Help with Suncorp loan

[neK]

Background:
My sister met with a mortgage broker to establish a loan to purchase her property. Unfortunately due to some stuff ups, it looks like Suncorp may not be ready to settle on this Tuesday.

How this came about was that the broker said Suncorp was changing their fixed rates and asked if they would like to apply the rate lock feature on. They said yes. Few days later the broker called back and said that new forms had to be signed and it would NOT be completed before settlement date.

Asked if they could revert back to the original contract, answer was no, and on Wednesday night they signed the new forms and the broker sent this back to Suncorp.

Issue:

• 29/10 - Loan is no longer ready for settlement due to Suncorp discarding the old loan contract.
• 29/10 - Broker has advised it has been escalated with FMS. Broker asked solicitor to contact FMS directly and speak to a particular person.
• 01/11 - Solicitor calls FMS and asks to speak to a particular person. Particular person is busy and other employees at FMS said the file had not been allocated and advised the solicitor they could not book in settlement.
• 01/11 - Solicitor calls FMS again and FMS advise that since new loan docs have been prepared, settlement cannot be booked in. (new loan docs were signed on Wednesday and assumed to be given to Suncorp on Thursday)
• 01/11 - Broker now states that if the Solicitor had just followed what she had told the solicitor to do this would not have happened. Broker is insisting the solicitor books in settlement with the vendor's solicitor and that FMS will come through.

I am wondering is this normal process? I would have thought the solicitor is doing the right thing by waiting for Suncorp to confirm settlement can be booked. As opposed to following what the Broker is saying which is go ahead a organise settlement (even though Suncorp is saying they are not ready) because next Tuesday (5/11) is sufficient time for the signed documents to be certified as they were returned on Thursday (31/10).

What can we do to sort this out? The broker seems to be completely unhelpful and will not pick up the phone and will only respond by SMS. She wont even respond to the solicitor.

 

[Mick C]

Background:

How this came about was that the broker said Suncorp was changing their fixed rates and asked if they would like to apply the rate lock feature on. They said yes. Few days later the broker called back and said that new forms had to be signed and it would NOT be completed before settlement date.

Asked if they could revert back to the original contract, answer was no, and yesterday they signed the new forms and the broker sent this back to Suncorp.

^ the broker should have known this and shouldn't have suggested the rate lock so late into settlement. Also Suncorp CAN revert to the old contract if requested, not sure why the broker said you can't...

Background:
.Particular person is busy and other employees at FMS said the file had not been allocated and advised the solicitor they could not book in settlement.

Not allocated 0.0 that's gonna cause a bit of trouble; it needs to be allocate before settlement can be booked. This can be escalated with Suncorp's BDM.

Background:

[*]01/11 - Broker now states that if the Solicitor had just followed what she had told the solicitor to do this would not have happened. Broker is insisting the solicitor books in settlement with the vendor's solicitor and that FMS will come through.
[/LIST]

I am wondering is this normal process? I would have thought the solicitor is doing the right thing by waiting for Suncorp to confirm settlement can be booked. As opposed to following what the Broker is saying which is go ahead a organise settlement (even though Suncorp is saying they are not ready) because next Tuesday (5/11) is sufficient time for the signed documents to be certified as they were returned on Thursday (31/10).

The lawyer is following the correct step. It's not professional to book in a settlement with the vendors when your side is not ready as the vendor will be P*** off and if you can't make that deadline and request for an extension at the last minute- they will most likely won't waive the late fees.

What can we do to sort this out? The broker seems to be completely unhelpful and will not pick up the phone and will only respond by SMS. She wont even respond to the solicitor.

THe only thing i can think of that will speed up the process is to get cheque directions ready, if your sister is transferring the funds into the lawyers trust fund then she might want to transfer a bit more ( a few hundred only in most cases) incase the settlement is delayed- her lawyer will most likely provide the same advice.

End of the day, don't stress...last minute booking etc is very normal for property settlements, especially in this busy time.

It's not uncommon to see settlement get booked the MORNING of settlement on the SAME day!

From the sound of things, everything will be ok.

 

[neK]

Thanks Mick! Appreciate the response, it does put my mind at a bit of ease.

 

[jonmardell]

H neK, sorry to hear about the problems. I wont comment on the entire post but regarding settlement on Tuesday, if the loan documents were signed and received by the bank on Thursday that leaves enough time until settlement as an escalation should have the docs certified by Monday at the latest and they will be able to take a booking for the next day.

Background:
My sister met with a mortgage broker to establish a loan to purchase her property. Unfortunately due to some stuff ups, it looks like Suncorp may not be ready to settle on this Tuesday.

How this came about was that the broker said Suncorp was changing their fixed rates and asked if they would like to apply the rate lock feature on. They said yes. Few days later the broker called back and said that new forms had to be signed and it would NOT be completed before settlement date.

Asked if they could revert back to the original contract, answer was no, and on Wednesday night they signed the new forms and the broker sent this back to Suncorp.

Issue:

• 29/10 - Loan is no longer ready for settlement due to Suncorp discarding the old loan contract.
• 29/10 - Broker has advised it has been escalated with FMS. Broker asked solicitor to contact FMS directly and speak to a particular person.
• 01/11 - Solicitor calls FMS and asks to speak to a particular person. Particular person is busy and other employees at FMS said the file had not been allocated and advised the solicitor they could not book in settlement.
• 01/11 - Solicitor calls FMS again and FMS advise that since new loan docs have been prepared, settlement cannot be booked in. (new loan docs were signed on Wednesday and assumed to be given to Suncorp on Thursday)
• 01/11 - Broker now states that if the Solicitor had just followed what she had told the solicitor to do this would not have happened. Broker is insisting the solicitor books in settlement with the vendor's solicitor and that FMS will come through.

