Building credit to pass a mortgage check

pippy0512

i want to know if anyone has any solid facts about passing a mortgage credit check. I have 2 CCJ's from 4 years ago, and 3 settled defaulted accounts that are 3 years old. The CCJ's are not settled and wont be anytime soon, however i realize they drop of my credit file after 6 years, my girlfriend really doesn't want to wait this long! So my Experian sits at 834 (good) while my Equifax sits at 325 (not so good). I am slowly rebuilding with a low limit credit card but would love any advice on when best to apply,who with,chances of passing. The last thing i want is a mortgage refusal on my credit file! also is it true lenders have an 'off the record' credit system that is just shared amongst themselves or is that just paranoid!?

Fire_Fox

Welcome! Credit scores are largely meaningless, every institution runs their own system: be sure you are registered to vote.

Credit ratings
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score
Mortgages
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=15
Debt Free Wannabe for info on CCJs and defaults
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=76

kingstreet

There is no such thing as a "refusal" on your credit file. A search is registered and shows for upto 12 months. The lender's decision is not shown.

2 CCJs and 3 defaults mean;-

- waiting for three years until the last of the adverse falls off your file
or
- putting down a deposit of 30%+ and using a specialist adverse credit lender.

Lenders typically take/provide information from/to one or more of the three credit reference agencies, Experian, Equifax and Call Credit.

In addition, they also take information from National Hunter and CIFAS, but these concern fraud and deception. For example, if you apply to one lender and state your income as £20k, then quickly apply to another saying it's £25k, an alert would be generated on the NH site as the two figures don't match.

Here's a link to the NH site for information;-

http://www.nhunter.co.uk/

pippy0512

Hi thanks for all your quick responses!! kingstreet, When you mention 'specialised lenders' any links? and its a possibility to wait for one CCJ to drop but the other seems just to long to wait, and how bad are the settled defaults? could i still get a mortgage with these on my file? Me and my partner work FT, reasonable incomes, both registered to vote etc.
No one answered the 'lenders having there own files that we dont know about on us' comment, is this too freemasons lol!! will my laptop burn out now!!
I understand the credit file searches and have no reason to worry about the fraud searches :-)

Fire_Fox

You can't possibly have read/ searched everything linked to in the last twenty five minutes!

kingstreet

No. No lender recommendations. It could be construed as advice.

The defaults and the judgments mean the same to a lender. You may get away with one satisfied adverse entry for under £250 but not four or five. Wait for three years until the last adverse entry falls off, or look at a specialist if you have enough deposit.

Lenders have the information sources I mentioned and no others.

martindow

Could you pay off the CCJ debts straight away from the money you are saving as a deposit to get them settled as soon as possible?