Buying a house, proof of funds...

green221

Hi Everyone,

Im looking at putting an offer into a house, the offer will be cash.
I've shown my statements to the estate agent, however they are claiming that they wont be able to put an offer forward unless they've made a photo copy and kept it on their file.
Anyone have any thoughts on whether its possible to put an offer forward without the agents having taken a photocopy (but has physically seen the statement) 

Thanks

AdrianC

They have a duty to their client to ensure all offers are from people with the means to proceed - normally, that'd be a lender AiP. From you, that you've got sufficient funds. Their processes may well require copies of the proof to be retained.

Does it matter much?

Black out anything that you think's sensitive.

deFoix

They have to pass the offer on to the seller regardless. Tell the EA to go and **** themselves. I fell for this trap once and gave away a lot of private financial information. I hope that nothing bad came of it but who knows. Never trust an EA with your private financial information.

green221

deFoix said:

They have to pass the offer on to the seller regardless. Tell the EA to go and **** themselves. I fell for this trap once and gave away a lot of private financial information. I hope that nothing bad came of it but who knows. Never trust an EA with your private financial information.

I'm of the same opinion as you, but they physically wont accept the offer and say they wont put it forward as well. Its not fair... I need to find some form of regulations around this

deFoix

green221 said:

deFoix said:

They have to pass the offer on to the seller regardless. Tell the EA to go and **** themselves. I fell for this trap once and gave away a lot of private financial information. I hope that nothing bad came of it but who knows. Never trust an EA with your private financial information.

I'm of the same opinion as you, but they physically wont accept the offer and say they wont put it forward as well. Its not fair... I need to find some form of regulations around this

They're only saying this to coerce you. Just flat out refuse for the reasons given above and tell them you will be making an official compliant if the offer is not passed on. They will change their tune.

AdrianC

green221 said:

deFoix said:

They have to pass the offer on to the seller regardless. Tell the EA to go and **** themselves. I fell for this trap once and gave away a lot of private financial information. I hope that nothing bad came of it but who knows. Never trust an EA with your private financial information.

I'm of the same opinion as you, but they physically wont accept the offer and say they wont put it forward as well. Its not fair... I need to find some form of regulations around this

There aren't any, beyond the normal data protection legislation. They must keep it securely, and for no longer than necessary.

user1977

The above advice may be fine simply for the purpose of putting the offer to the vendor, but if the purchase is to proceed, the agents (and your solicitors) will need to evidence that they've carried out the anti-money-laundering checks - and it's tricky to do that without copies on file.

purplebutterfly

4 local estate agents we viewed with wouldn't even let us book a viewing without seeing proof of funds (we are cash buyers).   

I emailed them a photo of a bank statement along with a letter saying that I did not consent to them retaining the photo once they had marked on my file that they had seen POF.   All of them said that it would be deleted as soon as they had seen it but obviously I have no idea if that actually happened or not.

The online-only agent selling the house we are in the process of buying didn't ask for proof of funds until after our offer was accepted. 

deFoix

The fact remains that the EA has a legal duty to pass on any offers. They also may have duties regarding anti money laundering etc. (ask to see their policy statement/controls procedures) but that is their problem to resolve. They cannot use this an an excuse to withhold an offer.

davilown

user1977 said:

The above advice may be fine simply for the purpose of putting the offer to the vendor, but if the purchase is to proceed, the agents (and your solicitors) will need to evidence that they've carried out the anti-money-laundering checks - and it's tricky to do that without copies on file.

The EAs don’t need that but the solicitor will

green221

davilown said:

user1977 said:

The above advice may be fine simply for the purpose of putting the offer to the vendor, but if the purchase is to proceed, the agents (and your solicitors) will need to evidence that they've carried out the anti-money-laundering checks - and it's tricky to do that without copies on file.

The EAs don’t need that but the solicitor will

I dont mind giving it to a solicitor. The estate agent specially said to be "we wont put any offer forward unless we've made a photocopy of your proof of funds i.e. bank statements" <- this should now be the case