Mortgage I can't Afford

dubsey

We have so many people starting work in the restaurant I work in that already have either full time jobs or a full and a part time job already. One of the girls thats just joined in my dept works all week but now works four evenings as well just so she can pay the mortgage and bills.

So I think you are correct in that we will see a lot more of this kind of thing as people come off fixed rates. To the OP I'm sure if you take a second job, you won't be the only one there in that posistion.

Noz

Personally I would sell up. How were you planning to pay off the capital at the end of the mortgage?

Conrad

Here's how you might get recourse under FSA rules via the FOS (Ombudsman);

The FSA place little weight on the justification often resorted to by defenders (advisers) where such justification is "but the client signed it"

The rules specificaly place the burden of proof on the adviser, DESPITE WHAT WAS SIGNED.

In other words they must demonstrate the following:

a) That advising you to arrange a mortgage was a suitable course of action

b) That they can evidence your affordable budget was assessed

c) That the mortgage was likely to remain affordable (you were about to be made redundant!)


A lot of advisers think they can fall back on documents that were signed but this is not so as a 'duty of care' is placed upon the party giving the advice.


STEPS;
Complain to the company using special delivery post stating you expect a speedy and final response before you go to the FOS (make sure you state your intention to go to the FOS)

CRUCIALLY - explain how you would have been better off simply staying as you were (did the adviser even ask your existing lender what deal they would offer - if he did, get absolute proof).

Keep the complaint brief, use bullet points and dont do anything that might be deemed unreasonable (for example dont say "the bloke looked like an idiot").

NEXT - go to the FOS if the broker doesnt give you a satisfactory response



SUMMARY
Were you a ploker, yes. Does that entitle advice givers to negate thier responsibilities to you as a layperson - no.

dunstonh

If the broker lies about something on the application then that is fraud and you may have recourse. However, if you knew about this and went along with it then you too are complicit in this fraud.

There is still a lot of discussion going on about whether or not brokers will take responsibility or not. The feeling (and its only that) is that where there was a fraud then the broker will be responsible or where sub prime was used when prime (or near prime) would have been available. However, there is increasing pressure being put on the FSA that where no fraud took place and advice processes were followed correctly and its just a case of someone over extending themselves, then the consumer has to take responsibility.

An article published a few hours ago gives an indication on the sort of comments going around currently:
http://www.moneymarketing.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=163188

Conrad

ALSO - inform the FSA you have a complaint against the firm as many such firms pretend they have not had any complaints in the year so they fall under the FSA radar.

Treaddie

Thanks for all the feedback even if some of it was pretty painful.
I guess I made a very bad mistake and trusted too much in my mortgage adviser. At the time (2005) I was about to be made redundant, one of the partners of the firm died before setting up my mortgage protection, I was paying what I thought was life cover and unemployment cover, I did not realise this until I was made redundant, turned out to be two life cover policies. I was unemployed for about 15 months but a job in 2006. The job pays about £1000.00 take home. Together with that I have a personal loan secured on the for £15,000.00 to clear credit cards(whilst on the dole payed the mortgage with credit cards) The loan costs me £300 per month, mortgage £650.00 goodbye income. The reason I found out how bad things were is when I tried to arrange another mortgage and was informed that I was on interest only after being on a interest only fixed rate mortgage for the first two years. The mortgage before this was a repayment mortgage arranged by the same person, I was not advised of the shortfall or advised that this was interest only, I was stupid. The alarm bells only started ringing when I looked through the paperwork and found that the adviser had filled out forms stating that my income was £31,000.00 a year when in fact I was and am at the moment earning £15,000.00.
I'm just trying to find a solution to this nightmare.

Brian.

Treaddie

I have no way of paying

BACKFRMTHEEDGE

Hi Treaddie,

Not sure why the advisor would put in that your salary was £31k if you told him/her it was £15K Feel sorry for you though...hope you sort it out.:o Try the debt free wannabe board, thay might help you if you post a Statement of Affairs (SOA)

christabell

OK read your above post, once again let's see what we can do. Have you thought of going to the Citizens Advice?
Do you want to start a budget, have you used the Snowball calculator. I think it's time to be pro-active, before the situation gets any worse.

Anne3333

I think you are being a little harsh to blame the broker. You have documentation that states you were earning £31,000, which you received prior to the signing the offer and you knew you were being made redundant 2 months later. How did you think you were going to be able to keep up the payments? You have a duty to inform the lender of any relevant facts, as stated on the Offer you would have received from them, and they would most definitely not have agreed to your remortgage if they had been made aware. Redundancy was definitely a relevant factor!
Did you not receive a KFI and Suitability letter from the broker? Both of these should have stated the mortgage was Interest Only and that you had to ensure you had a suitable method of repayment in place. What method of repayment had you intended?
As for the unemployment cover, you would have been unlikely to have been covered by this anyway, as you would have entered it knowing that redundancy was imminent.
I am sorry to sound harsh, but it sounds like you need to take responsibility for your finances and not look for a get-out-clause, blaming both the broker for your mortgage and your ex-boss for lack of employment cover. You clearly knew that at 51, the repayments would be beyond you, given you knew you were to be made redundant only 2 months later. Not informing the lender yourself was fraudulent. Did you also sign to 'Self Certify' your income, at a higher salary than you earned? The FSA would be unlikely to find the broker at fault if they have followed the correct procedure and have worked on the figures you gave them and signed for. Sorry, but you need to concentrate on getting yourself out of this mess and stop looking for someone else to blame. Good luck!