HELP - Mortgage broker screwed me up

peacetrustlove

My mortgage broker has screwed up my application with Santander. He has provided some wrong gift figures to the bank in the application. So now, despite receiving an offer, the application will be going back to the underwriters. It's just a simple approval, but it is going to take 4-6, possibly even 8 weeks to fix. This does not just mean that I'm losing the stamp duty benefit, it also means that I might end up losing the house which according to the agents has gone up in value by £50k. It's a brand new, bespoke house built to a very high spec. Our searches are back, contracts are signed and it's just a matter of someone fixing the gift amounts. But with the government scheme and stamp duty holiday, all banks are inundated with mortgage applications.

I've asked the broker to update the figures, but he has not responded to me for over a week now. He goes AWOL for 3-4 days all the time and has done so in our entire 4 months of the application process. I tried updating the figures myself, but Santander wouldn't allow me and asked me to contact the broker. What am I supposed to do? All they told me is that the mortgage center will pick it up after 2-3 weeks once they get through the queue and then send it back to the underwriters who will take another week for this. They took 5 weeks to issue me the offer letter after approving the mortgage in the first place. I cannot imagine this is happening  

I've explained the situation to Santander, but they won't budge. They are like, go back to the mortgage advisor. I asked them to take over the application, but they said this is not an option. I can either wait or I can start with a fresh application.

The mortgage advisor isn't picking up his phone calls, neither is he responding to phone calls or my emails. I've requested the vendors to wait a little while as I'm applying directly with NatWest. I'm absolutely upset and angry at the broker I used and want to sue him. Has anyone gone through something like this?

ACG

Is the broker a 1 man band? If not, call the company and ask to speak to a manager. 
If they are, it should have a section on what to do if you have a complaint on the terms of business you should have received on day 1 or on the offer. Call the number on there. 

It should not take 8 weeks to fix this issue and should just be a formality. 

It should be an easy fix, although I do not really use Santander often so not entirely sure on their process. Just go a bit higher up the chain if the broker is difficult to get hold of. 

K_S

@peacetrustlove Sorry to hear about the trouble you are having. All the timelines quoted in your post seem excessively long, even for Santander so there might be more material facts in the background.

If you are just not getting anywhere with the broker or absolutely unable to contact him, you need to log a formal complaint with the firm.

[Deleted User]

if its just a split in the gift amounts that are wrong then surely the solicitor should be able to to just resolve directly with the lender?   

peacetrustlove

Deleted_User said:

if its just a split in the gift amounts that are wrong then surely the solicitor should be able to to just resolve directly with the lender?   

The gift amounts reported by the broker a lower than what I received. I've just had a call from him explaining why this was. Apparently, he had used some other income to prove my affordability. I suppose it shouldn't go back to the underwriters in this case?

[Deleted User]

If the broker has sent a message to the lender it will be passed to underwriter to review. They are currently working 2 weeks on documents i think.
If the solicitor reported it and its just the deposit that's changed then it should be resolved a lot quicker 

peacetrustlove

Deleted_User said:

If the broker has sent a message to the lender it will be passed to underwriter to review. They are currently working 2 weeks on documents i think.
If the solicitor reported it and its just the deposit that's changed then it should be resolved a lot quicker 

Unfortunately, it seems the Mortgage centre is dealing with cases from late May at this time. They have also faxed Santander on an emergency number but to no avail. 

[Deleted User]

I have just had a case offer today when the last document upload was on 10th June.  So thats made it through document checking, underwriter, mortgage centre, and then to offer in 7 days.  Hope you get a similar turnaround

peacetrustlove

Deleted_User said:

I have just had a case offer today when the last document upload was on 10th June.  So thats made it through document checking, underwriter, mortgage centre, and then to offer in 7 days.  Hope you get a similar turnaround

We've had our offer since the 1st of June. Solicitors are waiting for consent about the gifts I have received. 

amnblog

This sounds more like the Solicitors are making a meal of this than Santander or the Broker. Some Solicitors wont put the kettle on unless the Lender tells them in triplicate it's OK.

If Solicitors are happy with your source of funds and that source is not a grey area with the Lender it should not be a problem and they should proceed.

peacetrustlove

amnblog said:

This sounds more like the Solicitors are making a meal of this than Santander or the Broker. Some Solicitors wont put the kettle on unless the Lender tells them in triplicate it's OK.

If Solicitors are happy with your source of funds and that source is not a grey area with the Lender it should not be a problem and they should proceed.

And that's going to end up costing me £15,000. Not fair.