Gambling and mortgage advice

[Deleted User]

Any judgement free advice would been greatly appreciated ! Have got gamstop/self exclusions in place now and didn’t stop gambling in order to purchase house, I sought counselling and have not returned to the habit since. Respectfully, I am not asking these questions wishing to be schooled on the dangers of gambling and to seek help (I am very aware I had an issue and feel confident that I have kicked it for the most part). 

I am a FTB who has just had an offer accepted on a house. Had no intention of buying now but the perfect property came up so went for it. Due to apply for my mortgage tomorrow. Have a history of excessive gambling (no missed payments and no overdrafts, but did have high credit card usage in past couple years as I was finding my habit with credit cards - all of which have been at zero balance for the past 6+ months). 

I have three recent months clear bank statements with no gambling whatsoever, and this was reassuring, as felt this is good enough to proceed with the application with good chances of being approved - as my earnings have been substantial the past year too. The last gambling transactions on my accounts were in early feb, which felt great for me to see as I was feeling confident in my chances at everything going my way in terms of financially. 

My deposit is in an isa which I have been saving towards, with income from my employment - gambling has not funded my deposit. 

However, I have instructed a conveyancing solicitor this morning and in order to verify deposit source of funds, they have requested SIX months bank statements. Naturally my heart has sank as Dec-early feb are horrific in terms of my gambling transactions, and whilst I was using my own money, it really doesn’t look good in terms of my ability to manage finances and my general impulsivity. 

I hadn’t disclosed this to my mortgage advisor as (shameful obviously) didn’t think it was relevant to, as all forums and advice from others indicated 3 months was the protocol for bank statements and to not worry in most cases. I am aware that banks sometimes request more than 3 months however felt reassured due to my earnings and expenditure in the past few months, that I would be okay from that side. 

My concern is, would the conveyancing solicitors question my gambling transactions from an affordability standpoint, or disclose such information to my mortgage lender out of concern, has anyone had experiences of this? Is this something that would come up? Or something anyone has heard of being raised? 

Should I pull out now before I’m charged conveyancing fees and face the shame of being outed as a former problem gambler, or am I worrying for no reason?? 

Any and all advice on this matter would be hugely appreciated! 

Thank you :-) 

MattMattMattUK

[Deleted User] said:

Any judgement free advice would been greatly appreciated ! Have got gamstop/self exclusions in place now and didn’t stop gambling in order to purchase house, I sought counselling and have not returned to the habit since. Respectfully, I am not asking these questions wishing to be schooled on the dangers of gambling and to seek help (I am very aware I had an issue and feel confident that I have kicked it for the most part). 

I am a FTB who has just had an offer accepted on a house. Had no intention of buying now but the perfect property came up so went for it. Due to apply for my mortgage tomorrow. Have a history of excessive gambling (no missed payments and no overdrafts, but did have high credit card usage in past couple years as I was finding my habit with credit cards - all of which have been at zero balance for the past 6+ months). 

I have three recent months clear bank statements with no gambling whatsoever, and this was reassuring, as felt this is good enough to proceed with the application with good chances of being approved - as my earnings have been substantial the past year too. The last gambling transactions on my accounts were in early feb, which felt great for me to see as I was feeling confident in my chances at everything going my way in terms of financially. 

My deposit is in an isa which I have been saving towards, with income from my employment - gambling has not funded my deposit. 

However, I have instructed a conveyancing solicitor this morning and in order to verify deposit source of funds, they have requested SIX months bank statements. Naturally my heart has sank as Dec-early feb are horrific in terms of my gambling transactions, and whilst I was using my own money, it really doesn’t look good in terms of my ability to manage finances and my general impulsivity. 

I hadn’t disclosed this to my mortgage advisor as (shameful obviously) didn’t think it was relevant to, as all forums and advice from others indicated 3 months was the protocol for bank statements and to not worry in most cases. I am aware that banks sometimes request more than 3 months however felt reassured due to my earnings and expenditure in the past few months, that I would be okay from that side. 

My concern is, would the conveyancing solicitors question my gambling transactions from an affordability standpoint, or disclose such information to my mortgage lender out of concern, has anyone had experiences of this? Is this something that would come up? Or something anyone has heard of being raised? 

Should I pull out now before I’m charged conveyancing fees and face the shame of being outed as a former problem gambler, or am I worrying for no reason?? 

Any and all advice on this matter would be hugely appreciated! 

Thank you :-) 

They conveyancing solicitor cares about source of funds, they are looking out for fraud, they do not care about your gambling addiction.

The mortgage lender will likely require six months to proceed to full application, perhaps a year or more, they may care about your gambling.

You have also said that you are due to apply for a mortgage tomorrow, but you have already instructed a solicitor. Normally it would be advisable to have an AIP in place before instructing a solicitor. Have you committed to any cost at this stage? Speak to your broker, be honest with them, they can advise you best. You might need to change lender or things might be totally fine, they will be the one who can tell you. 

Brie

It's good that the gambling is in the past - well done for dealing with it.  

And 3 months in the past is better than 2 so that's good too.  I would suggest ringing the mortgage adviser and admit your omission and see what s/he says.  Advisers are there to advise and should know the best way to proceed on this issue.

If, as you say, you were funding your habit with your cards in the past and they are now at zero you might want to check if you have too much credit available.  Now the adviser may well have mentioned this as well.  It's not always how much debt you have but how much debt you can easily get in to.  So do you have the income to easily afford the mortgage AND all the cards if you maxed them out tomorrow?  If not you might want to lower some of the credit limits or get rid of one or two completely.  Much less temptation for everything.

Best of luck with it all and I hope it's all a success.

Thinkandgrow1

Most lenders only want 3 months. Some want none. Tell advisor you have gambling transactions on months 4-6 just to make him aware. Conveyancer won't care they just need to see source of funds.

ACG

This is such a difficult one. 
Can you get a mortgage? Yes, 100%. It is very unlikely this will get picked up. 

Should you? I am not being judgemental here btw, as far as I am concerned its your money to spend on whatever you like. You have looked for help before it became a major problem and I am lead to believe that is the hardest part. 

However... 6 months does not seem like a long time. I dont know you, why you gambled etc, but what happens if something bad happens in life, you get stresed etc? 6 months does not seem like a long enough time to have tested yourself. 

If your worry is about getting a mortgage and being able to complete, you will be fine with 99% of lenders. If it becomes a problem you could pick another lender at random and should be fine. 

As a broker, if you raised this I am not sure I would take the case on for another 6 months. Just to give it a little more time. I do take on customers who gamble but where its been a bit of an issue. 

You know you though, so you are best placed to make that decision. 

Best of luck.

veronikamoneva

Mortgage lender might ask for earlier statements, they asked me for last 12 months statements just to see I have paid rent regularly, not sure if they will decline based on the gambling spend, by the end of the day, you have paid of your c/c so that's far more important for them, b/c if you had debt, unpaid cc than it would be bigger no-no imo

Chrispbacon999

Do you have an update on how you got on with your situation? I'm in the exact same situation right now and can't stop stressing that the lender is going to ask for more than 3 months (I've already sent 3 months over, waiting on their assessment) 

user1977

Chrispbacon999 said:

Do you have an update on how you got on with your situation? 

Who are you asking? The OP is obviously no longer around these parts.

Chrispbacon999

user1977 said:

Chrispbacon999 said:

Do you have an update on how you got on with your situation? 

Who are you asking? The OP is obviously no longer around these parts.

Just noticed deleted user, thanks