Help required from Mortgage Advisors please

pinkpenelope

Hi,

I wanted to get an opinion from a mortgage advisor please. My myself and a close friend are considering getting a mortgage together, since neither of us can afford anywhere in London by ourselves. However, I was made bankrupt in Dec 2004 and discharged in July 2005, and I have a number of defaults on my files for accounts prior to this bankruptcy. I'm in the process currently of making sure my files are in order and that the defaults are showing as the date of the bankruptcy etc. Since the bankruptcy I have not had much credit (I couldn't get it probably even if I wanted to), and the only accounts showing on my files since the bankruptcy are my basic bank accounts at Nationwide and Co-operative, Vodaphone monthly accounts, and a Vanquis credit card account with a £250 limit... So I haven't been able to rebuild my credit very much so far.

My friend should have a good credit history.

My friend earns about £26,000 a year, I earn £31,200 a year.

Could you advise me on whether we could get a reasonable mortgage bearing in mind the above circumstances? We were hoping to get a mortage of about £200,000 at least? We don't have any deposit. Though there is a possibility that my friends parents would guarantee the mortgage - though this is not definite yet.

Also, I haven't told my friend about my bankruptcy - though I have told her I had a lot of bad debts a few years ago and that this would probably have an effect on the mortgage we could get. Would I have to tell her about my bankruptcy? I'd obviously rather keep it quiet since I work with this friend and she is close friend with another girl from my work - I'm sure I could trust her not to say anything, but I'd rather not tell anyone that works with me. Also, I would rather my friend didn't know my salaray - I'm on the same level as her at work, but our boss gave me a bigger payrise last year and told me I had to keep it confidential. Basically, what I'm asking is whether we'd have to complete the application together and therefore know each other's answers - or could the application be completed separately?

Anyway, I'd be grateful for any advise on this situation.

Many thanks.

arkie

yes you have to complete the application together as each person has to read through the application form and sign to say the information is true and correct
your bankruptcy is going to stop you getting a 100% mortgage
would your friends parents act as guarantors if they knew you were a bankrupt.
in my opinion, come clean to your friend and parents, there is no point trying to hide things from each other if you are buying a house

i am a mortgage adviser

UK007BullDog

PinkPenelope:
There are tick boxes on the mortgage application forms which will ask if you were ever bankrupt and so forth. If you say NO then it could be construed as mortgage fraud and the lenders wont like that at all. And they will find out the minute they do the credit check anyway, so don't keep important info like that hidden. You buy together and it is a joint application form, you both have to sign it as well. However she could sign and fill out first and you second.

The lender needs to know and the broker as well so he can find you lenders that will lend to you with your credit history. Definitely work with a broker so that you do not damage your credit file more and put serious damage to your friends credit file by getting refused due to applying all over the place yourself. You really need a broker. Read Martins guide on that.

You are buying a property with another person and already before the mortgage application you want to keep things like that from the other party. How will she feel if she finds out during the mortgage application? Your credit record might prevent her from getting the best deal out there. Is that fair? She will be paying more for your past mistakes. She needs to know or you need to wait a bit longer until your credit record is repaired if you do not want anyone to know.

Arkie:
You need to change or add your sig as per the Adviser Code of Conduct. Last sticky on the board.

pinkpenelope

Thanks for the advice. I thought that it would be the case that I'd have to tell her or else not buy with her at all. I have told her already though that I had debt problems in the past that could effect the mortgage she would get and she still wants to proceed with it. I wouldn't hide it from her without telling her that she could get a cheaper mortgage without me. It's not about being deceitful, it's just a work issue really - I didn't want to run the risk of work people finding out. Having said that, I may just have to forget it altogether. I didn't really want her to know I'm on a better salary either.

Also, if we can't get a 100% mortgage together then we can't go ahead, since we don't have a deposit.

pinkpenelope