Ex- Credit Analyst - Throw your Credit & Underwriting Q's at me.

Mike_St_Helens

clarky0212 wrote:

Hi Mike
Sorry if you have already covered this, i've had a quick look but still very confused. My OH and I went into an iva in 2001, but in 2004 we remortgaed and managed to come to an arrangement with the creditors and it was settled. I WAS TOLD i would not be able to get credit for 6 years!! We have recently managed to take an advance on our mortgage to do some home imporvements etc, however, I am scared to apply for unsecured credit. I would love to have a bank account with a cheque book, I would like to have a small credit card for purchases on the internet, as currently only have a basic account with a visa electron, which most places on the net don't accept. What do you suggest?? Sick of having to ask family to write cheques for me and to use their card for purchases. We checked our credit file soon after the iva and it didn't look good although i didn't really understand it. I applied for a bank account in 2004, just after the settlement and was refused, but since then apart from the advance on the mortgage have not applied for anything.

Hope you understand all that. Can you please advise on what I can do.
Its great not having any unsecured dept. And we have just started to save also, but again, we are saving in a basic account as I was told they do credit checks for saving accounts, so I am not earning any interest on my savings.

Hi there, secured debt, such as a mortgage is as it says secured on the property so its much easier to get the advances than it is to get unsecured credit. As you may know your file will show the adverse info for 6 years, so whatever you go for, they will see this info until 6 years after the IVA.

Your current account, have you ever asked them to pgrade this for you ?

They dont really do credit checks as such when you want a savings account, it is more for ID and fraud putpouses really. Try and open one and see what happens... Its not credit after all.

I also know that there are some sub-prime lenders that may now give you a card, such as capital one, citi... however if you had a debt with them previous that was part of the IVA then id doubt they would lend to you again in the near future.

Mike

trevor_john

MIKE...HELP !!!!

Hi
I had an iva which ran its course of 5 years and finished in August 2005.I then wait another year and August 2006 the iva and all the debts within it dropped off my file.

GREAT ,well thats what i was thinking until i get my file through and see that barclaycard are still showing as satisfied in 2005.This means it will stay on my file for another 5 / 6 years.

I wrote to equifax who agrred with me that this should have dissappeared with the iva ,here is their reply :

"Dear Trevor

Re - Barclaycard

We wish to advise you that you contact your lenders in question and send them a copy of their IVA certificate of completion, asking for the account to be marked as satisfied and the end date of the account to reflect the date of the IVA. This will expedite the dispute with each of the clients and we ensure that the account will drop off the file at the same time as the IVA.

Thank you for your recent correspondence.

I hope this is of assistance.

Regards

Equifax Customer Care Team "

mountainofdebt

Mike_St_Helens wrote:

Hi there

* If the debt is in your name it should not affect OH's chances, unless OH has no income and your income is the only one coming in. People have the misconception that the 0% thing makes a difference as to if you are approved or not. It does not. They are simply assesing the risk that you will pay the debt back, some companies do risk based pricing where you gat a hifgher standard rate than some others... but they would always still give you the 0% intro offer, it does not matter at all... If they are happy to give you credit they wil... does not matter what the intro rate is. Ive highlighted this, as it is a great misconception accross the thread, not aimed at you hun !

* They wont necessarily look at your missed payment if they are to approve your OH, but if there is a lot of adverse info for one half of a couple then lenders may try to find anyway to decline if they can...

* Your limits, I would leave them as they are, simply as a lot of lenders will try to match or beat your best card,so if you reduce all to a nats whisker, then you are more likley to get a smaller limit, of couse close them when they are dead accounts, but always keep a couple going, simply to keep your file active.

* Your lender WILL do a search, they would be mad not too... you could have defaults or anything since the mortgage started (not saying you have mind) But I doubt a mortgage lender would decline because of one or two missed payments. It is secured lending on a mortgage so they can be a bit more lenient.

Hope that helps

Mike

for your comprehensive reply.

We had a letter from Capital One (one of the lenders whi rejected him) and it did state that they looked at people linked to each other financially - hence my question....and even suggested that not only did he look at his credit file but the people who are financially linked to him.

If they do look at people who are financially linked then its no wonder they rejected the OH.

As far as the mortgage is concerned, all payments are up to date - so that's one thing in our favour at least!

Fortuantely we may be in a position to pay it off shortly and if we cancel the joint account would I be right in thinking we wouldn't be financially linked?

Mike_St_Helens

trevor_john wrote:

MIKE...HELP !!!!

Hi
I had an iva which ran its course of 5 years and finished in August 2005.I then wait another year and August 2006 the iva and all the debts within it dropped off my file.

GREAT ,well thats what i was thinking until i get my file through and see that barclaycard are still showing as satisfied in 2005.This means it will stay on my file for another 5 / 6 years.

I wrote to equifax who agrred with me that this should have dissappeared with the iva ,here is their reply :

"Dear Trevor

Re - Barclaycard

We wish to advise you that you contact your lenders in question and send them a copy of their IVA certificate of completion, asking for the account to be marked as satisfied and the end date of the account to reflect the date of the IVA. This will expedite the dispute with each of the clients and we ensure that the account will drop off the file at the same time as the IVA.

Thank you for your recent correspondence.

I hope this is of assistance.

