Mortgage refusal - Help or guidance request (Please?)

Grenade_Girl

I'm sure this subject has been covered to death, but I'm at my wits end so if any of you wise folk could help me find some kind of light if would be really welcome right now.

Circumstances are as follows:

Then

• Worked full time
• Previously married for many years with joint mortgage. Finally divorced after 7 years of wrangling last year.
• 2005 split with partner, he stayed in the property (long story), I ended up paying rent on a place for myself, and the mortgage until 2010 when I ran out of funds. He took over mortgage.
• Late 2011 He allowed mortgage to run to arrears and didn't tell me. BIG CREDIT BLACK MARK! When I found out, I couldn't do anything about it financially, but liaised with Mortgage company and did everything I could until the house was finally sold in early 2012, at which point I ensure that EVERYTHING (mortgage, related loans - all financial commitment) was paid off.
  

Now...

• Work full time
• Rent and bills get paid every month.
• Up to date loans with my Bank (Barclays) which come out in a few years, no issues with payment, not major value.
  
• 1 Barclaycard. = zero balance.
• No other financial commitment above day-to-day
  
• Credit history rating - fair to good. Will now be worse due to credit searches and failure.

Yesterday

• Mortgage application... Fail.

I really don't know what I can do to improve my chances. I earn a good enough wage to more than cover a mortgage for my housing needs. Right now I don't have much meat on the bone because of enforced renting and around £150K divorce related costs paid over the last 7 years, but I scrape by. The last financial review I had with the Bank was in February, they were 'stunned' at how well I have been doing at getting everything under control.


Please, what can I do?!?! If there really isn't anything, can anyone tell me how long it's going to take for the defaults to clear?


All I want to do really is be able to move on with my life....

kingstreet

What is actually showing on your credit file?

Detail is essential in establishing what can be done. If you don't know, you need to order all three of your credit files to find out;-

Equifax

https://www.econsumer.equifax.co.uk/consumer/uk/order.ehtml?prod_cd=UKSCR

Experian

http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/statutory-report.html#orderReport

CallCredit

https://www.callcredit.co.uk/stat-report-online/index.php?action=basket_add&tpl=setRegister&package=63&amount=1&mode=clear

Do not assume they will all have the same information.

Grenade_Girl

Thank you, I do have an Experian account but it is on limited access because of cost - I can re-instate and check it out.

The other two are new to me though.

I know of the arrears patches on Experian, but apart from (literally) one or two late payments since there isn't anything else to add to it.

Where do you start looking?

monty-doggy

Agree with the above advice re credit files. If you use an independent whole of market broker, they can use lenders who only check whichever of your reports is the best. This is what I did.

Sadly it takes about 6-7 years for defaults to drop off your file.

I'd take some independent advice.

Good luck.

Dave_Ham

It is 6 years for a default to be removed, if that is what you have.

Which lender declined you and what deposit do you have?

As Kings. states, this case will stand or fall by the credit file content and not their interpretation or score

Grenade_Girl

monty-doggy wrote: »

Sadly it takes about 6-7 years for defaults to drop off your file.

I'd take some independent advice.

Good luck.

Thank you for the advice, I do appreciate it - I guess 1 year clear is better than no years clear, I still have a job and a roof over my head...

<sigh>

I wonder how many other people get caught this way. I have worked all my life and in reality my crime was to make a bad choice in a relationship...

Grenade_Girl

Dave_Ham wrote: »

It is 6 years for a default to be removed, if that is what you have.

Which lender declined you and what deposit do you have?

As Kings. states, this case will stand or fall by the credit file content and not their interpretation or score

Thank you, yes it is defaults - On a mortgage / loan associated with it for the previous house. Several months of 'Red', not 'Amber', but none at all since the house was sold.

Is there anything at all that can be done in the situation where the debt was caused by one party, not the other? (in this case, I had to pay my own rent, and I did pay the mortgage for as long as I could but even with a full time job there is a bottom to my wallet...) Everyone has ALWAYS done the 'oooh, that's not nice!' thing which is fine... just not helpful...

Grenade_Girl

Oops, sorry - and to actually answer the question - it was Barclays who decline a mortgage in principal... fortunately I did have the presence of mind to check it out before I tried to find somewhere to buy

Deposit-wise, 10 to 15% at the minute

kingstreet

Unfortunately, as this was a joint and several liability you are deemed as responsible as the other party. The best you can hope for is one of your credit files is clear and a broker can find a lender which only uses that one CRA.

Order the £2 paper copies of each one and put them in front of a good whole market broker when they arrive. Don't pay for something a CRA calls a credit score as it is meaningless as any number of "999 but declined for a mortgage" threads on here will tell you.

Dave_Ham

Need to bottom out the default part, as the date will be crucial.

Does it have a default date in the part that says default date on the report?

Red is not necessarily an official default, but if defaulted not the end of the world depending upon the date.

You have probably picked up that any default dates are the critical factor here.

Grenade_Girl

"Unfortunately, as this was a joint and several liability you are deemed as responsible as the other party. The best you can hope for is one of your credit files is clear and a broker can find a lender which only uses that one CRA.

Order the £2 paper copies of each one and put them in front of a good whole market broker when they arrive. Don't pay for something a CRA calls a credit score as it is meaningless as any number of "999 but declined for a mortgage" threads on here will tell you. "

Thank you - straightforward advice!

As for the joint liability, the biggest lesson I've learned from that is that joint financial liability sounds great in principal but should be given VERY careful consideration...