Issues with mortgage funds being released day before completion

Alexreid41

Hi there - we are due to complete on our move tomorrow and we are the top of a chain of three. The date was seemingly agreed with all parties last week but we haven't exchanged contracts yet. Last Friday we were told the solicitors at the bottom of the chain were awaiting some documents about gifted deposit but my sols/and my buyers sols were still preparing for completion tomorrow. Yesterday after numerous emails between myself and my sols and me and my buyer it appears that there are "some issues around the lender releasing mortgage funds in time for tomorrow" - this is the position of the person at the bottom of the chain.
My worries now are that something has cropped up with mortgage which could lead to the whole sale collapsing. Also, what should the cut off point be around whether we are moving tomorrow or not? Surely, if it gets to the end of the day and we have had no further update we can assume exchange/completion is off the cards for tomorrow. We have all the house packed up and a van due to pick up later today but currently feels like we're in limbo with not much information being provided about the time it will take to get sorted.
My solicitor tells me she can' find out what the issues are because it's not out buyers solicitors. It feels like everything has been left very last minute. Is this normal and could it just be that the lenders haven't been given enough time to release the funds for tomorrow?

princeofpounds

It's a normal risk around simultaneous exchange and completion, unfortunately. Your solicitor is right, she can only contact the solicitor at your counterparty. The EAs however should be communicating up and down the chain to help it over the line.

It's probably just a temporary hold-up; it does happen sometimes and the fact that it appears to be an issue around funds release suggests it is more likely to be technical in nature, but you can't be sure you've been told the whole picture. And yes, it's sometimes because people miss cut-off times, due to submitting documents late etc. 

If you have no communication by end of business it's highly unlikely you'll move tomorrow, but not technically impossible. I would still consider it very likely to proceed in one or maybe two days if you weren't being lied to.

Alexreid41

Thanks for your reply. Yes this is my concern, that we aren't been told the whole picture. Every communication from further down the chain seems to be vague. Would it be worth me ringing the estate agents today to see if they know anymore about the situation at the bottom of the chain or is that something my buyers should be pursuing?

Could an issue around releasing the funds actually be something to do with their mortgage offer?

davidmcn

Alexreid41 said:

Could an issue around releasing the funds actually be something to do with their mortgage offer?

It could be anything. It might not even be an "issue" as such, just that the lender isn't making any promises about funds turning up today (and then it turns out they do).