Halifax Mortgage (default credit history)

niloufar69

Hi all,

I’m anxiously waiting for my mortgage application 

i had 3 defaults in 2015 and 3 late payments in June/July 2017

AIP issued on 22nd June
Full application submitted to Halifax via broker on 25th June
soft and hard search took place 2nd July
Halifax required more information on defaults on 5th July

6th July application was sent to the head office for final review and decision making

if this get approved they will book the survey and if not approved no survey can be booked.

Very anxiously waiting 
bearing in mind my husband has been in the country for 3 years and his credit history is all clear.

This is the first time i heard a case has been sent to the head office for decision making, should I be hopeful that this could get approved or they will not approve? They have taken their time with this and very specific about everything on the case.

in terms of affordability we can afford this based on what the broker has told us.

and we are asking for 85% LTV

K_S

@niloufar69 I've never had a Halifax "head-office review" but for the ones I've had with other lenders, it's hard to predict as the decision is often subjective and made by a usually risk-averse human being.

@Deleted_User Any knowledge of what actually happens on a Halifax head-office review?

niloufar69

K_S said:

@niloufar69 I've never had a Halifax "head-office review" but for the ones I've had with other lenders, it's hard to predict as the decision is often subjective and made by a usually risk-averse human being.

@Deleted_User Any knowledge of what actually happens on a Halifax head-office review?

This is the exact wording from the broker

Your case has been passed to head office to be reviewed. This task is likely to take up to 2 working days maximum. If the underwriter is happy with the case thereafter then the valuation will be instructed. There is nothing outstanding for your application at present. I will keep you posted with news when known.

niloufar69

This is another email i had from my broker

We did call Halifax up this morning and the latest documents uploaded are queued for assessment by the underwriting team. The case had a note stating that the valuation would be instructed once the case had been agreed but as the applicant  has paid for the survey (rather than it being a free survey) we’ve requested this be force-instructed and this instruction will be picked up at the same time as the documents are assessed.

I can confirm the lender isn’t waiting on anything further from us, they have everything the underwriter requested initially and this is simply in their standard assessment queue waiting to be looked at

Can I be hopeful that my case will be agreed?  Would the underwriter approve my application? 

My defaults will all be cleared in 6 months time, don’t you think they have taken a long time to respond? 

[Deleted User]

The head office review with Halifax is generally a review of the underwriters work rather than any concerns on the case itself.  They want to check that the underwriter picked up on any discrepancies from application to electronic search data.  Its all completely random selection.   

As Halifax has a very decent system that drives a very automated underwriting process there isn't much that can be picked up that can cause the applicant an issue.  Declines post review are very rare.    Even if the underwriter missed a credit card then the system will have picked it up automatically so the underwriter might get a negative mark for not querying it but its unlikely to have an impact on the case.  

The only thing that might come up would be if the credit questions at the end of the DIP had been answered incorrectly (arrears, bankrupt, iva etc) and they found something on the report that should have been answered yes.   In theory they can override the previous accept decision but it would only be if it was a very borderline score.   

In my experience the audits are for 2 reasons:
1. to check the case handlers/underwriters work
2. to check the automated system is making decision that they expect it to be making. 


Its annoying but very rarely a reason to worry.   There are plenty of stories around of people being declined post audit but there wont be any stories of the hundreds of thousands of cases that get audited and passed without anyone knowing

When i worked in Halifax I would get these quite commonly just due to the volumes going through.  They would give feedback about he quality of the notes, the documents I had on file etc.  Its essentially a lighter version of a file check that brokers will get quite often

niloufar69

Deleted_User said:

The head office review with Halifax is generally a review of the underwriters work rather than any concerns on the case itself.  They want to check that the underwriter picked up on any discrepancies from application to electronic search data.  Its all completely random selection.   

