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Specialists for individuals and small businesses in:
French Tax Administration Services
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UK Tax Administration Relating to French matters

How to reduce the chances of a French mortgage application resulting in a refusal

Friday, 25 January, 2019
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 French lenders have strict and individual lending criteria, from experience we have encountered many applicants contacting us once they have submitted their application to the French bank directly, which has resulted in the mortgage being declined.  The refusal is often as a direct result of a lack of understanding of the bank’s underwriting requirements and inadequate packaging of the application prior to submission.  At Charles Hamer we apply our specialist knowledge and experience of over 30 years of working closely with established French banking contacts to ensure that a mortgage file is presented at outset in order to maximize a favorable outcome.

- French banks work on a non-advisory sale basis - they are not able to advise you at outset nor during the mortgage process, as to whether your file is likely to be looked at favorably by the underwriting committee.       We have direct access to, and work closely with, the banks' underwriters throughout the underwriting process and address any concerns in advance of the application being presented to the Credit Committee for a financial decision.

We are qualified Independent Financial Advisers -we are not limited to any one lender’s mortgages schemes, we broke the application to find the most appropriate mortgage scheme and French lender to match our clients' requirements.

-  Where life assurance is a compulsory requirement, unlike a non -advisory bank we have the ability to broker the cost of the associated life assurance policy, either in France, (through our established French broker contacts) or in the UK, subject to the life assurance policy meeting the bank’s terms and conditions.

- We request our established French banking contacts to prioritize your file, as a result of our direct contact with the French bank’s underwriters.

 -Our bilingual staff ensure that our mortgage service is an inclusive process due to our direct contact with Estate Agents /vendors and notaires, throughout, to ensure a smooth transaction from the signing of the initial French purchase contract to the release of mortgage funds.

-As brokers, from outset we compare the French mortgage market enabling our clients to choose the most appropriate mortgage scheme which matches their own particular requirements.

- All our mortgage schemes illustrated on our website and produced individually include an estimate for associated fees, resulting in the provision of the true cost of borrowing (an APRC), which is a legal requirement for any mortgage quote.

We offer a range of specialist French tax services aimed at the French property owner which include:

the submission of annual French tax returns to the French tax office for those in receipt of French rental income

direct contact with the notaire to mitigate the liability to French Capital Gains Tax due on the sale of a French property.

specialist tax planning for those looking to make France their main residence.

Being Independent Financial Advisers in the UK, regulated by the FCA we offer our clients assurance of accountability for the service and advice provided.  Unfortunately, this is not the case for direct advice provided by French banks and French Estate Agents, as the advice process is not regulated in the UK and offers no recourse to the Financial Conduct Authority or the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) in the event of cause for complaint.  In such circumstances the only avenue for taking up a complaint is to resort to the French regulator. 

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