Turned down for a mortgag - are there future implications?

[EmmelineGoulden]

Hi, not sure if here or legal(?) is best for this.

We have recently been turned down for a re-mortgage. It has been one cockup mistake after another on the part of the building society. (Twice they refused the mortgage without telling us becasue we hadn't sent in document that they hadn't asked us for. We only found out they'd turned us down when we contacted them to find out how things were going. Another time they turned us down because they'd done a title search and discovered we didn't own our home. Turns out they had run the search on the wrong address.)

We complained and they've offered us £250 as compensation. This doesn't quite cover our out of pocket costs to date, but it's not really why we complained. I'm more concerned that simply having been turned down will make it harder to secure a mortgage with someone else or have other detrimental impact (credit rating maybe?). I know when we have applied for mortgages in the past we've been asked if we've ever been turned down for one. Does anyone know where we stand? Or if there is something we could ask for that would help ensure we aren't hurt by this in the future?

[EmmelineGoulden]

Sorry about typos. No reading glasses and small screen are a bad combination it would seem.

[shoom]

As well as the compensation, did they offer to provide a letter saying why you were turned down for a mortgage?

[EmmelineGoulden]

Thank you both for responding.

Precious Thanks, for bumping . I'm not too concerned about credit checks. We don't apply for credit often, so I don't think the additional check for this will trigger alarms. But I don't know if the refusal gets reorded on our credit history.

shoom No they didn't offer a letter explaining why. Would a letter be useful? Would agencies who use credit checks alter their decision on the basis of an explanatory letter? I had been thinking if the refusal would be a problem we could instead ask that they record it as us withdrawing the application. Don't know if this is possible though.

[lessonsintightropes]

The problem OP is that you will be asked by any future mortgage provider if you have been refused for a mortgage at any other point, and this can lead to automatic disqualification from some lenders, or only qualifying for higher rates. What I'd be pushing for in your position would be to have the application removed from your credit file (or better still not applied to it in the first place). And to check it's been done, look at both Equifax and Experian, as they record different information from different sources.

[Mandy21]

What lessons says. You want your credit file / record restoring and written confirmation that they have done that. I'd also push for written confirmation of reasons for refusals.

[shoom]

Emmeline

I am going on gut instinct here, I've no inside knowledge.

I asked about the letter because I assume it's best to get something official now, in writing, rather than in the future when you are applying for a mortgage getting in contact and someone in the organisation saying "oh yes I see you were awarded compensation but there's no detail why, it's logged as 'admin issue'." Or similar.

Personally I'd try going up the management chain to get those records expunged, although I don't know if it's possible. But having them admit their errors in writing should be useful- the credit reference agencies may accept it and put a note on your file.

[Viviennemary]

Ask them to put in writing why you have been turned down for the mortgage. That would be a start and at least you would know and could take it from there.

[EmmelineGoulden]

Thanks for all your thoughts. They mirror our own concerns so I think we'll push back on the compensation offer.

So, does anyone know of some good guidelines for pursuing complaints against financial institutions?

[lessonsintightropes]

This place is where to start, but only once you've exhausted the lender's formal complaints process, they won't deal with you until that's completed.

[EmmelineGoulden]

Thanks lessons, I know aout theombudsman, I was mroe wondering bout how to approach the institution, but I guess we'll just be upfront about what we want to achieve and why we think they should do it. Can't be too hard right?

[lessonsintightropes]

Sounds like trying to have a reasonable conversation isn't getting you anywhere - putting it in writing to their complaints team and getting a copy of their complaints procedure to follow is a good start. Good luck, I know this is a disheartening exercise, but hopefully you'll get the result you need.