Would screenshots of cleared balances be accepted? 
I'm just wondering because the condition sounds as though I have basically until the day of completion to pay the credit. I've already paid more than half but with all the other general expenses of buying a 1st house its going to take me the full timeframe to clear the rest. If they use credit reports to check, obviously these can take some time to update so if I dont pay until the week of completion, the balances won't be cleared on my credit report. I was wondering if simple screenshots would do.
I have spoke to my solicitor briefly, he doesn't seem overly bothered about it to be honest and has basically said its upto me to clear whatever the broker has said I'll clear and that if Halifax request evidence he'll ask me for it at the time. 

shakAFC

I had the same condition on with my Halifax offer but I don’t have any debt. The only thing showing on my file is £106 for my car insurance. When I asked my solicitor she said to ignore it as it doesn’t apply. 

Gem_M90

Does anyone who's experienced this have knowledge of what a lender will accept as evidence of payments being made before completion? Currently I'm being passed about between the broker and solicitor and can't seem to get a definitive answer. 
As I'll be making repayments until the time of completion, my credit report will still show balances if Halifax run a check on this prior to completion as it won't have updated to reflect the most recent payments.  Therefore, will they accept screenshots of balances being paid etc? I'm assuming from what others have said, Halfax will ask my solicitor to seek evidence of payments and then it will be upto my solicitor to confirm its paid, but he can't seem to tell me what evidence I'll need to show either. 

davidmcn

Gem_M90 said:

Does anyone who's experienced this have knowledge of what a lender will accept as evidence of payments being made before completion? Currently I'm being passed about between the broker and solicitor and can't seem to get a definitive answer. 
As I'll be making repayments until the time of completion, my credit report will still show balances if Halifax run a check on this prior to completion as it won't have updated to reflect the most recent payments.  Therefore, will they accept screenshots of balances being paid etc? I'm assuming from what others have said, Halfax will ask my solicitor to seek evidence of payments and then it will be upto my solicitor to confirm its paid, but he can't seem to tell me what evidence I'll need to show either. 

Like I said above, I very much doubt you'll ever have to produce anything to the Halifax, so I think you're worrying unnecessarily.

Gem_M90

davidmcn said:

Gem_M90 said:

Does anyone who's experienced this have knowledge of what a lender will accept as evidence of payments being made before completion? Currently I'm being passed about between the broker and solicitor and can't seem to get a definitive answer. 
As I'll be making repayments until the time of completion, my credit report will still show balances if Halifax run a check on this prior to completion as it won't have updated to reflect the most recent payments.  Therefore, will they accept screenshots of balances being paid etc? I'm assuming from what others have said, Halfax will ask my solicitor to seek evidence of payments and then it will be upto my solicitor to confirm its paid, but he can't seem to tell me what evidence I'll need to show either. 

Like I said above, I very much doubt you'll ever have to produce anything to the Halifax, so I think you're worrying unnecessarily.

Perhaps, and I appreciate that, however my broker has simply said the amounts they've declared will need to be repaid with no more guidance than that. It will be repaid, I just wanted to know which evidence I should prepare for hence asking if anyone has had the experience of this. Logic tells me they won't even check, because at 68% LTV its a relatively "low risk" mortgage offer for them and I imagine they'll have plenty more to be dealing with than pulling mortgage offers for a couple grand credit balance. However, I only want to be prepared for the scenario that they do indeed run another check before completion and my credit report is yet to update and still shows balances remaining.

davidmcn

Gem_M90 said:

davidmcn said:

Gem_M90 said:

Does anyone who's experienced this have knowledge of what a lender will accept as evidence of payments being made before completion? Currently I'm being passed about between the broker and solicitor and can't seem to get a definitive answer. 
As I'll be making repayments until the time of completion, my credit report will still show balances if Halifax run a check on this prior to completion as it won't have updated to reflect the most recent payments.  Therefore, will they accept screenshots of balances being paid etc? I'm assuming from what others have said, Halfax will ask my solicitor to seek evidence of payments and then it will be upto my solicitor to confirm its paid, but he can't seem to tell me what evidence I'll need to show either. 

Like I said above, I very much doubt you'll ever have to produce anything to the Halifax, so I think you're worrying unnecessarily.

However, I only want to be prepared for the scenario that they do indeed run another check before completion and my credit report is yet to update and still shows balances remaining.

But the condition allows you to have the balances remaining before completion, because it doesn't require them to have been settled until completion actually happens. So it would be pointless for the Halifax to check. Which is why they don't.

If they run any further check before completion, it will be to spot new matters on your credit report, not the stuff they already know about.