How a second charge bridge was turned around in two weeks

Brightstar approached Castle Trust on 15 September about a second charge bridge that was required quickly in order to refinance an existing deal.

The client wanted to refinance a £40,000 bridging loan that was coming to the end with little time left.

The case was further complicated by questions over the title on the property and a separate first charge lender being involved that needed to provide consent to any charge on the property.

The customer applied for a flexible mortgage with a 12 month term through the firm’s express service.

Castle Trust said it was able to progress the case by using title insurance to hedge against any financial loss should the title ever be challenged.

The lender also put a member of its team in charge of liaising between the lender, broker and other parties involved, which accelerated the process.

Case workers on the lender’s express service are typically senior members of the underwriting team responsible for ensuring all of the correct documentation is in place to make a lending decision and finalise the deal.

In the end it took two weeks to process the bridge, from application to completion.

Castle Trust director of sales Alex Upton said: “Sometimes speed is what really matters. We are delighted that we have been able to work with Brightstar to achieve our first completion so soon after launching the service.”

Brightstar bridging loans specialist Jo Logan added: “It’s great to achieve a two-week completion on a second charge loan. Everybody was on the case and they provided plenty of updates as the application progressed.”