My broker mis-verified my income and now I cant afford the house I was buying

Gardiner64

the broker we were using to buy our first house has made a mistake verifying our income and told me and my partner we could borrow way more than we actually can. We put in an offer on a house that was accepted and we instructed solicitors. We then had an email from the broker saying we had told her my partners income was weekly not monthly. We have never told her this and she had all the payslips and other documents to show the income is monthly. My partner also receives PIP payments as she can't work full time due to health issues and all the documents for this were submitted, so surely that in itself would have made her check twice. She says we told her on the fact find the income was weekly but she wont let us see a copy.
We have now incurred solicitors fees which we feel are through no fault of our own. Are we able to make a complaint to the brokerage and if they don't want to know to the ombudsman with a view to getting our solicitors fees paid as if we are to look around for a substantially cheaper property every penny counts at the moment. Just wondered if anyone could advise what our chances might be. thank you

ACG

You should have had some paperwork that tells you what to do if you want to make a complaint. 

If you are unhappy follow the process on the form they gave you. 

dunstonh

Are we able to make a complaint to the brokerage

yes

 and if they don't want to know to the ombudsman with a view to getting our solicitors fees paid as if we are to look around for a substantially cheaper property every penny counts at the moment.

Yes you can.  However, it may be better to lower your expectations depending on where you were in the process.   If you had just done a quick and dirty enquiry and it was a miscommunication, you may just get a tiny goodwill gesture.  If it had gone to the actual advice stage, then that is when the checking really begins and an error there may be a bit more.

However, you shouldnt incurred much in the way of solicitor fees at this early stage.  And many solicitors will port the information so far to your next application if it is within a reasonable time.

eskbanker

Gardiner64 said:

She says we told her on the fact find the income was weekly but she wont let us see a copy.

You could force the issue by submitting a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act, which grants you the right to access all personal data held about you by an organisation:

https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/your-right-to-get-copies-of-your-data/

K_S

@gardiner64 You can certainly complain but at best, you might get a couple of hundred pounds for the searches carried out on the first property as realistically that's the only expense you would have incurred in the time between a full mortgage application and it being declined. And even for that you would probably need to show that you did instruct searches before the decline and lose those funds.

Mortgage applications can fail to go to offer for plenty of reasons so I always advise my clients to not incur any property specific expenses until the mortgage offer is in hand. For your next purchase, to make sure you don't incur any sunk costs, it would be prudent to follow the same approach. 

The broker should share a copy of the fact-find or the full mortgage application if you ask.

Good luck, I hope you get a resolution that you're happy with!

Gardiner64 said:

the broker we were using to buy our first house has made a mistake verifying our income and told me and my partner we could borrow way more than we actually can. We put in an offer on a house that was accepted and we instructed solicitors. We then had an email from the broker saying we had told her my partners income was weekly not monthly. We have never told her this and she had all the payslips and other documents to show the income is monthly. My partner also receives PIP payments as she can't work full time due to health issues and all the documents for this were submitted, so surely that in itself would have made her check twice. She says we told her on the fact find the income was weekly but she wont let us see a copy.
We have now incurred solicitors fees which we feel are through no fault of our own. Are we able to make a complaint to the brokerage and if they don't want to know to the ombudsman with a view to getting our solicitors fees paid as if we are to look around for a substantially cheaper property every penny counts at the moment. Just wondered if anyone could advise what our chances might be. thank you

ACG

When I set up a customer on our system, it sends out an email with a list of documents to get together and some tips. One of those tips is to not instruct solicitors until we receive an offer and that was added purely because someone raised the same issue as you are now on this site years ago. 

If you instructed your solicitors before you had an offer, I think that is on you personally. I only tell customers not to instruct solicitors because I read it on here, had I not I would not tell them... It would just never have crossed my mind. Obviously if they asked I would have said no. 

Its difficult to know whether the broker is at fault as it is not clear what stage you were at. But as K_S says, your application is not guaranteed to go to offer. That means in turn the loan amount is not guaranteed either. Usually if you get a decline there is a plan B who will lend more or less the same amount, but if you were looking at stretching things then your options are far fewer. 

I know I am finding maximum loan amounts getting reduced month on month at the moment. That is due to the base rate. If you spoke to the broker in January and they said £200k and now it is £180k, thats not necessarily the broker making a mistake, that is the base rate going up which is having an effect on stress testing. 

