Mortgage lender accepts the mistake but refuses to honour the agreement!!

[KrisMik]

Hello,

I have come against a big problem with my current Mortgage lender. I originally had a Mortgage with Santader then to cut a long story short I lost my buyer. Found a new buyer who made an offered but subject to extending the lease on my flat. I was not able to accept as it cost 6k and I don’t have the funds, however the vendor of the property I was buying agreed to release 6k as a cash allowance in order for me to pay for the lease extension.

Santander has refused to lend on that background as they saw it as the price of the property I was buying been reduced by 6k and didn’t see it as a cash allowance. I then applied for another Mortgage with Co-operative bank. During the Mortgage application I asked the sales person about 5 times whether it would be OK to have a cash allowance on completion. They confirmed that it would not be an issue, before agreeing to proceed to the final stage I asked them to double check, the sales person has put me on hold checked with underwriter (allegedly) and confirmed 100% it will not be an issue. ( the conversation was recorded) 6 weeks later, I am due to exchange on Wednesday the 27th June My solicitor written to the bank to confirm that we will need the funds to be transferred and to remind them about the allowance. They came back saying that they are not prepared to lend with the cash allowance because that means that the price of the property has been reduced. I called and complained and they said that they listened to the original telephone conversation and agree that it was an error on their behalf as the Sales person never checked it properly before confirming, however they policy is that they don’t allow any incentives. I complained further and they said that the Senior Underwriter will investigate now and they will get back to me on Monday the 25th to confirm what their decision is. My question is- is it really acceptable for them to withdraw the original offer ( as now they are saying they are happy to lend but for 6k less that original application because they don’t agree with the cash allowance) They basically miss-sold a product to me. If they told me before I agreed to buy their product I would have never agreed to take it as I was very specific that I only accept to proceed subject to my requested claw with the cash allowance. Is it legal for them now to go back on their word? I would really really appreciate your help!! Any advice would be much appreciated Thank you so much in advance!

[Lea_HTH]

Wait until you have their decision then post back.