Any advice appreciated - mortgage with CCJ

kr2156

Hi,

I would like to buy my first house but recently found out that I had a CCJ against my name. Due to a change in address I did not find out about the CCJ until it was too late to repay within the one month time limit but as soon as I did I repaid the amount (£1,200) in full and so the CCJ is now satisfied but obviously still appears on my credit record.

I am employed, have no previous issues with repayments of credit cards etc and have a 40% deposit to put down. I would really appreciate any advice on whether the option of taking out a mortgage with a high street lender would still be open to me at this point? One other point that I am hoping may count in my favour is that I have had savings of £20k held with my preferred mortgage lender for 8 years (which I am hoping will prove that if I had known about the debt I would have been able to repay it).

Thanks in advance for any advice

VIGILANT22

Ask whoever is holding yr 20k...in reality nobody here can give you an affirmative answer as we are not taking the risk of lending you the money..that is a decision a lender would have to make after assessing your circumstances........so start with the most obvious one........if no luck there...see a whole of market mortgage adviser.........

kr2156

Thanks - sensible suggestion and will be doing this shortly so fingers crossed. Guess I just wanted a heads up on what to expect.....anyone else been in a similar situation?

10past6

kr2156 wrote: »

Due to a change in address I did not find out about the CCJ

How did you find out about the CCJ?

kr2156 wrote: »

until it was too late to repay within the one month time limit but as soon as I did I repaid the amount (£1,200) in full and so the CCJ is now satisfied but obviously still appears on my credit record

You have the right to make a "set aside" application re the CCJ, however, having paid the CCJ, it'll be classed by the court as "admitting the debt" that being said, if the claimant knew of your address where the court papers could have been issued to but chose another address, the onus is on them to explain why.

Should you decide on a set aside application, use this form here it'll cost you £75.00 should you decide to proceed.

kr2156

Thank you for your response 10 past 6.

How did I find out about the CCJ?
The claimant referred the matter to a no win no fee solicitor. They subsequently took out the CCJ and 3 months after this they sent a letter to my new address (unsure how they obtained this) informing me of the course of action that had been taken. As soon as I received this letter I followed up with the claimant (my ex employer) and the solicitor to resolve the matter.

Although ultimately I would very much like the CCJ to be set aside (on the grounds that if I had known about it I would have paid it), I'm not sure how it will be viewed by the court because I did not provide my ex employer with a forwarding address. I did however provide them with my personal mobile number (the number that I still have today) but I am unsure (a) how I could prove this and (b) if this would be viewed as a sufficient method of contacting me. Any thoughts?

10past6

kr2156 wrote: »

They subsequently took out the CCJ and 3 months after this they sent a letter to my new address (unsure how they obtained this) informing me of the course of action that had been taken. As soon as I received this letter I followed up with the claimant (my ex employer) and the solicitor to resolve the matter

If you have written proof they had an up to date address they could have used when issuing the Court claim, that's grounds to have the CCJ set aside.

"Some" claimants will use an "old" address in order to obtain a CCJ, i.e. the claim will be sent out to the address, if not "acknowledged" then the claimant is awarded a CCJ.

kr2156 wrote: »

I did not provide my ex employer with a forwarding address

If they claimant had no forwarding address, and you cannot provide evidence you supplied them with one, they will defend stating they sent it to the last "known" address, you'll have difficulty convincing a court the claimant had other options, that being said, you could argue: 3 months after this they sent a letter to my new address (unsure how they obtained this) claiming they had your address at the time, again, the onus will be on YOU to prove they did.

Conrad

As long as the ccj is satisfied, you stand a fair chance of a mortgage on competetive terms. A decent broker 'should' know which lender to use - as long as they aren't one of those that tends to stick to the lenders they know and can't be bothered to meet and register with all lenders. ALL brokers will imply they use all lenders but it's not always the case so take care in chosing one.

kr2156

10 past 6 - thanks again. Useful to have an unbiased perspective on this. I have arranged a meeting with the Citizens Advice Bureau to spell out the exact details of my case and get advice on the type of evidence that I will need in order to submit a successful application. Your comments have definitely given me some hope that there is the potential for this to be set aside.

Conrad - thanks for your response. I have found a few potential mortgage advisors using a link from the main site to 'unbiased.co.uk'. I will defintiely be asking if they use all lenders as this wasn't something I had considered previously.

kr2156

An update on this - I went to see a whole of market mortgage advisor today and after speaking with his contacts at lendors who he did not think would be as put off by the CCJ he came back with the bad news that no-one was willing to extend me credit. His advice was to make an application to Natwest on the basis that Natwest use Equifax to credit score applicants and for some reason my CCJ does not show on my Equifax credit report (whereas it does on my Experian credit report). This does not sit comfortably with me as I feel it is in some way a fraud. Can anyone offer me any more advice on (a) whether I am just being a drama queen and should go with Natwest (b) to try another mortgage advisor (c) to give up with trying to get a mortgage from a high street lender until the CCJ has been removed from my name? Any thoughts appreciated.

happybroker

how old is the ccj?

kr2156

The CCJ was taken out in August 2009 but has only recently been satisfied