Natwest morgate declined after AIP

grossepointblank

Hi,

After a bit of advice as having a nightmare journey to secure my new home with my partner.

My partner owns a flat and put it on the market last year during the summer. Due to the ongoing EWS1 saga our buyer struggled to secure a mortgage, where as we had no issues borrowing the amount needed for the property and had our mortgage agreed with Natwest around September. Due to the delays on our buyer's side and there struggle we eventually lost that property and the whole thing went on the back-burner. 

We accepted another offer on the flat in March and our buyer subsequently had no problem with getting a mortgage on this occasion, we then found another property that was slightly cheaper than the last one we had and had an offer accepted. Our broker submitted the mortgage application and we got the AIP back from Natwest but now several weeks further into the process they have declined to offer us a mortgage. 

The reason is that I had some debt issues back in 2016 and one of these seems to have remained on my credit account (the outstanding balance was £56) and this is showing on one of the credit reports from the various providers as still being in arrears despite showing as settled in 2016 on all the others. My broker couldn't work it out as he says that it shouldn't appear as in arrears on there as the settled date is 2016, Experian have also agreed with this but seems like TransUnion mark it down differently and it's constantly in arrears which seems to have scuppered our mortgage. 

I initially went through my credit report with my broker and we identified any potential issues but this wasn't one of them. We were both under the impression that it had been  settled and wouldn't effect the offer. I understand Natwest have changed their lending criteria since our last offer and are now using all three credit-checking and this has scuppered the whole process but it doesn't seem particularly fair given that they accepted us less than 12 months ago on a higher value property? I've asked my broker if he can appeal this and he said they won't budge. He is exploring other options but isn't particularly confident.

Just wondering if anyone has any advice or any other potential ideas for routes to take? 

Thanks

K_S

@grossepointblank What's your broker suggesting as a next step? If the arrears are incorrectly showing only on Transunion, your broker should still be able to place the case with a different lender without too much difficulty.

Bookgal88

Like @K_S, it sounds like the easiest and quickest thing to do would be to switch lenders, unless there's a reason you have to go with Natwest specifically?

Once the house buying stress is over with, look at getting this corrected on your credit file ASAP. I had a similar mistake on my credit file that only came to light when I purchased my first property. I ended up switching to the lender that had put the mark on my file because they accepted it was their mistake and were willing to overlook it. They managed to knock it off my credit report within a couple of months (rather than the 6/7 years it takes to fall off), and they gave me a couple of hundred quid as a good will gesture (which made paying the conveyancing fees less painful!). 

grossepointblank

Thanks for your responses. The broker is appealing with Natwest and exploring another lender as a backup option but we are in a rush against time as our vendor our in contact with us directly and pushing us almost daily for an update.

I spoke to the credit provider (it was relates to a payday loan I took out during a bad period in 2012) who advised that it is still showing as outstanding so I have paid it in full today to resolve in the interim but that it would take 30 days to update the credit file and obviously that doesn't resolve the whole missed payments on one report side of things.

Not really sure if there's anything else I can do and pretty worried that other lenders will view it the same way tbh.

15JM83

What is the deposit amount your putting down ? Any history of a payday loan is an issue with most high street lenders , you might night to use an adverse credit lender , they will likely need 15% min deposit 

Eassenav

we had issues with Natwest a couple of years ago.  We applied directly as we bank with them, got a DIP and then it was declined at the application stage (after they instructed solicitors/valuation etc - we never even got as far as getting the property valued).  Trying to speak to the previously super helpful mortgage advisor was nigh on impossible once the application was declined (she knew about our situation, I did not hide anything from her when we applied) but when I did they said there was nothing that could be done to change the decision.

Our situation was defaults on 2 credit cards.

In the end we had to go through an adverse credit lender and 2 years later we are just completing on a remortgage with another High Street lender.

grossepointblank

15JM83 said:

What is the deposit amount your putting down ? Any history of a payday loan is an issue with most high street lenders , you might night to use an adverse credit lender , they will likely need 15% min deposit 

Yeah it's 15%.

I get the payday loan thing but it was initially taken out in 2012 and they had no problem giving me a mortgage for more last year on a purchase that fell-through for other reasons.

Do understand that lending criteria changes regularly but seems excessively harsh imo.

MWT

grossepointblank said:

I spoke to the credit provider (it was relates to a payday loan I took out during a bad period in 2012) who advised that it is still showing as outstanding so I have paid it in full today to resolve in the interim but that it would take 30 days to update the credit file and obviously that doesn't resolve the whole missed payments on one report side of things.

So if I've followed the chain of events correctly, Transunion were actually showing it all correctly as it was outstanding and in arrears, but is now fully paid?

The other credit reports were actually the ones that were incorrect...

If so then your best bet should be for your broker to go to a lender that does not typically use Transunion, and so will see the 'incorrect' but cleaner version of your credit file...

It feels like that should become plan 'A' with all due haste and leave the NatWest appeal as plan 'B'... 

grossepointblank

Yeah it appears the £56 was outstanding (and has now subsequently been paid) but it had been marked as settled on both Experian and Equifax irrespective of that. To further add confusion I spoke to Natwest and they said that the underwriter had referenced the Equifax report specifically in the decision and none of the others.

Agree that it seems likely that we need to move to another lender as Plan A. Bit miffed at my broker as the underwriter made the decision on the 6th July and we've only been told about it yesterday for the first time, which has significantly jeopardised our purchase.

lonibra

Only a BIT miffed at the MB taking 4+ weeks to tell you that the application has been declined for a time pressured purchase? You're a saint

Even if there's an S against the account on Equifax, does it still show a balance of £56. If so that could be the issue.

While the appeal is going on, I'd request the MB to at least do a soft check AIP with a backup bank.

MWT

grossepointblank said:

Yeah it appears the £56 was outstanding (and has now subsequently been paid) but it had been marked as settled on both Experian and Equifax irrespective of that. To further add confusion I spoke to Natwest and they said that the underwriter had referenced the Equifax report specifically in the decision and none of the others.

That isn't really surprising as the others didn't show the problem.

Hopefully your broker had the information from you that Equifax was correct and that you've now paid it off before they submitted the appeal, as that would let them point out that you had been misled by the other incorrect reports but as soon as your attention was drawn to the problem on Equifax you immediately remedied the problem.

Might not make a difference as it still doesn't alter the fact that it existed, but it has a better chance than an appeal on the grounds that they didn't spot the problem when they approved your previous application...