I was due to complete the purchase of a house in Enfield on 19 December 2016. The completion did not take place, as my solicitors did not receive the mortgage funds of £364,000 in time. This was due from the lender, Birmingham Midshires, which is part of the Lloyds Banking Group.
A complaint was opened to investigate where the funds had got to. The lender’s response was that they were released correctly, and it didn’t offer any real help.
It was a disaster – families in the purchase chain had their possessions in lorries over the Christmas period while waiting on this issue to be resolved.
Currently, we are at a standstill whereby Birmingham Midshires says the funds have been released, and my solicitors and their bank, NatWest, say they haven’t received the money.
No bank is taking responsibility for locating the missing funds.
Now we are desperate.
MS, Enfield
This sounds like the move from hell – but, happily, within a day of sending your letter to Birmingham Midshires headquarters, someone managed to locate your funds.
It appears they were paid to NatWest but had not actually made it into your solicitor’s account. This was swiftly rectified, and the moves took place.
A Birmingham Midshires spokesperson says: “We have offered to waive the interest from the first month’s mortgage payment, and arranged to make a payment for any distress and inconvenience that was experienced by MS.”
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