Credit report / mortgage advice

advic_2

Morning,

Several years back I behaved like a chump and got myself into allsorts of money troubles. I racked up a number of defaults - all of which were eventually paid off (although they were all "short-settled" with the various creditors.

Credit Card A defaulted Aug-06, with a balance of £3K, it was satisfied also in Aug-06 - so I'd expect to see it disappear from by Sep-12?

Credit Card B defaulted Aug-05 with a balance of £16K - this has actually now disappeared from my up to date Equifax report - good news!

Credit Card C, card had a limit of £13K and I'd maxed it out completely. However, it's never shown as defaulted just as an arrangement to pay (with a chunk of "Red" and "Amber" boxes on the Equifax report mainly straddling 2006 with 3 months behind, 4 months, 5 months and then approx 13 months of "AP's" through to Sep-07 when it was eventually cleared. I'm unclear as to how bad this one looks from a lenders point of view and equally as confused as to when it will fall away from my credit report all together? Had I defaulted in the summer of 2006 similarly to the other accounts I'd expect it to disappear this summer, but because it didn't actually default I'm not sure how longs it's going to hang around for? There is a comment added to this one (as there is with most of the others that says "Partial Settlement - Payment received as a full and final settlement although the payment would not
fully clear the balance."

Current Account (also from the same company as credit card A) defaulted Nov-06, with a balance of £2K, again satisfied, but not until Summer-07 (however, on Equifax it still shows as a status of default with no satisfied date recorded) - presumably I either contact Equifax, Experian etc and try to get the details updated (eg to show that it was paid) of alternatively in Dec-12 it will disappear anyway?

Loan (also from same company as credit card A), defaulted Sep-06 with a balance of £7K, satisfied Sep-06 - so I'd expect to see it disappear by Oct-12?

Mobile phone company default Aug-06, £250, again satisfied in Aug-06 - so I'd expect to see it disappear from by Sep-12?

Could anyone give me an idea on the above - particularly the question re credit card C.

Then the big question is "what are my chances of getting a mortgage now?"

Since all of the above happening and number of things have happened:

I took out a credit card with a "credit impaired" credit card provider in Oct-09 which I used and paid in full each month regularly thereafter (they gradually increased my limit from £500 to £2.3K over time). I still have this card, although it's rarely used and not required.

My new bank (Halifax) then accepted a credit card application with no difficulties in Oct-10 and immediately gave me a limit of £5K (I use this card every month now to pay for my shopping, fuel, car bills etc and always pay the balance in full - I don't really use the previous "credit impaired credit card" anymore as it's easier to manage my funds with just the single card in play.

My bank granted me an overdraft last summer with no questions asked (almost £4K) which I used to manage our way through the Autumn in a planned manner - this is now longer in use and could effectively be cancelled if I chose to (would this be sensible?)

My partner and I have built up cash savings of £22K and have (a conservative estimate) approx £50K equity in our existing property (which is in partners name - with a mortgage of £94K remaining).

I earn £40K pa, she now only earns £9K pa - it used to be considerably more (working part-time - we have 2 kids also - for which we pay for nursery places for part of the week).

I've written far more than I intended to there, so thanks to anyone who's managed to stick with it all and read through to the end. In an ideal scenario, we'd be wanting to borrow maximum of £190K on a property worth £250K. Is there any sensible likelihood of this being possible given all of the above, or do I need to be patient and wait for more to disappear from the credit report (I should also have added that partner's credit report is impeccable).

Look forward to hearing back from anyone with advice or questions?
Thanks

Dave_Ham

Hi,

If presented to the right lender in the right way, I would expect there to be a decent solution for you.

There is already a dispute that in your circumstances from a "credit report" perspective that you may have been better off defaulting on Credit Card C

Ultimately, forgetting the dates you need a lender that will view you based upon the last 3-4 years rather than 4 year +

Building Societies are always more flexible with historic adverse credit and as you have found; Halifax base a fair proportion of their credit scoring on internal behaviours first...

Do not think it would hurt to try and get in front of a broker, specifically if you can get a recommendation from friend/family..

