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Mortgage application credit check fail because of fraud!

35 replies

Christoncrutches · 18/08/2021 18:45

Shitting nightmare - we've had an offer accepted on a house. Partner's credit score was FLAWLESS but a few months ago O2 got in touch to let him know there was a debt in his name - he'd unwittingly been paying £30 a month to 02 on an account he had no access to. Some feckin arsehole clearly using his identity. 02 have been useless, but did reassure us it would be cleared up and wouldn't affect a credit check when we applied for a mortgage.

He is owed £300 which he's never received, and a record of an unpaid £30 is on record - our mortgage adviser just let us know it's cropped up in the initial check and has asked for an explanation. Obviously we'll have to contact 02 again and ask them to reassure the bank, but we're increasingly concerned it's going to screw up this mortgage application.

We're in an extra rush because the sellers want a fast sale (we got it cheaper because of this - we have no chain) so this is delaying things.

Anyone been in similar situation?

OP posts:
AchillesLastStand · 19/08/2021 11:12

@Christoncrutches This sounds like a nightmare. Do you have a decent MP? It might be worth writing to them to explain your situation. I would also report it to the the Communication Ombudsman here:

www.ombudsman-services.org/sectors/communications

You’ll be surprised how they can suddenly jump in action and resolve your issue when they receive letters from authorities higher up.

Christoncrutches · 19/08/2021 11:18

[quote TakeYourFinalPosition]@Christoncrutches What is the issue for the mortgage provider?

Is it the missed payment that's showing; or is there a fraud marker from O2?

The former should be able to be resolved, although O2 will need to investigate and then update his credit file, and that can take a month. In that case, he'd be best placed to plead with them to expedite the investigation, and as soon as you reach the stage that they agree that the account was fraudulent, get them to write a headed letter confirming that, which might be enough for the mortgage provider.

If they've already agreed that it's fraud and he has a CIFAS marker, it'll be harder to get that removed - it might then be working with the mortgage provider to find what they need to feel reassured.

This happened to me LOADS a few years ago. It started with O2 accounts, then catalogue accounts, and finally a sub-prime credit card and a British Gas account. 80% got closed okay, although it took an age, one of the catalogue accounts and the credit card have been a nightmare and I'm basically at the point of just having to wait for them to drop off my file. It's horrendous and you have my sympathies![/quote]
@TakeYourFinalPosition - god, think I just reported your post trying to respond - if you get a message from MN, that's why! I blame a morning of dealing with O2 - has fried my brain entirely...

Thanks for sharing your story - sounds like we'll need to be vigilant moving forward!

The mortgage lender just said there's a note that there is an unpaid debt of £30 on his record and can we explain it. We've explained and she's asked for any evidence we can provide that it's being investigated as a fraud.

So, I'm guessing there isn't yet a CIFAS marker. We're now in limbo waiting to hear from fraud team, who haven't responded to an email we sent in June - today's call to customer services has apparently escalated that and we should hear from fraud dept in 48 hours. We can't even get an email, so not sure we'll manage to get a headed letter. Customer services won't send an email because of data protection - he can't answer the security questions for the account because he didn't set it up, so they can't send an email - only fraud dept can.

Utter nightmare.

We've sent our initial email and an online chat which we screengrabbed - OH also recorded the telephone call out of desperation (we googled it and apparently not illegal to do so, so we thought why not!). Waiting to hear back from mortgage provider so they can tell us what needs to happen next. Calling complaints this afternoon to try to get a manager to deal with this - in meantime trying to get someone from Executive Relations team.

Running out of options!

OP posts:
Christoncrutches · 19/08/2021 11:27

[quote AchillesLastStand]@Christoncrutches This sounds like a nightmare. Do you have a decent MP? It might be worth writing to them to explain your situation. I would also report it to the the Communication Ombudsman here:

www.ombudsman-services.org/sectors/communications

You’ll be surprised how they can suddenly jump in action and resolve your issue when they receive letters from authorities higher up.[/quote]
We have an awful MP but a decent MSP, so might give that a shot if we get no joy today - thanks for ombudsman link - we'll try anything at this point!

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Christoncrutches · 19/08/2021 12:30

Finally a response via email, triggered by some ranting on twitter... hopefully with an email trail we can move fwd with mortgage - next step is making sure they have enough evidence to proceed with approval.

I don't think I could take it if we lose this house because of £30!

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Christoncrutches · 19/08/2021 16:08

@AchillesLastStand @PammieDooveOrangeJoof @TakeYourFinalPosition @chukwe @mobear

Just wanted to say thanks for all your comments today - been so hard trying to stay sane amidst the nightmare that is O2 comms...

Wee update: it seems we did finally connect with Executive Relations team as previously mentioned - they've reimbursed the £300 my OH has paid over past 1/5yrs and removed the 'debt' from his credit record, which apparently will only take days, rather than weeks to be erased from the lender's POV - think it's a month for it to be completely removed.

So - hopefully a resolution in sight, but still on edge while we wait for official mortgage approval! Hoping to get some reassurance from our advisor tomorrow, fingers crossed.

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AchillesLastStand · 19/08/2021 16:51

That sounds like really good news @Christoncrutches. I’m sure since O2 have acknowledged it’s fraud and that your OH isn’t liable for the debt, I can’t see you having any further problems with mortgage application. Finger crossed for you.

Christoncrutches · 19/08/2021 17:20

@AchillesLastStand

That sounds like really good news *@Christoncrutches*. I’m sure since O2 have acknowledged it’s fraud and that your OH isn’t liable for the debt, I can’t see you having any further problems with mortgage application. Finger crossed for you.
@AchillesLastStand - was at the stage of emailing a sob story to my shitty MP when they eventually got in touch, so here's hoping!

Thanks again x

OP posts:
DaisyRenton18 · 19/08/2021 17:55

That's great news, fingers crossed OP!

Hopefully you won't need this now, but just in case, we used this site when we had issues with a mortgage and wanted to contact the mortgage provider's CEO.
www.ceoemail.com/index-search.php

Christoncrutches · 20/08/2021 00:00

@DaisyRenton18 Much appreciated - thanks! :)

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PammieDooveOrangeJoof · 20/08/2021 08:27

Excellent news @Christoncrutches
Hope it’s smooth sailing from now on 🤞🏼

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