Overvalued Survey - Mortgage Shortfall

[neelamkhawani]

Hi there. I need some advice!

 

I bought an off-plan property in 2003, which was unfortunately repossessed in 2007. The following year (2008) the lender started to chase for a £21k shortfall. I requested all documents relating to the mortgage- and discovered the original survey (a basic Mortgage Valuation Survey) had been deliberately falsified by the surveyor, and the property had been overvalued by around £50,000. The surveyor had basically lied about the comparables in the section of the survey, and chose houses in a completely different town to compare against.

 

I obtained an expert witness report that confirmed all this information. The lender was not in the slightest bit interested, and continued to say 'it was my personal covenant' to pay the shortfall. Due to all the stress at the time, I settled for £7,700 to pay the lender to get them off my back.

 

My question is: Should the lender have claimed against the surveyor, instead of me, as it was a basic valuation survey (designed for the lenders benefit)? Did they act inappropriately by ignoring the evidence I have them, and so continuing to pursue me?

 

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks - Paul

[unclebulgaria67]

Hi there. I need some advice!

 

I bought an off-plan property in 2003, which was unfortunately repossessed in 2007. The following year (2008) the lender started to chase for a £21k shortfall. I requested all documents relating to the mortgage- and discovered the original survey (a basic Mortgage Valuation Survey) had been deliberately falsified by the surveyor, and the property had been overvalued by around £50,000. The surveyor had basically lied about the comparables in the section of the survey, and chose houses in a completely different town to compare against.

 

I obtained an expert witness report that confirmed all this information. The lender was not in the slightest bit interested, and continued to say 'it was my personal covenant' to pay the shortfall. Due to all the stress at the time, I settled for £7,700 to pay the lender to get them off my back.

 

My question is: Should the lender have claimed against the surveyor, instead of me, as it was a basic valuation survey (designed for the lenders benefit)? Did they act inappropriately by ignoring the evidence I have them, and so continuing to pursue me?

 

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks - Paul

This is the way I see it. The mortgage shortfall and the mortgage valuation are 2 separate issues.

 

You dealt with the mortgage shortfall as you should have done as the mortgage company are not responsible for the surveyors valuation.

 

Then it is a question about what you do about the surveyors valuation and the loss you suffered as a consequence. This is where you need proper legal advice, as you need to know whether you have any chance of success. The surveyors liability insurers will fight any court claim and therefore you could incur considerable legal costs. A Solicitor that handles such litigation is going to want to see all the paperwork that you have. Many Solicitors will offer a free half hour consultation, before they are willing to take it any further.

 

You paid what you thought was the market value and it seems the surveyor supported what you were paying. From what I gather some surveyors phone local Estate Agents and of course they are not going to disagree with what the developer is asking for. They want inflated prices as it helps their commission income.