Mortgage advisor gave wrong information

bigjor

Hi..

Im hoping for some help.

I had been told by email from a major high street lender advisor that I could port my mortgage product with term and interest rates.

This led to me purchasing a home using bridging finance, this was explained to my lender and they again wrote back to say I could port my product when I wish to remortgage.

They then refused this at a later stage and this has led me great financial harm.

Can anyone shed any light how legally binding an email would be in this case, as this clear instruction from the lender that what I was planning to do led me down a path that I would not of taken should I have been told that I could not take it.

This is a very brief outline of the issue as there has been further issues with the lender, but my main question is the legality of an email.

Thanks

user1977

It doesn't make a difference whether they communicated their advice by email, phone, letter or smoke signals. What matter is what they said (in particular, whether they might change their policy between then and whenever you wanted to proceed).

But you'd probably be better asking on the Mortgages board, where there is more expertise about making such a complaint.

born_again

While the advisor said "Could" any decision on lending would be down to the mortgage provider. But the advisor was right you can port a Mortgage. Depending on meeting lenders criteria.

Agree this is not the correct area for this. (reported)

But OP need to provide more info.
Did they proceed with this with advisor, or was it just a general query & they then went direct to a lender?

bigjor

Hi..

Thanks for answering..

Apologies if this is not the right area but I am unsure where to post...below is the actual email I was sent when asking the question can I port my mortgage before entering a financial commitment to purchase a home.

Finally got confirmation late yesterday that paying off a bridging loan with a new mortgage is not debt consolidation (which I had always suspected) This means that we can go ahead using old terms and conditions to port the interest only repayment method but I will be limited to porting no more than the balance as at the 1st of January this year. I will get the figure from head office.

All of the above was exactly what I wanted to hear, and proceeded to only get told months later that they had got their information wrong and then I had no choice but to commit to a more expensive product as could not afford to have a bridging loan hanging over my head for much longer due to the fees.

In my opinion this email should be legally binding and i'm looking for info to help me fight this with the Ombudsman.

thanks

400ixl

Have you raised a formal complaint with the Mortgage Advisor company?

Also have you calculated what your actual loss is due to this. I would assume this is the difference in interest between the two rates for the period of the original mortgage fixed rate.

kingstreet

Make a complaint to the lender. Set out what you want them to do to put the matter right.

If they fail to respond within eight weeks or their resolution is unacceptable, then you escalate to FOS.

ACG

We do not have the full story, but that seems fairly difficult to come back from. 

I would say they either need to honour it, or put their hand in their pocket to cover the costs. 

I think most lenders only allow porting where you are moving the mortgage at the same time as purchasing the property - ie not using a bridge and then porting, but if thats not what you were told then it is not really your fault/problem. 

JM68

One reading of that email is that they said they would let you port your interest only repayment method not your existing 'product' with 'term and interest rates' as you said originally.  It could also read that the issue being investigated by the bank was just whether paying off your bridging loan with the 'new mortgage' referred to might not allow you stay on interest only method (as there are stricter rules these days for who can get an interest only mortgage).  Do you have anything that said 'you can keep existing term and interest rates' for the 'new mortgage'?  Also, it looks like you took out the bridging loan before the contract for your 'new mortgage' was actually entered into by both parties.  I suspect that might be an issue in terms of any legal redress (but offer no legal advice of my own).

housebuyer143

bigjor said:

Hi..

Thanks for answering..

Apologies if this is not the right area but I am unsure where to post...below is the actual email I was sent when asking the question can I port my mortgage before entering a financial commitment to purchase a home.

Finally got confirmation late yesterday that paying off a bridging loan with a new mortgage is not debt consolidation (which I had always suspected) This means that we can go ahead using old terms and conditions to port the interest only repayment method but I will be limited to porting no more than the balance as at the 1st of January this year. I will get the figure from head office.

All of the above was exactly what I wanted to hear, and proceeded to only get told months later that they had got their information wrong and then I had no choice but to commit to a more expensive product as could not afford to have a bridging loan hanging over my head for much longer due to the fees.

In my opinion this email should be legally binding and i'm looking for info to help me fight this with the Ombudsman.

thanks

Many lenders do not allow you to the remortgage within 6 months and require your name on the title deeds, is this is problem here? 
Agree with another poster that the email seems to only specifically relate to the repayment method and amount of loan. I don't see commitment to the current rate although I am not privy to the wording of your question.

Neilos9

Think the devils in the detail......

You cant port a mortgage to a property you already own.
If you bought via a Bridging loan, that's your problem......