aib refusing to issue letter of loan offer

[Henny Penny]

We have a tracker mortgage with aib. In June 2014 we moved house for work reasons. We maintained payments on our house with the tracker mortgage. On September 16th we received confirmation from aib that we would be permitted to move our tracker to a new property. We were told by aib that we had 6 months to move our tracker. We had not yet sold our house and as such we could not purchase another. Aib informed us that we had to be 'sale agreed' on a property and have a valuation report from an approved valuer submitted in order to stop the clock ticking on our six month deadline.
Fast forward 5 months when we agreed the sale of our house. We found a house to buy in our new city and with much wrangling and negotiation managed to get valuation report submitted on march 11th. On march 12th a lady from aib home mortgage phoned my husband to say sorry that they would not be able go offer us a mortgage. When queried she stated that a signed notarised letter of offer would be required by the 16 march. She said that as the timeframe was too short that aib were unwilling to issue this letter. I assured aib that when issued we would commit to returning same by the deadline of march 16. Aib refused point blank on march 12 to issue us with the letter of loan offer even though we had met the conditions set by them.
I feel that we have been wronged. We were led to believe that march 16 was the date by which all paperwork was to be submitted ... This was confirmed by my husband in the local branch on numerous occasions in the past month. We feel that because of the refusal of aib to provide us with the letter of loan offer within the timeframe, that we have now effectively lost our tracker mortgage.
I have lodged a complaint with aib but am not confident of a resolution.
I will complain to the financial ombudsman but would appreciate any advice for same.
In the meantime I'm seriously considering taking the proceeds of our house sale and investing in aib shares!

 

[Brendan Burgess]

1) Do you have a written letter of confirmation that you can move your tracker?
Does that specify the terms and conditions?
2) Have you signed contracts for the sale of your house?
3) Have you signed contracts for the purchase of your new house?

I think you have to take a deep breath and assume that your complaint with AIB will be resolved by them.
Don't write an intemperate letter.
Set out all the facts and dates in a clear and concise manner.
Ask for the letter of offer to be extended so that you can complete the purchase.
Check out the AIB advertising and website material to see what they say about tracker mover conditions.

I would not have that much faith in the Ombudsman resolving this. Check with your solicitor, if court action would be more effective.

In the meantime I'm seriously considering taking the proceeds of our house sale and investing in aib shares!

That is such a bizarre comment that it worries me that your whole story is probably irrational.

Brendan