Good luck

advic_2

Thanks for the reply. Our original plan was always to wait until all of the defaults had dropped away so as to have the most positive position possible before even contemplating a move (it wouldn't be the end of the world, seeing as the current property is on a base rate + 0.39% tracker, so the longer we stay in the current property we're paying down loads of the capital). Affordability, I believe we'd be fine if we - we've always paid £1000 per month on the current deal, despite the payments plummeting when the interest rate fell.

As ever, the issue is that I've seen a property that I rather like and everytime that happens my "itchy feet" syndrome kicks in for a while!

I presumed everyone would look at the full report, not just 3-4 years - everything in the last 3-4 years has been fine and (in my mind at least) well managed (we do use credit cards and have used an overdraft, but in a thought through and planned out manner).

I was considering arranging an appointment with the bank, based on my recent years good history with them (I thought this might go in my favour) - does anyone think this would be a wise step?

If we apply, but ultimately fail now, will it have any effect when we re-apply to someone next spring?

Thanks again

Dave_Ham

If you mean the Halifax bank account, then if Halifax do not accept you no mainstream bank are likely to.

Halifax are the most flexible of the traditional banks and given your standing with them that will work to your advantage.

Would suggest you put the clean credit application as applicant 1 - it does make a difference with the Halifax credit score.

Also, remember that their Agreement In Principle is a soft print and acceptance at this stage is not a surefire guarantee to be accepted all in..

advic_2

advic wrote: »

If we apply, but ultimately fail now, will it have any effect when we re-apply to someone next spring?

It was this bit that is concerning me most (I think!) My concern, having waited what feels like forever already (although in reality it's only been 5 years!) is that I could do something now that might scupper things next year? Am I being overly cautious?

Dave_Ham

You are being overly cautious.

Obviously a shed load of applications is not good, but on these numbers will have no huge negative impact.

advic_2

Thanks for the quick reply. I won't be going all "gung-ho" and putting in loads of applications. One application via Halifax and if that fails, then maybe one via a broker. If we don't get a result at that point I will be putting the brakes on it until next January/February!

Experian_company_representative

An up to date copy of your credit report mght help so you can see exactly what's still recorded. Defaults go six years after the default date. Settled accounts (incl partial) go six years after the settlement date.

James Jones

advic_2

Is it wrong to say I wish I'd defaulted on that one as well?! It's going to sit there like a bad smell now until autumn 2013. Had I let it default, it would have disappeared this summer! There's got to be something wrong there!

Auksbon

advic wrote: »

Is it wrong to say I wish I'd defaulted on that one as well?! It's going to sit there like a bad smell now until autumn 2013. Had I let it default, it would have disappeared this summer! There's got to be something wrong there!

I completely agree with you advic! My husband is in a similar position where he wasn't able to make a loan payment on time only a few days later but he did the decent thing to ring up the bank and notify them. This happened once in 2008, once mid 2009 and once mid 2010. Each time he phoned them they of course said it would be fine to make the loan payment a few days later, but what they didn't tell him is that they will be marking it as an AP on Equifax and that these entries would stay on his Credit Report until 2016!! :mad: . We have saved up for a house since 2010 to which we now have 15% deposit available, but because of these AP's on my hubby's account, his credit score is really low compared to mine with a few late payment entries here and there!

It would have been much better if he just left it alone and not phoned the bank to pay a few days later! Surely there must be a way to fight this! Is there anyway to dispute this to get it removed after two/three years?

Dave_Ham

Auksbon wrote: »

I completely agree with you advic! My husband is in a similar position where he wasn't able to make a loan payment on time only a few days later but he did the decent thing to ring up the bank and notify them. This happened once in 2008, once mid 2009 and once mid 2010. Each time he phoned them they of course said it would be fine to make the loan payment a few days later, but what they didn't tell him is that they will be marking it as an AP on Equifax and that these entries would stay on his Credit Report until 2016!! :mad: . We have saved up for a house since 2010 to which we now have 15% deposit available, but because of these AP's on my hubby's account, his credit score is really low compared to mine with a few late payment entries here and there!

It would have been much better if he just left it alone and not phoned the bank to pay a few days later! Surely there must be a way to fight this! Is there anyway to dispute this to get it removed after two/three years?

This is an old thread and slightly different to your circumstances. Start a new thread, detail what you are trying to do and your circumstances and we will ask questions and help...