Mortgage Declined, HELP!

[tkp]

Hi all, I'm new to Mumsnet so be easy on me!

My husband and I recently applied for a joint mortgage and it got rejected; (he is the only one on the mortgage for our current flat) no idea why, both have almost perfect (977 out of 999 and 998 out of 999) credit scores, our mortgage broker can't seem to figure out why Natwest has declined our application either, the only thing I can think of is that when I was 15 (14 years ago) I was a fraud victim and it was with my Natwest account that they promptly shut down without warning and 5 years ago I was gifted some money before my dad passed and that account was also shut down (also with Natwest) and it took me 3 months to get it back (also without reason). Could they have an internal mark against me? Will it affect my getting a mortgage with another lender?

Help! Feeling super upset and discouraged.

We have a back up mortgage application ready, he just wanted to see if there was any feedback he could get from Natwest but nothing has come through unfortunately so as you said we will probably try another lender.

but they might still turn it down for many reasons - access, flood plain, etc,

Out of interest, your credit card(s) and current account - did you open them before or after your account was closed 5 years ago?

If before, I'd be tempted to do a SAR request with CIFAs just to double check there is no maker.

The valuation came back with no issues, and surely that would be something that they would feed back to us. It's just a regular detached house on a road with no access issues etc.

I have no credit cards, they are under my husbands name but they were all after my acc was closed, same with my current account.

What is that? I've never heard of it.
Is this not something that would come up on a credit check?

Hahaha

Banks generally keep internal data for a very long time, and if they have suffered a loss as a result of you actions, no matter how long ago, they'll not entertain you again in any capacity. You shouldn't have applied for a mortgage with Natwest, or any of their subsidiary companies. Ask your broker to look elsewhere.

Oh, and credit scores are irrelevant, it's the ratings that count.

You say that but our mortgage with NatWest was approved despite my partner defaulting on an account with them and having his account sent to the creditors (which he paid eventually). It was when he was a student (now in his 30s) and our broker said it wouldn’t be an issue as it was old, and it wasn’t. I had my doubts.

A good broker would contact them directly to make enquiries and also offer you alternative deals.

Maybe that 6 year thing expired for him, and this has happened to me twice now. Happy it worked out for you though! :)

Our broker has reached out but isn't getting a response and is giving us alternate deals, this is just my anxiety getting the best of me about it being rejected a second time.

is it on a flood plain? Or maybe you can just ask if it is the property, or the application?

Nope, it isn't; from what information I managed to drag out the woman on the phone, the valuation happens immediately, Natwest don't instruct someone to go, it's generated automatically so the application was possibly declined before the even valuation went ahead. Tbh from what I understand it didn't even get to underwriting stage. Again this is all what I got from the woman on the phone at Natwest which is why it's making me think that it's the thing that happened 5 years ago and they have a marker on my name.

do a subject access request

Ooh, what's this?

I've noticed lenders becoming increasingly risk adverse over the last two years.

Maybe they could afford to be a bit more gung-ho when rates were a lot lower?

@KievLoverTwo they are definitely becoming more risk averse, but this was only a couple of weeks ago (we are in the process of buying at the moment).

OP needs a really, really good broker, in that case.

It's really bad that lenders aren't obliged to say why mortgages are refused and the whole credit rating system is cloaked in a cloud of mist and mystery, like it's some bleeding thing you can only understand when you're really old or have wizards in your bloodline.

My first mortgage application was declined, the broker tried another bank and it was approved. A certain supermarket bank wouldn't provide any financial services (not even car insurance) to an address because they had to write off a credit card when my mum died. Not blacklisted on a credit report but just their own in-house policy.

I think there's nothing for it but to ask NatWest why they rejected it. I'm surprised they didn't tell you upfront. Then at least you will understand why (and can challenge it if needed).

For all you know they have mudded you up with someone else with the same name who is a notorious a bankrupt!