Power of Attorney and Lenders

Hi All,

How do lenders, in particular Westpac treat power of attorneys?

In a situation where the buyer is overseas and need someone else to sign the contract & loan documents on their behalf..

Many thanks,
MsAli

 

I can't think of the last time I did this with Westpac, but I've handled this with a few other lenders and it hasn't been a big deal.

The most notable thing was one lender asked for a full valuation specifically rather than a drive by. This leads me to believe that they do more due diligence on the application. In most cases this shouldn't be an issue.

 

ANZ I have had no problems with in the past. No experience with Westpac, but CBA refused to accept loan documents signed by an attorney.

The problem you will have is the applicant needs to disclose certain things and an attorney will not have the required knowledge.

 

Yes me too, in particular St George. My broker told me I had to inform St George that I need power of attorney to sign loan documents in advance.

 

With Westpac you will need to send certified copies of the POA with the supporting documentation upon application submission so that once the mortgage documents are ready - they are sent to the POA for execution.

 

I think the POA has to be registered with LPI since it's to do with property transaction.

 

Yes definitely needs to be registered.

 

Bigger issue if the borrower is an entity. Hard for a POA to give a personal guarantee.

 

Thanks guys for the responses. Seems W'pac won't like the POA..

Cheers!

 

Ali hope you aren't relying solely on this thread as no one posting has said that. Best to confirm. - which you probably have

 

Cheers Terry. The lending manager said that to the person purchasing and I want to verify this further....
Ta
MsAli

 

I have bought and sold using POA and Westpac in the last 5 years with no problem, so it can be done.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

Great reminder for anyone dealing with real property via a POA.

You won't need it for the loan but to execute the transfer or signs contracts and leases registration is required to validate the dealing.

 

Hi Scott - apologies, I don't follow. Are you suggesting that loan cannot be signed by the person given POA?

 

Shahin, are you suggesting that the POA should have been provided when the application was first lodged? Ta

 

Yes the POA should be provided at the time of application submission - the mortgage centre has to prepare the mortgage docs and send it to the POA instead of the client. Westpac definitely do POA's so the branchie has somewhere along the way mixed up their wires.

 

I guess there are 2 aspects

Signing a transfer and contract for the sale of land - this is pretty straight forward.
Applying for a loan - this is not straight forward because the applicant is the borrower and they must disclosure certain things, which the attorney may not know.
Signing the loan documents - this will bind the borrower and lender and requires certain promises which lenders may not accept from an attorney.

The attorney also has to consider the legal aspects for this. They can easily stuff up and be personally liable for the loan themselves and/or sued for breach of duties.

The POA agreement should specifically give powers required to avoid doubt.

 

@MsAli - no issues with the poa signing for loans this is not a dealing with the property (the bank registers its own interest)

 

Thanks for that Scott!