Mortgage offer withdrawn after exchange, can I still complete next week?

[Miffed1233]

Exchanged contracts Thursday for completion next Friday. Buyer below me and I’m buying ex rental which is at top of chain

randomly bank withdraw offer Friday afternoon, 24 hrs after exchanging)saying credit rating changed therefore affordability impacted. Have a call at 9am Saturday. Wtf absolutely nothing I can think of that would have changed and my Experian score is very strong still. Any advice - is there any way I can still complete in 6 days?!

any solicitors or bankers on here?

Apologies to OP.

Hope she gets this sorted. Very stressful to have this happen at the last minute.

@Inmysportsmumera @CrazyWeather
We don't draw down funds on exchange, we're not allowed to hold the funds for longer than a certain period, which is shorter than the time most people want between exchange and completion.
OP's problem is exactly why simultaneous exchange and completion is the safest method in the current purchasing process.

No I request them before exchange to ensure they will be released for completion.

We moved in October and exchanged and completed on the day. Mostly because it had taken so long up to that point everyone was just fed up and wanted it done.

It was incredibly stressful but at the same time relieving to just be done!

No advice OP but good luck. Its such a stressful horrible process dictated mostly out of your control. Fingers crossed for you x

I don’t understand how people can advocate for simultaneous exchange and completion if you are in a chain. You can’t book time off work, book movers, order internet etc if you don’t know what day you are moving.

OP how did the phone call go? Really hope you’ve got this sorted. For future reference you can and should disable automatic credit limit increases.

Can you define 'request' in your sentence @Helpmefindmysoul ?

Thank you for that. Why do you think people want more time between exchange & completion?

Broker here - was this Halifax? They are notorious for this but either way lenders can re score before releasing funds - if you have taken out any finance, new current account, credit card, increased limits, internet, mobile phone, new loan etc all of this can impact things. Hopefully you have used a broker and they can sort this out for you.

Yes they can. It's why my husband was insistent we exchange and completed on the same day.

As I said in my other post, doing it simultaneously doesn’t work if you are in a chain, need to move on completion day, have a job and need to organise anything for your move.

We did it. It can be done. You just line everything up, solicitors must be on board to check everything early and do what they need to do for a chain so you don't time out on the day. Movers are prebooked etc - ours packed the day before. (Yes that was a risk....but there are always risks).

Everyone in the chain agrees the date for exchange and completion, and makes arrangements for that date. Yes, it is possible that one person in the chain may mess things up for everyone, so there is that risk. But it takes away the possibility that a mortgage lender may mess things up for everyone.

No way would I have been comfortable paying a deposit for movers, ordering broadband etc if I hadn’t even exchanged. No way. Chains can fall through and if you’ve not exchanged you’ll be stuck with the costs. I get that the risk might be small but I’d never risk it.

This is what has happened! Happened to a friend of mine. She has hers cancelled after taking credit.

Obviously! We HAD exchanged

A mortgage offer is legally binding on the lender EXCEPT in specific circumstances, including a deteriation in credit worthiness of the borrower.
If you've got a copy of the mortgage offer, the conditions under which it can be withdrawn should be on there.
Check all your usual bills have been paid on time, is this a joint application, could the other applicant have run up debt / late payments you aren't aware of?
Not sure who you bank with but its worth checking if your online banking provide a copy of your credit file, Halifax have a free online credit score checker in their banking app.
Contact your mortgage broker today if they are open over the weekend, and your lender first thing monday morning.
Don't panic apply for a replacement mortgage today as it won't go through in time and the last thing you need right now is any sort of footprint on your credit file.

How old was the offer? When I worked for a building society it was for six months, then could be extended, it offer cannot last for ever. Sounds very much like solicitor has slipped up. Solicitor needs to talk to someone high up at the lender. Should be solvable. He will have blotted copy book with lender too, as he is trusted by the lender on this sort of thing. Errors like this could put his status with lender at risk. Phone lender and register a verbal formal complaint. Lender has the power to sort this out. Make a big fuss and threaten solicitor with a formal complaint to law society to make him or her jump

The new broadband contract would have added a hard search to your credit file so could be that.

Lenders can and they do. It's written into their offer that they can withdraw under certain circumstances at any time. A change of circumstances is on of those conditions. Lender withdrawal was common around the last crash therefore lots of solicitors get confirmation of funds release before exchanging, but if there is a long enough gap between exchange and completion lots still don't. Personally, I prefer security of knowing funds will be released before exchanging, but any conveyancer who doesn't obtain this confirmation before exchange hasn't done anything wrong either.

They can withdraw their offer at any time, even after exchange. It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. And yes, the buyer will probably lose their deposit and be potentially liable for further costs.

Solicitors don’t usually check before exchange that the lender will still send funds - the funds are applied for once exchange has happened and completion date known.

I work in this area.

THEY CAN.

Were you borderline on credit score or affordability at application. If not, considering the things you’ve mentioned it sounds like either a mistake or a fraud. Have you had a look at your full credit report to see if anything has been taken out in your name?

It does - I check my score regularly and this does affect it.

I would be getting a copy of your credit file, or signing up to a service which can see the history of your credit report to see what the changes are, if any. And at the same time persuing your bank. If you have a mortgage broker they need to be pulling their finger out now too - they might have a business development manager contact within the bank who can push things forward for you. Your solicitor will also be calling the bank I imagine. But, keep on at your bank for an urgent resolution as this could end up costing you ££ if you can't complete on the specified day. Good luck and keep us posted.

Interestingly, we had Santander pull out after exchange because the property was found to be non-standard construction - even though they had a mortgage on the property already for the sellers. So they wouldn’t lend on a property they already had a loan on.

Sellers lost around £100k as had to sell to cash only buyer.