As Halifax has a very decent system that drives a very automated underwriting process there isn't much that can be picked up that can cause the applicant an issue.  Declines post review are very rare.    Even if the underwriter missed a credit card then the system will have picked it up automatically so the underwriter might get a negative mark for not querying it but its unlikely to have an impact on the case.  

The only thing that might come up would be if the credit questions at the end of the DIP had been answered incorrectly (arrears, bankrupt, iva etc) and they found something on the report that should have been answered yes.   In theory they can override the previous accept decision but it would only be if it was a very borderline score.   

In my experience the audits are for 2 reasons:
1. to check the case handlers/underwriters work
2. to check the automated system is making decision that they expect it to be making. 


Its annoying but very rarely a reason to worry.   There are plenty of stories around of people being declined post audit but there wont be any stories of the hundreds of thousands of cases that get audited and passed without anyone knowing

When i worked in Halifax I would get these quite commonly just due to the volumes going through.  They would give feedback about he quality of the notes, the documents I had on file etc.  Its essentially a lighter version of a file check that brokers will get quite often

Thank you ever so much for your professionally worded reply.

so my worry was that my broker called me saying i did not realise you had late payments in 2017 and the underwriter is questioning this
which now my broker has gone back and explained this to them

so still waiting..
will let you know once i hear from them

[Deleted User]

Sounds more like a check of rhe brokers work.  Lender can see that you have late payments but broker didnt declare them on a yes/no question.  

Lenders system already will be aware of them so its unlikely to change anything for you (hopefully) 

niloufar69

Deleted_User said:

Sounds more like a check of rhe brokers work.  Lender can see that you have late payments but broker didnt declare them on a yes/no question.  

Lenders system already will be aware of them so its unlikely to change anything for you (hopefully) 

This is what i been told by the lender, what are your thought please

I’ve actually had two conflicting updates from Halifax – one saying the underwriter had manually declined the case due to the credit history and the other stating that the case had been referred to their head office and approved to proceed at that level. I’m waiting for the underwriter to call me back to clarify and was told I’d get a call this afternoon, I’ll let you know as soon as I hear from them

 
I’m very disappointed with this 🥺 been waiting for 2 weeks on this

K_S

niloufar69 said:

Deleted_User said:

Sounds more like a check of rhe brokers work.  Lender can see that you have late payments but broker didnt declare them on a yes/no question.  

Lenders system already will be aware of them so its unlikely to change anything for you (hopefully) 

This is what i been told by the lender, what are your thought please

I’ve actually had two conflicting updates from Halifax – one saying the underwriter had manually declined the case due to the credit history and the other stating that the case had been referred to their head office and approved to proceed at that level. I’m waiting for the underwriter to call me back to clarify and was told I’d get a call this afternoon, I’ll let you know as soon as I hear from them

 
I’m very disappointed with this 🥺 been waiting for 2 weeks on this

@niloufar69 Any update from your broker?

niloufar69

K_S said:

niloufar69 said:

Deleted_User said:

Sounds more like a check of rhe brokers work.  Lender can see that you have late payments but broker didnt declare them on a yes/no question.  

Lenders system already will be aware of them so its unlikely to change anything for you (hopefully) 

This is what i been told by the lender, what are your thought please

I’ve actually had two conflicting updates from Halifax – one saying the underwriter had manually declined the case due to the credit history and the other stating that the case had been referred to their head office and approved to proceed at that level. I’m waiting for the underwriter to call me back to clarify and was told I’d get a call this afternoon, I’ll let you know as soon as I hear from them

 
I’m very disappointed with this 🥺 been waiting for 2 weeks on this

@niloufar69 Any update from your broker?

Yes 
unfortunately i have been declined 
5 years and half ago i had default and 3 years ago i had late fee

they see this as a pattern unfortunately 

K_S

@niloufar69 Really sorry to hear that. Perhaps there's something specific about the default and/or late payments (were they mortgage/secured loan late payments)?

On the positive side, at 85% LTV your broker should be able to place you elsewhere at decent rates. Good luck!