I dont know where you stand, you are within your right to make a complaint. You are also within your rights to go to the ombudsman if that complaint is rejected. But you being out of pocket does not automatically mean there is someone to blame other than yourself. If you got a bit trigger happy with the solicitors or were rushed by the agents, thats very much on you. 

If the broker told you you were safe to instruct solicitors, then yes I think they have a responsibility there. But I cant imagine any experienced broker telling you to instruct solicitors before receiving an offer. 

Gardiner64

ACG said:

When I set up a customer on our system, it sends out an email with a list of documents to get together and some tips. One of those tips is to not instruct solicitors until we receive an offer and that was added purely because someone raised the same issue as you are now on this site years ago. 

If you instructed your solicitors before you had an offer, I think that is on you personally. I only tell customers not to instruct solicitors because I read it on here, had I not I would not tell them... It would just never have crossed my mind. Obviously if they asked I would have said no. 

Its difficult to know whether the broker is at fault as it is not clear what stage you were at. But as K_S says, your application is not guaranteed to go to offer. That means in turn the loan amount is not guaranteed either. Usually if you get a decline there is a plan B who will lend more or less the same amount, but if you were looking at stretching things then your options are far fewer. 

I know I am finding maximum loan amounts getting reduced month on month at the moment. That is due to the base rate. If you spoke to the broker in January and they said £200k and now it is £180k, thats not necessarily the broker making a mistake, that is the base rate going up which is having an effect on stress testing. 

I dont know where you stand, you are within your right to make a complaint. You are also within your rights to go to the ombudsman if that complaint is rejected. But you being out of pocket does not automatically mean there is someone to blame other than yourself. If you got a bit trigger happy with the solicitors or were rushed by the agents, thats very much on you. 

If the broker told you you were safe to instruct solicitors, then yes I think they have a responsibility there. But I cant imagine any experienced broker telling you to instruct solicitors before receiving an offer. 

Thankyou for all your advice. the broker didn't say not to instruct solicitors. I only wish she had. I thought I was doing the right thing as we had the decision in principle and the solicitor was more than happy to open a case and take money up front without me having an official offer. She told us we could borrow up to 280,000 at the beginning of april which is why we put an offer in on the house but it turns out we can only borrow 200,000. The fact its such a massive difference is what is so annoying. I have asked the solicitors about them keeping the case open in case I find a much cheaper property but they've said I will have to start again and the fee money is non refundable I guess Ill know better next time. I will go down the route of complaining to the broker and hopefully may get something towards what I have lost. 

ACG

Gardiner64 said:

ACG said:

When I set up a customer on our system, it sends out an email with a list of documents to get together and some tips. One of those tips is to not instruct solicitors until we receive an offer and that was added purely because someone raised the same issue as you are now on this site years ago. 

If you instructed your solicitors before you had an offer, I think that is on you personally. I only tell customers not to instruct solicitors because I read it on here, had I not I would not tell them... It would just never have crossed my mind. Obviously if they asked I would have said no. 

Its difficult to know whether the broker is at fault as it is not clear what stage you were at. But as K_S says, your application is not guaranteed to go to offer. That means in turn the loan amount is not guaranteed either. Usually if you get a decline there is a plan B who will lend more or less the same amount, but if you were looking at stretching things then your options are far fewer. 

I know I am finding maximum loan amounts getting reduced month on month at the moment. That is due to the base rate. If you spoke to the broker in January and they said £200k and now it is £180k, thats not necessarily the broker making a mistake, that is the base rate going up which is having an effect on stress testing. 

I dont know where you stand, you are within your right to make a complaint. You are also within your rights to go to the ombudsman if that complaint is rejected. But you being out of pocket does not automatically mean there is someone to blame other than yourself. If you got a bit trigger happy with the solicitors or were rushed by the agents, thats very much on you. 

If the broker told you you were safe to instruct solicitors, then yes I think they have a responsibility there. But I cant imagine any experienced broker telling you to instruct solicitors before receiving an offer. 