I am wondering is this normal process? I would have thought the solicitor is doing the right thing by waiting for Suncorp to confirm settlement can be booked. As opposed to following what the Broker is saying which is go ahead a organise settlement (even though Suncorp is saying they are not ready) because next Tuesday (5/11) is sufficient time for the signed documents to be certified as they were returned on Thursday (31/10).

What can we do to sort this out? The broker seems to be completely unhelpful and will not pick up the phone and will only respond by SMS. She wont even respond to the solicitor.

 

[Rolf Latham]

Is ita qld property ?

ta
rolf

 

[Marty McDonald]

I have found the process at the back end can be hard to speed up at Suncorp as FMS don't take a direct escalation from the broker or solicitor. It is very frustrating when to get an escalation through to FMS it first has to be escalated through the bank and that can take a few days. Then FMS needs a few days to settle too.

I would never suggest trying to change the t and c's of a loan contract that close to settlement. You either rate lock or you don't.

 

[neK]

Rolf, its a property in Sydney NSW.
Im guessing if it was QLD it would quicker?

 

[Rolf Latham]

Rolf, its a property in Sydney NSW.
Im guessing if it was QLD it would quicker?

no quiker in qld, BUT worst case will be some penalty interest which the broker and the bank and you may be able to share

In qld, you could lose the whole deposit and then some

ta

rolf

 

[Redwood]

Background:
My sister met with a mortgage broker to establish a loan to purchase her property. Unfortunately due to some stuff ups, it looks like Suncorp may not be ready to settle on this Tuesday.

How this came about was that the broker said Suncorp was changing their fixed rates and asked if they would like to apply the rate lock feature on. They said yes. Few days later the broker called back and said that new forms had to be signed and it would NOT be completed before settlement date.

Asked if they could revert back to the original contract, answer was no, and on Wednesday night they signed the new forms and the broker sent this back to Suncorp.

Issue:

• 29/10 - Loan is no longer ready for settlement due to Suncorp discarding the old loan contract.
• 29/10 - Broker has advised it has been escalated with FMS. Broker asked solicitor to contact FMS directly and speak to a particular person.
• 01/11 - Solicitor calls FMS and asks to speak to a particular person. Particular person is busy and other employees at FMS said the file had not been allocated and advised the solicitor they could not book in settlement.
• 01/11 - Solicitor calls FMS again and FMS advise that since new loan docs have been prepared, settlement cannot be booked in. (new loan docs were signed on Wednesday and assumed to be given to Suncorp on Thursday)
• 01/11 - Broker now states that if the Solicitor had just followed what she had told the solicitor to do this would not have happened. Broker is insisting the solicitor books in settlement with the vendor's solicitor and that FMS will come through.

I am wondering is this normal process? I would have thought the solicitor is doing the right thing by waiting for Suncorp to confirm settlement can be booked. As opposed to following what the Broker is saying which is go ahead a organise settlement (even though Suncorp is saying they are not ready) because next Tuesday (5/11) is sufficient time for the signed documents to be certified as they were returned on Thursday (31/10).

What can we do to sort this out? The broker seems to be completely unhelpful and will not pick up the phone and will only respond by SMS. She wont even respond to the solicitor.

Really disappointing situation and I am sure that this caused you a whole lot of frustration and stress. Unfortunately, these occurrences are common. I deal with SMSF property and only reccomend banks or brokers I can trust. That is they know what they are doing, so we provide all documents required day 1 (already obtained pre-approval) and depending on settlement time (at least 45-60 days) ensure they are no 'major' hiccups, particularly with the legal process.

Your broker - dissapointing, i'm sure you will not use them again.

How did you go with penalty interest?

 

[Colin Rice]

Background:
How this came about was that the broker said Suncorp was changing their fixed rates and asked if they would like to apply the rate lock feature on.

The broker seems to be completely unhelpful and will not pick up the phone and will only respond by SMS.

Sorry to hear of your dilemma.

Best practice is to discuss a rate lock at the pre-application stage to avoid any delays or clients missing out on the opportunity to lock it in.

Also always best to respond to communication in the same format. SMS with SMS, phone call with phone call, email with email etc.

Settlements can be a stressful time for all parties if not managed correctly but most times it ends well even if it initially doesn't appear so.

 

[Peter_Tersteeg]

It's a bit hard to really blame anyone for this, especially without knowing the full conversation that occurred in the first meeting.

It's usually no problem to change a loan prior to settlement, but new loan documents do have to be issued, signed, returned and properly verified prior to settlement. Doing this a few weeks before settlement isn't a problem, but a few days simply isn't enough time.

Many changes require new documents to be issued, and once new documents are generated, the systems in most lenders don't allow the old ones to be used. A rate lock may or may not require new documents, depending on the lender and their internal processes.

Reading between the lines it looks like the broker worked fairly hard to try make a bad situation come good. About the only thing you could fault them for would be not knowing what would happen up front and communicating this when rate lock was initially offered; on a topic which is never discussed in any training anywhere. This knowledge only comes through bad experience.