HSBC holding off on finishing a mortgage, even after saying everything was good

BarneySteel

Hope some might be able to help here. We have applied for a mortgage with HSBC, back in March 8th they told us everything was great we paid the £999 fee and put on holding , as if we drawed it down then we would had large early repayment fee. Assuming that everything OK and been told we just have phone them before 6 months was up. So making sure I phoned them on August the 22nd to say that we wish draw it down,  then again been told that everything is great. It was not till Monday the 23rd in the evening we have call of an unknown number saying they were from HSBC. They then informed that need the registration paperwork (then they just hung up), thing might been scam call I phoned HSBC myself to be informed that they need the Land registration paperwork off out solicitor to processed further. I contact my solicitor and she informed that had still not been process, say this quiet normal for new build sites (often do them in block for efficiency) plus there a huge hold up from the effect of Covid back log.  She informed us she would contact their solicitor and inform of all this and it should fine. (she emailed them on the 25th )

This bit then that I have the main issue with, I phoned them yesterday evening find out about the progress and they then inform me that what been sent is not enough and they need more. The Land registry paperwork, which our solicitor has inform could be anything from 18months to 3 year away from getting. When challenge about not chasing us or the solicitor up about all they just say they sorry. When the 8th September comes the application will laps and the £999 will be lost. Plus the rate of 1.79% we secured in march will disappear and we be stuck either on variable rate or current fixed rates most of them  4% plus. This coupled with the cost living increase and not waged will most likely push us beyond our means.

If anyone can give us any advice on what we can do we be very great

K_S

@BarneySteel Sorry, it isn't entirely clear to me what the sequence of events and kind of transaction it is that you are referring to. Please correct me if I'm wrong -

- you put in a remortgage application with HSBC earlier this year and received a mortgage offer in March with an expiry date of 8th September.

-  you delayed completion of the remortgage so you wouldn't have to pay an ERC on the existing mortgage

- now the conveyancer is saying that completion can't happen yet due to Land Registry delays on registration from when you bought the property (2 years ago I'm assuming?)

If that is indeed the sequence of events, then I don't really see why HSBC is at fault here. In an ideal world, you would have set a completion date with the solicitor a few months ago and at that point the solicitor should have informed you about a potential delay and tried to expedite it with the LR (I know that purchase deadlines are a good enough reason to expedite things but not sure about remo deadlines).

The best course of action at this point is likely to be for your conveyancer to contact Land Registry and apply to expedite whatever is outstanding. As that is unlikely to happen in 1 week, the solicitor should also get in touch with HSBC to allow an offer extension for a short period to get the remortgage over the line.

At the same time, it would be prudent to research your backup options on what you will do if the HSBC offer can't be extended and/or the LR process can't be expedited. A product-switch/product-transfer/rate-switch with your existing lender may be worth considering.

@Land_Registry I don't know how clear it is to you what is causing a delay here, but do you think it could potentially be expedited in the above scenario? 

BarneySteel said:

Hope some might be able to help here. We have applied for a mortgage with HSBC, back in March 8th they told us everything was great we paid the £999 fee and put on holding , as if we drawed it down then we would had large early repayment fee. Assuming that everything OK and been told we just have phone them before 6 months was up. So making sure I phoned them on August the 22nd to say that we wish draw it down,  then again been told that everything is great. It was not till Monday the 23rd in the evening we have call of an unknown number saying they were from HSBC. They then informed that need the registration paperwork (then they just hung up), thing might been scam call I phoned HSBC myself to be informed that they need the Land registration paperwork off out solicitor to processed further. I contact my solicitor and she informed that had still not been process, say this quiet normal for new build sites (often do them in block for efficiency) plus there a huge hold up from the effect of Covid back log.  She informed us she would contact their solicitor and inform of all this and it should fine. (she emailed them on the 25th )

This bit then that I have the main issue with, I phoned them yesterday evening find out about the progress and they then inform me that what been sent is not enough and they need more. The Land registry paperwork, which our solicitor has inform could be anything from 18months to 3 year away from getting. When challenge about not chasing us or the solicitor up about all they just say they sorry. When the 8th September comes the application will laps and the £999 will be lost. Plus the rate of 1.79% we secured in march will disappear and we be stuck either on variable rate or current fixed rates most of them  4% plus. This coupled with the cost living increase and not waged will most likely push us beyond our means.

If anyone can give us any advice on what we can do we be very great

kingstreet

I agree with K_S.

The conveyancer appointed by HSBC should have alerted you to the delays in first registrations at the LR months ago. That would have given time for it to be expedited (if possible) and the registration completed. When the conveyancer reports to the lender it is confirming there will be unencumbered title to the property in preparation for HSBC's first charge when your existing lender's first charge is removed. It is this report, the certificate of title, which is used to request the remortgage funds on the required date.