We are required to obtain ‘express permission’ from you to obtain a lender’s decision to lend.
Decisions in Principle (DIP) /Agreements in Principle (AIP) are common features of the mortgage market. It is possible for us to obtain a lender’s ‘decision to lend’ for you, but there are important considerations that need to be addressed prior to conducting any of these.
Lenders will vary in the degree of checks they carry out when a DIP/ AIP is obtained for a potential borrower. This will affect the ‘footprint’ left on the credit file. Some lenders may leave a ‘hard’ print and others a ‘soft’ print. Such activity is recorded on a customer’s credit file and will impact on the customer’s credit score. Where a ‘hard’ print is left, this will be visible to future prospective creditors. Although footprints in isolation should not have any significantly impact on a credit file, multiple checks within a short period of time (e.g. 3 months) can lead to the refusal of credit.
Care should be taken regarding the number of DIP’s that are done that subsequently do not proceed to an full mortgage application and then completion as lenders carefully monitor this activity and measure quality.
Basically, the more DIPs/AIPs that you do, the more desperate you may appear to a potential lender, and lenders do not like to lend to desperate people !
By using 1st Call 4 Mortgages LLP, you can be assured that we understand the above very clearly, and we will only perform a DIP when we are happy that the application will be accepted by the lender, this reducing the impact on your credit record, and maximising your chances that your first application will be your last.
You can download our DIP Agreement here.