Bank clear about reduced cash contribution if customer sought another loan

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Bank clear about reduced cash contribution if customer sought another loan

Categories:

Concerns about lending decisions,

Summary:

In 2015, George asked the bank what fees he would have to pay if he moved his home loan to another bank. The bank gave him a summary of the costs but neglected to mention he would have to repay the $4,000 cash contribution the bank gave him when he took out the loan. George refinanced with another bank, and when the bank's mistake was discovered, the bank agreed not to charge George the $4,000.

Published:

September 2022

In 2021, George approached the original bank with a new home loan application. The bank accepted the application but told him it would be reducing the cash contribution it would normally offer by $4,000 to account for the fee it had waived in 2015. George was unhappy with this. He regarded the 2015 matter as settled and considered it unfair to resurrect the waived fee after such a long time had elapsed.

Our investigation

We told George banks offered a cash contribution at their discretion, and they were not obliged to offer anything at all. We found it neither unfair nor unreasonable for the bank to take into account the waived $4,000 fee when assessing his application. The bank had explicitly told him it would reduce any cash contribution by $4,000. It also told him in 2015 that it would take into account the waived $4,000 if he ever applied again for a loan. In short, the bank had not in any way misled him about any cash contribution he would receive.