Not upheld: Mortgage administration / arrears handling complaint against Marsden Building Society

Decision detail

Summary

Mr A and Mr T applied for an ex-pat buy-to-let re-mortgage with Marsden Building Society and received an Agreement in Principle. They paid booking and valuation fees but Marsden subsequently declined to offer the full amount requested after the property valuation came in lower than expected. Mr A and Mr T complained that Marsden should have known their application would fail because they were paid in a foreign currency that Marsden did not accept for mortgage payments. The ombudsman found that Marsden's lending criteria were clearly communicated and accessible to the broker, the booking fee was stated as non-refundable, and Marsden was entitled to make a commercial decision based on the valuation results and their published lending criteria. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Marsden clearly communicated in the AIP application form that the booking fee was non-refundable and that approval was subject to underwriting criteria and full application. The lending criteria, including the restriction on foreign currency acceptance, were accessible to the broker from the start. Marsden was not obliged to consider Mr A and Mr T's foreign currency income in assessing affordability as it fell outside their published lending criteria. The valuation results justified Marsden's decision to offer a lower amount, and this was a reasonable commercial decision based on the property valuation and published lending criteria. An AIP is merely an indication of willingness to lend, not a guarantee, and Marsden was entitled to decline the formal application based on the valuation and affordability assessment.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website