Mismanagement of remortgage

woodpecker

Silvercar,
There wasn't an excess - the redemption figure ended up being about £450 more than our original loan amount. The new lender gave us the extra money, but the HA wouldn't agree to the difference in the two figures.
As far as I understand, the HA requires a fixed, agreed amount, because it's not their money (comes from Housing Corp) and they have to be sure we don't increase our borrowing & leave them exposed to risk.

I had actually queried the solicitors when I saw the amounts didn't match (mainly because i didn't want to add fees etc onto the loan; I'd rather pay them as a lump sum) & they said it wouldn't be a problem, so we were going to leave it that way & just pay the difference direct to the lender so it wouldn't be added to the total.

It was the HA that refused to leave it this way, but my argument is that the solicitor should realise that a HA lending public money, interest free, is a different proposition to a 'First Plus' (just as an example) lending it's own money at an inflated rate of interest. Of course the latter won't mind you adding a bit on, 'cos you'll owe them more & they'll make more money out of you.

The only positive I can take is that should we ever remortgage again (God forbid) I probably won't rely on a broker; I'll apply about 4 months in advance & I'll know all the issues with the second charge.

charlie_hobbes

I am having a similar problem. I contacted my broker in August to request some new deals and in September he got back to me with a few. I picked on straight away but he came back to me saying it wasn't available. In October he gave me a few more choices and I asked him his recommendation. He told me to go with Abbey as, although it wasn't quite the cheapest, it could be done in 2 weeks and the rest could take 6. I went with his advice. That was the 2nd week in October and it will finally complete tomorrow. In this time I have paid out about £1600 more in mortgage payments than he said I would and now, to cap it all, it turns out there is a £4,500 shortfall on the new mortgage (he didn't bother to check the redemption amount AND applied for the wrong mortgage amount) and so I have to pay that. I am fuming as I've already had to tighten my belt over Christmas and now the new mortgage is going to cost me the money I'd saved for a new car! The guy is a one man band but I believe he has seriously mis-sold me this mortgage, given me poor advice, and generally been rather negligent in the handling. Could somebody please advise me? I see on the FSA website I am supposed to complain direct to him and that I am justified in my complaint because (amongst other things) his slow admin has cost me money but is there anything else I should say? Also, might I be able to get the £4,500 back through a higher mortgage with the lender? Any help appreciated - thank you.

woodpecker

Complain to him first - then if you get no joy, go to the Ombudsman or whoever he is answerable to (I'm sure there are more clued-up people on here who can advise you properly)!
So far I have got £70 back from the solicitors involved (doesn't sound like much but is probably about what they cost us in delays)
We are still pursuing the claim against broker/Woolwich as it is still not clear who's at fault there; however if they don't offer at least £250 compensation I will take it further.
These seem like small sums of money, but when you're struggling with a mortgage and raising 3 kids, I believe it's worth it 'cos every penny counts!
Good luck
W

woodpecker

Also Charlie, why should you have to add this to your mortgage if it was his mistake? Is it the amount you should have borrowed in the first place?

woodpecker

Thought I would update.
We got £70 back from solicitors for their mishandling of Deed of Postponement & tolerance
Got £250 back from Woolwich/Barclays for processing delays.
Hope to hear from brokers soon re compensation as their broker clearly lied about when he submitted application; but we have recouped our losses so at least we're even, and hopefully we will get a small payment for 3 months' stress!

Dan_Collins_2

Lots of info here so I am just going to give my bit.

You can ask for proof of when the app was recieved by the lender, 19th Of Nov is pushing it, Oct 5th should be fine even if the app was not done for a week or so.

I would guess that the problem is the redemption figure and sols. If the broker did not submit the case till the 19th then he/she is an idiot and you should complain!

Did somebody mention the law society and complain.... :rotfl:

Dont bother!

charlie_hobbes

Update and serious advice needed. My mortgage finally went through 4 weeks ago - 7 months after my broker said it would. I complained to my broker who said he didn't like threats and then threatened that if I took him to small claims or contacted the FSA he would release information which meant I would have my mortgage cancelled, my house taken off me and have me credit blacklisted for life! I am not sure what he means although I believe he may have inflated my income on my first mortage application (not this re-mortgage). I have also just found out that he was struck from the FSA a week after he gave me my initial remortgage quote (due to not filing returns) and he is now asking me to sign backdated forms (key facts etc) with another company's name on them which he has dated December.

