First Active: problems with drawing down my mortgage.

I'm having problems with drawing down my mortgage - Can anyone give me some advice on it - I'm ready to pull my hair out.

My broker has informed me that FA have withdrawn the discounted rate I originally signed for in my letter of offer from FA back in March. I received no notification of this, nor did my broker... until I went to draw down.

I phoned them and they told me (reluctantly) that the discounted rate did stand but the rate will be set at the date the cheque is issued - which is fine.

My broker has now informed me this is not the case and asked me to contact them again to find out for myself... now FA won't talk to me or my solicitor and I can't get in contact with my broker....

I urgently need the issue cleared up as I have to pay for the house.


In addition to all the FA are telling me they don't have any of my paper work on file for the loan I cleared as part of the terms of my offer - this has been sent 3 times to them.... Help me!!!!

Re: First Active problems...

My partner had very similar problems with them. They lost a lot of his paper work a number of times. They caused huge delays and they have been not in the least bothered by it. Our broker tells us that they prefer not to deal with FA because of the stress it causes their customers.

Re: First Active problems...

Whackin, I can well beleive it - and my broker doesn't seem to be bothered either... I don't know what to do at this stage - I have to get the money to pay for the house but I want to check the terms of my letter of offer to see if they are correct in saying that they can pull the product from the market with out notifying me.

Re: First Active problems...

"In addition to all the FA are telling me they don't have any of my paper work on file for the loan I cleared as part of the terms of my offer - this has been sent 3 times to them.... Help me!!!!"

All banks are the same when it comes to losing your documentation. I had an excellent broker who kept on top of them for me as we keep all our correspondance through e-mail so had all the dates to hand. Bank kept saying you didn't give us this etc. Basically they are a team of 5-8 people who lose stuff. You must instruct your broker to get on their case and bombard them with calls until they find what they lost. If your broker was worth his salt he would have the dates to hand when you submitted your details, etc. Good luck.

Re: First Active problems...

I got mortgage approval through FA, and waited 2 weeks for the offer letter to be sent through to my broker... eventually after much pestering they came back and said 'Oops, somebody messed up, we shouldn't have approved you for that much'... The delay nearly cost me the house!

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I don't know what to do at this point - I'm getting really nervous about the whole thing - I could loose the house over all this...

Re: First Active problems...

Sago, if the interest rate on your loan offer was a discounted variable then thats the rate that will apply (I think FA used to offer a 1% discount on their standard variable rate for 6 months or .5% discount for 2 years). They have now withdrawn this offer which means new customers cannot avail of it. As for your broker not being informed of this I find that hard to believe - they usually inform brokers of interest rate/criteria changes by post and by email, as do most lenders.

Their cheque issue at the moment is a disaster because they are in the middle of an 'upgrade'. It takes around 2 weeks for them to issue a cheque after receiving all the docs they need. Make sure your broker and solicitor have everything sent in and to double check it beforehand because it could take anything up to a week of following up only to be told there was a problem eith the life/buildings etc...

Re: First Active problems...

Hi Thanks for that - I don't understand how they can just withdraw something I have signed and agreed - maybe you could explain it to me thanks.

Re: First Active problems...

Maybe I wasn't clear enough in what I said. Assuming the discount variable rate is the rate that was on your loan offer, then that is the rate that will apply to you. The rate has been withdrawn since March so anybody applying for a mortgage after that could not avail of it.

Re: First Active problems...

Hel_n said:

Maybe I wasn't clear enough in what I said. Assuming the discount variable rate is the rate that was on your loan offer, then that is the rate that will apply to you. The rate has been withdrawn since March so anybody applying for a mortgage after that could not avail of it.

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What they are telling me is that I don't qualify for what was on the offer because I haven't drawn down...

Go into the bank and demand to speak to the manager/person dealing with your file. They'll produce it pretty quickly

Did you sign & return the letter of offer (within the 21 days)? if so what is the expiry date of the offer? should be under something like "latest drawdown date" detailed on the letter of offer. On a variable rate this is normally 1 yr less 1 day from the date the offer is issued. If this is the case FA don't have a leg to stand on so to speak and you can insist the honour their agreement. Otherwise go through their complaints procedure as quickly as possible 1. talk to the manager, 2. talk to their senior manager and then send your complaint to the ombusman.

The issue on what rate you get seems to be this:

Its the rate on the day you draw down.

My understanding is that IFRSA have insisted on this, as apparently they see it as disadvantaging other borrowers.

It used to be the case that the 'rate' on the letter of offer (specifically fixed rates) were 'valid' for a period. As in this never did apply to a 'variable' rate or its replacement 'tracker'.

The issue for you is achieving the discount (say half a percent) as a 'tracker discount' or 'discount variable'. If they still have a 'discount' product then you should seek that. If they dont, then they may be persuaded to allow the dsicount for you.

Your argument therefore is:

- you accept that the vaiable rate or tracker rate is whatever it is on the day;
- what you want is the agreed 'discount' on that even if they now dont offer the product.

I think you have a case, but dont lose the head.