Gambling on bank statements for solicitor but not lender

ftbhelpneeded

I’m in the process of applying for a mortgage. The lender has asked for 3 months of bank statements which is fine. Problem is, our solicitor has asked for 6 months. I used to gamble a fair bit, never resulted in any debt, loans, or missed payments. In the last 3 months there isn’t any gambling on my statements, but in the last 6 there is and even though it did not lead to debt/missed payments I imagine it would be classed as excessive. The lender has checked affordability and approved our application. My question is, is there any possibility of the solicitor informing the lender about the gambling on the older statements, that could result in the lender changing their mind or declining the application? Should I be trying to a find a new solicitor who only requires 3 months of statements?

I have registered for gamstop already and have not gambled for 3 months, so do not need any advice about the risks of gambling but just want to know what solicitors will do with this information. 

EdSanRo

Not an expert here, but aren't you allowed to redact irrelevant payments?
I would seek advice on that.

Have done that in the past and never got flagged.

blacked out individual transactions , left dates and running balances visible, ensure the redaction is visible.

And it is your solicitor. They are bound to confidentiality. They are not allowed to share this without your consent (written).

But get expert advice on this. Best, how weird, just ask the/a solicitor.

MyRealNameToo

ftbhelpneeded said:

I’m in the process of applying for a mortgage. The lender has asked for 3 months of bank statements which is fine. Problem is, our solicitor has asked for 6 months. I used to gamble a fair bit, never resulted in any debt, loans, or missed payments. In the last 3 months there isn’t any gambling on my statements, but in the last 6 there is and even though it did not lead to debt/missed payments I imagine it would be classed as excessive. The lender has checked affordability and approved our application. My question is, is there any possibility of the solicitor informing the lender about the gambling on the older statements, that could result in the lender changing their mind or declining the application? Should I be trying to a find a new solicitor who only requires 3 months of statements?

I have registered for gamstop already and have not gambled for 3 months, so do not need any advice about the risks of gambling but just want to know what solicitors will do with this information. 

They are asking for the statements for different purposes... the bank wants to see if you can afford the mortgage and having regular payments for gambling may raise concerns. Solicitors have a duty to check where the funds are coming from and won't give two hoots if you won them gambling - they want to make sure they arent coming from illegal sources. 

It would be highly unusual for the bank to ask the solicitors to forward the evidence, ultimately the bank will have confirmed they are happy with the law firm and so will trust their professional opinion without asking to double check their work. 

Isthisforreal99

EdSanRo said:

Not an expert here, but aren't you allowed to redact irrelevant payments?
I would seek advice on that.

Have done that in the past and never got flagged.

blacked out individual transactions , left dates and running balances visible, ensure the redaction is visible.

And it is your solicitor. They are bound to confidentiality. They are not allowed to share this without your consent (written).

But get expert advice on this. Best, how weird, just ask the/a solicitor.

The solicitor wants to check for money laundering - I think redacting 'irrelevant' would raise their suspicions?

ACG

EdSanRo said:

Not an expert here, but aren't you allowed to redact irrelevant payments?
I would seek advice on that.

Have done that in the past and never got flagged.

blacked out individual transactions , left dates and running balances visible, ensure the redaction is visible.

And it is your solicitor. They are bound to confidentiality. They are not allowed to share this without your consent (written).

But get expert advice on this. Best, how weird, just ask the/a solicitor.

The solicitors are acting for both parties. They are not bound to confidentiality. If anything they are obliged to make the lender aware of anything that could be a problem. 

However, I do not know where that would sit with gambling transactions. They are looking for proof of deposit for AML purposes I imagine. 

You cant redact transactions as that defeats the point of the AML checks. 

My gut would say you should be ok. But (no pun intended here especially given the circumstances) I would not want to put money on it. 

Just a thought, but instead of providing the last 6 months statements, could you provide the last 180 days transaction list? I know that sounds the same, but I assume it will include less of the problem 3 months? 

user1977

ACG said:

EdSanRo said:

Not an expert here, but aren't you allowed to redact irrelevant payments?
I would seek advice on that.

Have done that in the past and never got flagged.

blacked out individual transactions , left dates and running balances visible, ensure the redaction is visible.

And it is your solicitor. They are bound to confidentiality. They are not allowed to share this without your consent (written).

But get expert advice on this. Best, how weird, just ask the/a solicitor.

They are not bound to confidentiality.

Solicitor here who has never encountered instructions from a lender to tell them about specific kinds of transactions on clients' bank statements.

But if something like that arose, I think the correct course of action is to first warn the buyer that I would either need to disclose it or withdraw from acting for the lender (or both parties).

saajan_12

I don't see why they would.. the bank is requesting statements to do their own affordability assessment. If they were relying on the solicitor for that there would be no point in asking for statements for themselves. 

They use the solicitor to check the property transaction eg title, surveys, searches, potentially AML (though that may also be done by themselves again). There just wouldn't be a time or place to bring up your habits. 

Jemma01

My personal account is with HSBC. My HSBC mortgage advisor didn't ask to see my personal transactions, my solicitor didn't either. The only statements I sent to them were my savings account that had my deposit (showing the source of the money being sent from my personal account over the years) and my business account. My personal transactions were not disclosed. Even HSBC solicitor (I had two solicitors) didn't ask for HSBC bank (personal account).

I appreciate this doesn't answer you directly, but my point is, the solicitor is looking to make sure your money is coming from a legitimate source.

Just to add, this was true for two different solicitor firms that completed the checks. Never disclosed my personal transactions to anyone.