Trouble getting loan/mortgage when on maternity leave

Niall1988

Hi all.
new to boards.ie so hope this is right place to put this tread.
im looking for peoples stories who have had a loan/mortgage
either refused or delayed because you or your partner have
been on maternity leave.(a friend of mine told me boards.ie
would be the best place ask)

me and my partner were due to draw down our mortgage in early
december 2012. we had been very up front with our lender about
our situation from the start. we had first applied for mortgage in about april 2012
and had told mortgage advisor in bank that my partner was pregnant.
due to unforseen issues it took way longer than expected
to sort out everything with the house so our hopes of having our home before
our daughter was born in october were soon dashed.
we informed the bank that my partner was on maternity leave
and were told we just needed a letter from work
stating the date she was due back etc.
we gave this to the bank and heard nothing untill we
contacted the bank to draw down the mortgage
when we were told we couldnt draw down the mortgage untill
my partner was back to work.

we tried everything we could with the bank sort this out before
the deadline for the end of mortgage interest relief but
were unsucessfull.

we later recieved our mortgage from a different bank who had
no issues with maternity leave.

im not looking for advice on this issue just other peoples stories
who may of had a similar experience with any irish lender.

This has been a cause of major controversy in the uk and
the states. in both countrys the goverment got involved and found
this unlawfull.

I want as many peoples storys as possibly who went through a similar experience
so i can bring this issue to the attention of the political system in ireland.

if your not comfortable sharing this info publicially please pm it to me.
i will of course fully respect peoples privacy and will only share information
with the td i decide go to.

Thanks for taking the time read my post.

Niall

L1011

Accomodation & Property forum or one of the consumer finance sub-fora might be better, I'd let a moderator decide where to move it though.

While I can see the possible legal issues (discrimination due to pregnant etc), the high rate of non-return does give banks a very solid reason to be wary - a mortgage offer made on the basis of two incomes and the previous number of children will almost certainly be unsustainable on one income and kids+1. Additionally, maternity leave payments are usually lower than the actual salary was which could make the mortgage unsustainable on its own. This wasn't the case for you a bank asking you to come back when a situation has returned to normal rather than re-doing the entire process for a temporary situation is fairly normal.

Considering banks are still under scrutiny for handing out mortgages like sweets until 2007 there is unlikely to be political will to do anything in that area right now. Unless its already illegal, don't expect it to be made illegal.

dudara

Moved to Banking & Insurance & Pensions

dudara

Niall1988

Thanks for the responce.
Its not a question of making it illegal.
Its interpretation of current
legislation.
Currently maternity leave is covered by
discrimination law under family status.
So to refuse credit based on this is illegal.
This was found to be the case in the uk.

My case is currently been investigsted by the financial ombudsman.

I just want other peoples stories so i can draw political attention to this issue.

More than likely my case will be dealt with before i do this so i probably wont benefit from this.

I just want things to be clarified
so others wont have to go through
the heartbreak and aggrivation me and my partner went through.

DrBass

Do you mind me asking which Bank gave you the Loan when your partner was on Maternity Leave?

Niall1988

DrBass wrote: »

Do you mind me asking which Bank gave you the Loan when your partner was on Maternity Leave?

Ill pm it to you

Electrician

Niall1988 wrote: »

Ill pm it to you

Hi.

Could you also pm me the name of your bank. Just got approval today but was told we can't draw down till my wife returns to work in April after her maternity leave.

Thanks

nicnac76

Hi, we are planning on going for mortgage next year but i am expecting and due to go on mat leave in May. can you PM me and let me know what institutions you had problems with? thanks in advance

mo_bhicycle

Hi all,
We're in the same boat regarding maternity leave and mortgage. Would somebody be able to pm me the name of the lender?
The op doesn't seem to have been on boards in a while so I would really appreciate it if one of the other posters could let me know the name of the lender.
Many thanks!