Oakwood porting refusal under fire

Alex Murray, group director of mortgages for Thinc Group, said he had two cases where clients that originally had fully portable cases with GMAC-RFC and edeus had been refused the option to move the deal without incurring a penalty by Oakwood. Both deals had been securitised to Oakwood by the clients’ original lenders.

The case that was initially with GMAC-RFC was partially resolved to the extent that Oakwood would allow the mortgage to be ported, but would only lend up to 80 per cent loan-to-value (LTV) on a new build and 90 per cent otherwise. However, the client wanted to purchase a new build at 90 per cent LTV. The mortgage with GMAC-RFC was for 95 per cent LTV.

The edeus deal had yet to be resolved, with the borrower facing losing £3,500 in penalties.

Murray said: “This is another reminder to brokers about what’s going on with securitisation and a reason why they should think very carefully when using securitising lenders. I am surprised to see that this is a breach of contract. I don’t know the approach of other securitising companies, but it is another area where brokers ought to be careful. I don’t believe this is ‘Treating Customers Fairly’ (TCF) and I will be taking it up with our TCF committee.”

Steve Hogg, spokesman for Oakwood, commented: “We can’t comment on particular cases. However, a client is entitled to apply for porting their deal and these will be turned down if they don’t meet our criteria. It’s perfectly standard for any lender. Part of the fundamental trust of securitising is that the seller will assume the buyer will retain the original terms and conditions. We are as prudent as any other lender and don’t reject people out of hand.”

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