Thankyou for all your advice. the broker didn't say not to instruct solicitors. I only wish she had. I thought I was doing the right thing as we had the decision in principle and the solicitor was more than happy to open a case and take money up front without me having an official offer. She told us we could borrow up to 280,000 at the beginning of april which is why we put an offer in on the house but it turns out we can only borrow 200,000. The fact its such a massive difference is what is so annoying. I have asked the solicitors about them keeping the case open in case I find a much cheaper property but they've said I will have to start again and the fee money is non refundable I guess Ill know better next time. I will go down the route of complaining to the broker and hopefully may get something towards what I have lost. 

Had they come back and made a recommendation? 
Had you accepted their recommendation? 
Had they even got you a DIP?

I think you are being harsh on the broker if none of the above had happened. 

K_S

Gardiner64 said:

ACG said:

When I set up a customer on our system, it sends out an email with a list of documents to get together and some tips. One of those tips is to not instruct solicitors until we receive an offer and that was added purely because someone raised the same issue as you are now on this site years ago. 

If you instructed your solicitors before you had an offer, I think that is on you personally. I only tell customers not to instruct solicitors because I read it on here, had I not I would not tell them... It would just never have crossed my mind. Obviously if they asked I would have said no. 

Its difficult to know whether the broker is at fault as it is not clear what stage you were at. But as K_S says, your application is not guaranteed to go to offer. That means in turn the loan amount is not guaranteed either. Usually if you get a decline there is a plan B who will lend more or less the same amount, but if you were looking at stretching things then your options are far fewer. 

I know I am finding maximum loan amounts getting reduced month on month at the moment. That is due to the base rate. If you spoke to the broker in January and they said £200k and now it is £180k, thats not necessarily the broker making a mistake, that is the base rate going up which is having an effect on stress testing. 

I dont know where you stand, you are within your right to make a complaint. You are also within your rights to go to the ombudsman if that complaint is rejected. But you being out of pocket does not automatically mean there is someone to blame other than yourself. If you got a bit trigger happy with the solicitors or were rushed by the agents, thats very much on you. 

If the broker told you you were safe to instruct solicitors, then yes I think they have a responsibility there. But I cant imagine any experienced broker telling you to instruct solicitors before receiving an offer. 

Thankyou for all your advice. the broker didn't say not to instruct solicitors. I only wish she had. I thought I was doing the right thing as we had the decision in principle and the solicitor was more than happy to open a case and take money up front without me having an official offer. She told us we could borrow up to 280,000 at the beginning of april which is why we put an offer in on the house but it turns out we can only borrow 200,000. The fact its such a massive difference is what is so annoying. I have asked the solicitors about them keeping the case open in case I find a much cheaper property but they've said I will have to start again and the fee money is non refundable I guess Ill know better next time. I will go down the route of complaining to the broker and hopefully may get something towards what I have lost. 

@gardiner64 So no application was submitted and you incurred conveyancing costs even before that? Well in that case I'm afraid I can't really see why the broker would be responsible for those costs, that doesn't make any sense tbh. And what exactly did the solicitor use your funds for at such an early stage? 

And for future reference there's really no need to pay the solicitor anything before you are ready to begin searches, etc., let alone before you even have an application ready to submit. Personally, I've never had to pay any solicitor upfront until I was ready to proceed with searches on the property.

simon_or

Definitely not the broker's fault, how on earth are they supposed to guess that you'd jump the gun and throw money at the solicitors just because you had an decision in principle.

If the broker guaranteed that he or she would get you a mortgage, or told you to go ahead and pay your solicitors a non refundable cost, then there might be something in it but there's no good reason for them to do that at such an early stage of the process.

MWT

Gardiner64 said:

 I thought I was doing the right thing as we had the decision in principle and the solicitor was more than happy to open a case and take money up front without me having an official offer.

Getting a DIP and getting a mortgage offer are not the same thing, and of course the Solicitor was happy to take your money but it would have been wise to talk to your broker before you rushed ahead...

Gardiner64 said:

 She told us we could borrow up to 280,000 at the beginning of april which is why we put an offer in on the house but it turns out we can only borrow 200,000.

I doubt she was as definitive as saying you could get £280k without saying it was subject to the full application being successful...

You must have had some idea of the amount you were likely to be able to borrow given your income, didn't such a large figure compared to the income you knew you has raise any questions? ... even the size of the monthly repayments should have seemed high surely?