I think I have a fairly strong case in that his not doing his job properly has caused me financial hardship through being mis-sold a mortgage I was told would take 2 weeks to complete when it took 7 months and I know it has cost me a good £3,000 in the difference between the old rate and new rate. I am worried at his threats though. I went to Citizen's Advice but their help was generic and no very useful. Can anybody help me please?

dunstonh

I complained to my broker who said he didn't like threats and then threatened that if I took him to small claims or contacted the FSA he would release information which meant I would have my mortgage cancelled, my house taken off me and have me credit blacklisted for life

Thats stupid and probably unlawful(data protection breach and the FSA would take action). That is unless you have got the mortgage on fraudulent terms but then the broker would be implicated as well so both of you would be in trouble.

He sounds like a nasty piece of work from what you say and I suggest you document what has been said and when and let the FSA know.

I have also just found out that he was struck from the FSA a week after he gave me my initial remortgage quote (due to not filing returns) and he is now asking me to sign backdated forms (key facts etc) with another company's name on them which he has dated December.

Dont sign them. You have no obligation to do this and any request would be an attempt to cover up. Sometimes remedial docs are required to be issued and signing a receipt to say you go them on a certain day is fine. However, backdating forms is not. Its fraud.

I was told would take 2 weeks to complete when it took 7 months

2 weeks on an easy case maybe but yours was never going to be easy due to the second charge and key worker loan. A couple of months would have been more reasonable. Not 7 months though.

I went to Citizen's Advice but their help was generic and no very useful. Can anybody help me please?

The most simple and easist thing is to complain to the adviser's employer (as it was then). You complete their complaints process and if at the end the result is not satisfactory then you are given authority to take the complaint to the FOS. The FOS will then look into it.

In the mean time you may want to contact the FSA and discuss the backdating of forms and the threats. The FSA are very interested in fraudulent activities (although they are less concerned on individual cases of bad service at this level).

charlie_hobbes

Thank you very much for your reply Dunstonh. I have called the FSA and they seemed surprisingly UNinterested in the backdating of forms. They have said I should go to the FSO.

I'm not sure what you mean by "the second charge and key worker loan."? This was just a simple remaortgage as far as I was concerned - looking for a better rate.


Obviously my major concern is that he will bring do his best to bring me down with him if he has done something that shouldn't have been done regarding my income. He suggested that I go after money from the Abbey as he says the last 3 months were their fault. He was a one man band so I have complained to him and his response was basicly to threaten that he will ensure it costs me a lot more money if I contact the FSA or try to bring proceedings against him. This will have to be my next step but it is one I am reluctant to take in case he has done something fraudulent with my application and it costs me my house!

luckyfool

charlie_hobbes wrote: »

Thank you very much for your reply Dunstonh. I have called the FSA and they seemed surprisingly UNinterested in the backdating of forms. They have said I should go to the FSO.

I'm not sure what you mean by "the second charge and key worker loan."? This was just a simple remaortgage as far as I was concerned - looking for a better rate.


Obviously my major concern is that he will bring do his best to bring me down with him if he has done something that shouldn't have been done regarding my income. He suggested that I go after money from the Abbey as he says the last 3 months were their fault. He was a one man band so I have complained to him and his response was basicly to threaten that he will ensure it costs me a lot more money if I contact the FSA or try to bring proceedings against him. This will have to be my next step but it is one I am reluctant to take in case he has done something fraudulent with my application and it costs me my house!

Charles - Dunstonh was mixing you up with the OP. That's the danger of posting a new query in the middle of someone elses thread, effectively "hijacking" it.

The FSA were never going to be particularly interested in hearing from you direct, the route for you to go down is to make a complaint to the offending broker or their network, and if no response within the required timescales or if you are unhappy with the response then you move on to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service. If you still have your original Terms of Business letter provided by the broker then it should confirm the correct contact for any complaint. If they were an employee or an Appointed Representative of a Network then it will give their complaints contact.