Regards

Equifax Customer Care Team "

They are entirley right in what they say, have you spoken with Barclaycard or written to them, they wont know until they are told. I can see why they may have done this ie: end of payments from IVA so satisfy the account. However you really do need to speak with them and alert them, send them a copy of the response from Experian also.

You will be fine, just be firm with them. If they wont play ball, involve Experian and the Informartion Comission.

Did the barlay acc show that it as a default/arrears etc or was it showing as up to date ?

Mike_St_Helens

mountainofdebt wrote:

for your comprehensive reply.

We had a letter from Capital One (one of the lenders whi rejected him) and it did state that they looked at people linked to each other financially - hence my question....and even suggested that not only did he look at his credit file but the people who are financially linked to him.

If they do look at people who are financially linked then its no wonder they rejected the OH.

As far as the mortgage is concerned, all payments are up to date - so that's one thing in our favour at least!

Fortuantely we may be in a position to pay it off shortly and if we cancel the joint account would I be right in thinking we wouldn't be financially linked?

My pleasure, Hope it was of use to you.

Sorry though, even if you close the joint acc... You are still linked financially and the CRA wont amend this.

Mike

trevor_john

Mike I tried speaking to barclaycard but alas no luck.I really just need the right department to speak to,any ideas ?
Thanks

Mike_St_Helens

trevor_john wrote:

Mike I tried speaking to barclaycard but alas no luck.I really just need the right department to speak to,any ideas ?
Thanks

Yep - You need to ask for the Data Controllers office, if the monkey doesnt understand ask for a manager. If the data controllers office is unavailible... start throwing the Information commisioners office at them, they have a good website that you may be able to get help from.


http://www.ico.gov.uk/

MIke

trevor_john

Cheers mate will ring in morning as monkey dont start till 9,00.

I will let yoo know outcome.

Aother quikie for you,i got declined from rbs and nationwide and accepted no probs amex..how come ??

Mike_St_Helens

trevor_john wrote:

Cheers mate will ring in morning as monkey dont start till 9,00.

I will let yoo know outcome.

Aother quikie for you,i got declined from rbs and nationwide and accepted no probs amex..how come ??

I think AMEX use Call credit, a lot of companied dont use and dont report to them... poss this is the reason. Otherwise AMEX are quite hard to 'get into'.

Yeah, let me know what they say...

Mike

Snaggles

KerryGold wrote:

Hi Again Mike, (or maybe one for Snaggles?)

Thanks for your last response. My next question concerns my current mortgage on our flat that I hold with my Mum. We want to get her off the mortgage (and deeds) and maybe put my husband on to decrease her captial gains liability as much as possible.

We're wondering what's the best way to go. My dad reckons I should just call current mortgage provider and tell them I want to take my mum off. I'm worried because I'm in agency work (continuous for past 18 months but contract end date of Christmas) they wouldn't agree to it going into my name alone.

The truth is my mum has never paid a penny of the mortgage, this is provable by bank statements, and I can easily manage the £200 p.m. plus then I have my husband anyway! My dad thinks there shouldn't be a problem because the flat is worth more than double the mortgage anyway so the BS shouldn't be concerned as the equity could pay it back even if I couldn't.

Who's right? WHat do you recommend? Would anything be gained by adding my DH or not?

Thanks again!

Hi KerryGold!

Just to follow on from Mike's reply, you can look at taking your Mum off the mortgage and the deeds, however this would be classed as an Equity Buy Out (if you wanted to put your husband on the deeds at the same time then he can simultaneously do an Equity Buy In). A solicitor would deal with this and there may be significant costs involved, as it is basically treated as a sale/purchase, even if no money is actually changing hands. As I understand it, stamp duty may be payable in some circumstances too, so it would be worth enquiring with a few solicitors to see what costs would be involved.

As far as whether or not the bank would agree to you taking on the mortgage in your sole name, they will most likely assess this as if you were taking on a completely new mortgage with them (which in effect you would be) - so it would depend on what their normal criteria was. The fact that you work through an agency might be a slight stumbling block, although as you have been doing this for 18 months, they might consider this sufficient track record (particularly if you were in a similar line of work prior to starting with the agency). Whether you want to add your husband on to the mortgage/deeds is ultimately up to you, but if he has an income, then obviously they can take your joint income into account - although they will then also take into account any debts/outgoings he has, and also his credit rating.

The fact that you can prove you have paid the mortgage yourself may well help and is definitely worth mentioning to them (they wouldn't automatically agree it because of this, but if they are assessing judgementally, anything that might swing the decision in your favour is worth telling them about).

With regard to the equity in the property, although this is another thing in your favour, banks tend to take the view that 'Equity doesn't make a bad proposition good' - so whilst they will think it's a good thing, this again wont automatically mean it would be agreed, as whilst their security would be protected if they did have to repossess, at the end of the day, they dont want to repossess properties, they want you to pay them back, as slowly as possible, with lots of lovely interest !

There is also the option of taking your Mum either just off the deeds (but remaining on the mortgage) or just off the mortgage (but remaining on the deeds), but with either of these options, you would then need to sign an indirect legal charge (sometimes called an A2 charge), and would need independant legal advice (so would again pay solicitors fees). It would probably be worth having a chat to a solicitor to go over your options, and look at the best ways to protect both yourself and your Mum, and keep costs to a minimum.

Hope this helps! (I suspect it just confuses the issue more - sorry )

Snaggles xx