Lenders valuer is factually wrong. What can we do

eddddy

originalmissy said:

We have had so many conversations with the estate agent but it seems they are unable to do anything! I think we are probably going to change estate agents, (they certainly don't deserve the fee im expected to pay them if/when it does sell), then start again. Would it be a good idea to tell the new estate agent what has happened and when they come round to do their pictures make sure they inspect the loft? Or would be be better getting our own private survey done and adding that to our file?

Any reputable estate agent will ask you about previous sales, and why they fell through.

And consumer protection laws say that the estate agent must tell prospective buyers about things like spray foam insulation (if it really existed).


So invite a few new estate agents to do a market appraisal. Explain the problem - a mortgage valuer said there's spray foam insulation, but there isn't. 

And ask the estate agent how they would explain that to buyers. (Especially to savvy buyers who ask "Why did the previous sale fall through?")

Perhaps a 'good' estate agent would say something like "The previous buyer said that their valuer said there is spray foam insulation, and used that as a reason to walk away. But there isn't. So it's not clear if the valuer made a mistake, or the buyer made that up."


In this kind of situation, I'd go for a more traditional, long established estate agency - with people who understand more about property. Maybe even a RICS affiliated estate agent.

And I might avoid the brash salespeople with shiny suits and hair gel, who might be great at sales strategy, but might not understand so much about buildings. construction, etc.

originalmissy

Just an update. So I was given the name of the company that did the lenders valuation report, Esurv, please check out their reviews! Apparentley a lot of mortgage lenders use this same company.
Anyway I sent the following email to them on Friday:

"Dear Sir or Madam

In late March/early April our Estate Agents Bairstow Eves Burnham On Crouch, as caretakers of my property, allowed one of your surveyors to conduct either a home visit or remote valuation of my property on behalf of our potential buyers mortgage lenders.
I have since learned that the buyer has been refused the loan from the mortgage lender because your colleague's report indicates that "Foam Insulation" had been used under the roof tiles. I categorically deny the use of foam insulation and therefore investigated the roof. I could only find a small isolated area under the bathroom window, affecting two roof tiles, where expanding  foam filler,(NOT FOAM INSULATION), had been used as a temporary repair for fixing the two tiles in place. Please see attached photo/image for clarification.

If this is what the appointed Surveyor's comment was based on and nothing else, then an erroneous mistake has been made and therefore insulation foam is NOT being used under the roof tiles or anywhere else at the property. Also please see attached photos of the 2 lofts in the property that shows NO foam insulation has been used in either the original building or extension.
This damaging comment will no doubt be kept on the Mortgage' lenders records, where existing and future buyers will be refused loans on my property for the very same mistake. 

I understand that under English Law, no party should wilfully or neglectfully cause harm or loss to another party. At the moment you appear to be doing just this having already lost me a sale on said property.
Now that I have brought this matter to your attention, I trust that the error will be looked into and
rectified.
I look forward to hearing from you asap.
Yours Faithfully "


I then recieved this response later the same day:

"We write to confirm receipt of your e-mail dated 19 April 2024 and are sorry you have felt cause for complaint and appreciate your interest in this case.

We have noted the contents of your email and refute the allegation that we have reported foam insulation had been used within the roof space.

The report prepared was commissioned by a Mortgage Provider and is a non-transferable document. In the circumstances we are unable to discuss or comment upon its contents with any other party; to do so would breach client confidentiality.

There is no contractual relationship between e.surv Ltd and yourself as the property vendor. e.surv Ltd cannot accept responsibility to anyone else, as no reliance ensues.

Unfortunately, we cannot accept instructions or requests to review completed valuation cases from anyone other than our Lender client.

We are sorry to hear of your concerns but trust this clarifies our position in this matter.

Yours sincerely, "

What the hell do I do now?
We have terminated our contract with the original EA and will be talking to a new one this week. I intend to talk about this with them and see what they say etc. We do have an added issue in as much as we no longer live at the property, infact the property is in Essex and we have moved to Wales. I secured a bridging loan to buy our new property to be repaid from proceeds of the sale of the old property. Fortunately this does not need to be repaid untill Jan 2025 so we have time to complete a sale but we do need to get it sold.

nicmyles

What do you do now? Remarket the property and get a new buyer. The surveyors are essentially claiming that your buyer lied to you about the reasons they pulled out. The advice you were given by your estate agent around saleability was presumably based on the assumption the buyer was telling the truth. It does seem an oddly specific thing to lie about, given that the buyer could have withdrawn at any time and for any reason in any case.

400ixl

nicmyles said:

What do you do now? Remarket the property and get a new buyer. The surveyors are essentially claiming that your buyer lied to you about the reasons they pulled out. 

Where did you get that? The response from the surveyor essentially says the OP is not the customer and as such they will not discuss whether they said there was spray foam in their report or not. 

newsgroupmonkey_

BobT36 said:

Is Steel like that better or worse than Timber? Just curious. 

The problem with steel apparently isn't the bits you can see, it's the bits you can't.

nicmyles

400ixl said:

nicmyles said:

What do you do now? Remarket the property and get a new buyer. The surveyors are essentially claiming that your buyer lied to you about the reasons they pulled out. 

Where did you get that? The response from the surveyor essentially says the OP is not the customer and as such they will not discuss whether they said there was spray foam in their report or not. 

"We have noted the contents of your email and refute the allegation that we have reported foam insulation had been used within the roof space."
ie we did not tell your buyer foam insulation had been used within the roof space ergo if they told you we did, they're lying.

originalmissy

BarelySentientAI said:

Did this end up being "buyer made up an excuse to pull out and so I accused a random company of illegal activities"?

Is there actually anything other than hearsay to confirm that there was ever a report of spray foam and that this is why the lender rejected it?  I didn't see anything in the thread?

It was what the estate agent that told me. The only people that could or would have seen the report is the lenders, they apparently told the broker that they would not lend on the property due to there being evidence of spray foam insulation. No one will or can tell us what or where this evidence is.  

Gavin83

Pay the surveyor for your own report. Yes it’ll cost but at least you’ll know what’s in it and if it’s wrong you can hold them liable.

BobT36

newsgroupmonkey_ said:

BobT36 said:

Is Steel like that better or worse than Timber? Just curious. 

The problem with steel apparently isn't the bits you can see, it's the bits you can't.

Isn't that the same with timber tho? 

originalmissy

Just an update.
The estate agent we were with are a large interenational firm and not one I would recommend after this fiasco.
So we changed estate agents to a smaller, newer company. Explained the situation etc. We had so many viewings in the first few weeks. This weekend we accepted a full cash offer! Fingers crossed this will all go through smoothly.
I just want to thank everyone for your comments.