Mortgage advisor liability: your rights

Questioner

Dear lawyers, We had a mortgage with a high interest rate. This ran for 20 years and now 10 years have passed. A certified financial mortgage advisor advised us in April to buy off this mortgage. This would cost us a penalty, but given the current low interest rate, this would still be advantageous for us. She demonstrated this by making a clear calculation. This process has been running since the end of April 2018 and we have now signed the new offer. Next week the deed will be passed at the notary. To our great dismay, it turns out that our mortgage advisor did not have a good idea of ​​the amount of the penalty. It is more than 10,000 euros higher than she calculated. This is now apparent when the notary sends the settlement. The advisor indicates that this has to do with a changed amount of the penalty interest. She is now willing to think with us about how we can best settle this immense setback with the released funds, but in any case we have suddenly lost this gigantic amount. Can the mortgage advisor be held liable for this loss?

Lawyer

In principle, yes. A mortgage advisor may be expected to fulfil his duty of care. This means that in addition to providing information, he makes an exact calculation based on the data provided and the current status of penalty interest. If he fails to do so or overlooks certain matters, this error can be attributed to him. After all, the advisor has knowledge of penalty interest and cannot take the position that this penalty interest has now changed, especially given the fact that the difference in amount is considerable. I therefore advise you to hold this advisor liable for the error. If you would like help with this, please contact me directly for consultation.