Impossible requests by lender - please help!

Jojoba

I’m posting here as I’m at my wits end. I’ll try and simplify as much as possible.

We applied for a mortgage through a broker in May, with the process beginning in June. As I have adverse credit we required a specialist lender. For months, we have been asked for the same information over and over, repeating as it expired and was no longer the most recent statement etc. 

We sold our home and moved out in January, moving into a property I will call P Street, which belongs to my family. We got on the electoral roll there, changed our banking to that address. P Street was alway booked out for a short term let from June, so at that point we temporarily left and stayed in 2 Airbnb’s for 2 months - M Street and O Street. The lender then said that we needed to prove residence at these addresses so we sharply moved back to P Street to ensure we weren’t gone for more than 3 months. During this time P Street remained owned by my family, and was our banking and electoral residence. 

The lender asked for another proof of address for P Street, so 3 weeks ago we sent them a council tax letter in sent to us by the local council, addressed to both our names at P Street, confirming we had no outstanding council tax on the property we sold in January. Our broker checked with the lender that this was acceptable PoA and was told it was. A week later, they said they wanted the letter certified, so I had that done the same day and sent through. 8 days later they have just come back to us and said that not only will they not accept the letter, but that they can progress no further with our mortgage unless we provide utility bills for M Street and O Street as well. 

They want utility bills for Airbnbs?!. I have replied saying this is no more possible than requesting I provide a utility bill for the hotel I spent my holiday in Paris in a few years ago?! It’s no different than asking for a utility bill for the villa someone spent a month in on holiday in France?! They have responded saying it’s AML regulations - no proof, no mortgage.
We have been waiting 5 months for this mortgage and were told this was the last stage. My broker is baffled. We are distraught. The sellers solicitor and agent are about to pull the plug on the whole thing thinking we are messing them around. 

Is this a real thing because it seems absolutely absurd??
I owned a home for 8 years before this, never missed a mortgage payment, we are putting down a 20% deposit and the payments are comfortably within our means - and they are going to deny us the mortgage based on us not being able to prove 2 months of Airbnb’s as our primary address, when I was registered at a family property and had a key for it that meant I could open the door and walk in whenever I wanted?

If anyone knowledgable can help us we are desperate and sick with worry over the whole thing. 

Thank you for reading. 

housebuyer143

Kensington by any chance?

K_S

@jojoba I've not come across this myself but I personally would most likely have used the family address for the application given that you had lived there very recently, were planning to go back soon and temporarily living in AirBNB at the time.

I can see where the request is coming from, as if you've put the Airbnb address down on your application, the lender can expect an acceptable proof of address for that address.

From a quick glance at your post, if you have alternate lenders that you can access, you are probably best off discussing with your broker about applying fresh with a different lender using the family home address. You don't have to cancel this application, hopefully your broker can escalate it and get someone higher up to look at it.

Unlike most mainstream lenders currently, the last couple of adverse lenders I've used have been very quick in turning around apps so hopefully your vendor will allow you some more time.

Good luck, I hope your broker is able to find a way forward!

Jojoba said:

I’m posting here as I’m at my wits end. I’ll try and simplify as much as possible.

We applied for a mortgage through a broker in May, with the process beginning in June. As I have adverse credit we required a specialist lender. For months, we have been asked for the same information over and over, repeating as it expired and was no longer the most recent statement etc. 

We sold our home and moved out in January, moving into a property I will call P Street, which belongs to my family. We got on the electoral roll there, changed our banking to that address. P Street was alway booked out for a short term let from June, so at that point we temporarily left and stayed in 2 Airbnb’s for 2 months - M Street and O Street. The lender then said that we needed to prove residence at these addresses so we sharply moved back to P Street to ensure we weren’t gone for more than 3 months. During this time P Street remained owned by my family, and was our banking and electoral residence. 

The lender asked for another proof of address for P Street, so 3 weeks ago we sent them a council tax letter in sent to us by the local council, addressed to both our names at P Street, confirming we had no outstanding council tax on the property we sold in January. Our broker checked with the lender that this was acceptable PoA and was told it was. A week later, they said they wanted the letter certified, so I had that done the same day and sent through. 8 days later they have just come back to us and said that not only will they not accept the letter, but that they can progress no further with our mortgage unless we provide utility bills for M Street and O Street as well. 

They want utility bills for Airbnbs?!. I have replied saying this is no more possible than requesting I provide a utility bill for the hotel I spent my holiday in Paris in a few years ago?! It’s no different than asking for a utility bill for the villa someone spent a month in on holiday in France?! They have responded saying it’s AML regulations - no proof, no mortgage.
We have been waiting 5 months for this mortgage and were told this was the last stage. My broker is baffled. We are distraught. The sellers solicitor and agent are about to pull the plug on the whole thing thinking we are messing them around. 

Is this a real thing because it seems absolutely absurd??
I owned a home for 8 years before this, never missed a mortgage payment, we are putting down a 20% deposit and the payments are comfortably within our means - and they are going to deny us the mortgage based on us not being able to prove 2 months of Airbnb’s as our primary address, when I was registered at a family property and had a key for it that meant I could open the door and walk in whenever I wanted?

If anyone knowledgable can help us we are desperate and sick with worry over the whole thing. 

Thank you for reading. 

Jojoba

housebuyer143 said:

Kensington by any chance?

Precise

Jojoba

Update - 
they wouldn’t budge on this request, denied the mortgage, we lost the property and now we have nowhere to live after next week and are imminently homeless and off the property ladder. Thanks, Precise. 

K_S

Jojoba said:

Update - 
they wouldn’t budge on this request, denied the mortgage, we lost the property and now we have nowhere to live after next week and are imminently homeless and off the property ladder. Thanks, Precise. 

@jojoba I'm really sorry to hear that. I hope you're able to find a different property and lender soon, good luck!

Jojoba

K_S said:

Jojoba said:

Update - 
they wouldn’t budge on this request, denied the mortgage, we lost the property and now we have nowhere to live after next week and are imminently homeless and off the property ladder. Thanks, Precise. 

@jojoba I'm really sorry to hear that. I hope you're able to find a different property and lender soon, good luck!

Thank you, unfortunately the other lender who would accept us, Kensington, is not affordable and we can’t manage the monthly payments. 

housebuyer143

Sorry to hear that. It is very strange a broker would list Airbnbs as your address knowing you would likely need proof of address. 
Maybe you can raise this with them, although it isn't going to make your situation better. 

Jojoba

housebuyer143 said:

Sorry to hear that. It is very strange a broker would list Airbnbs as your address knowing you would likely need proof of address. 
Maybe you can raise this with them, although it isn't going to make your situation better. 

They didn’t, it came up as part of a complaint against them where I said we were having to stay in an Airbnb because they were taking so long and they latched on to that comment and suddenly decided they needed proof, then the broker confirmed it in an email when they asked, rather than immediately saying nope, just a holiday let. A mistake on both our parts

housebuyer143

Jojoba said:

housebuyer143 said:

Sorry to hear that. It is very strange a broker would list Airbnbs as your address knowing you would likely need proof of address. 
Maybe you can raise this with them, although it isn't going to make your situation better. 

They didn’t, it came up as part of a complaint against them where I said we were having to stay in an Airbnb because they were taking so long and they latched on to that comment and suddenly decided they needed proof, then the broker confirmed it in an email when they asked, rather than immediately saying nope, just a holiday let. A mistake on both our parts

That's a shame. An underwriter decided they didn't want to lend and asked for impossible 😔
Hopefully it doesn't scupper your plans for too long.