Advice on obtaining mortgage with poor credit

greybear40

Hi there. New to this site and looking for a bit of advice. I have spent the last few years trying to clean up my credit report after a marriage breakup over ten years ago left me with many defaults and 2 CCJS. The defaults and CCJs have all long gone and my experian score is up to 720 yet still can't get remortgage. I need this as my ex husband's name is still on the mortgage and I want my partner of 6 years on the mortgage with me. He has a squeaky clean credit report, it's me that's the problem. One of my old debts to Style Financial Services never went to default like all the others and stuck at 6 payments late for over 10 years. I cleared this debt last April but it is still showing as a deliquent account and I don't know what else I can do to improve matters!! I have spoken to Style who can't even find the account on record as it was so old so can't remove it and Wescot who I cleared the debt with said they can't remove it either. Am I going to have to wait another 5+ years to be able to get the remortgage?? Sorry it's such a long post. Really don't know what to do!!

forgotmyname

The score is totally meaningless to a lender. They have their own system to decide if your their type of customer.

Someone will be along later to advise on the correct default date. And whether it can be removed.

Tixy

Is the entry still in the name of style finance on your credit file?

If so then I would write to them and reference the entry on your file. Quote to them the relevant section of the ICO Guidance - Filing defaults with credit reference agencies. If you look at post #2 and point 4 in that thread where it states that

A record showing a series of payments as six
months in arrears when this does not reflect the real payment history should
not be used as an equivalent of a default.

and state that the entry on your credit file is not a true reflection of the account and that had they correctly defaulted the entry back in xxx date then the entry would have dropped off your file by now and ask them to correct your file.

In terms of obtaining a mortgage on your own - have you checked all 3 credit reference agencies?
Is your ex husband still shown as a financial associate on your credit files? if you no longer live together and this is the only account in joint names you will usually find the CRAs are willing to remove the financial association on your files (you need to file a notice of disassociation with all 3 agencies).

greybear40

Hi there. Thank you for the advice. The account was opened in 2001 but I can't remember exactly when it went into arrears. On experian the previous 5 years until it was cleared in April last year it is showing as 6 payments late but I can't go back any further than this so I'm not sure of the date that the account went to 6 payments late. On equifax it goes back as far as April 2009 with the same status. It is not showing on Callcredit. My ex husband is still showing as a financial association on all 3 credit reference agencies as he is still on my mortgage although he hasn't lived here since June 2002. My main concern is that when I called Style they said there is nothing they can do as the account is no longer in their systems due to Wescot taking over the debt in 2010. I have lots of settled accounts on my file including Style which all show up as green/satisfactory but then when you click on Style it is still classed as a deliquent account. Wish I'd known as would have cleared that first!!

Tixy

You should have more luck with writing to style rather than telephoning them.
They have a duty to ensure the entry on your credit file is accurate. If you quote to them the relevant part of the OFT legislation it will be clear to them that your entry is inaccurate and unfair.

If you don't know when it should have defaulted I would possibly say that you believe it should have been defaulted prior to December 2007 and so therefore should no longer be showing on your credit file at all.

greybear40

Thank you so much for the advice. I will definitely try this!! Have tried to remortgage with my partner every year for the past 4 years. 3 times with Santander and the last time with Halifax. They would give him the mortgage on his own but not us together because of my credit report. Both me and my partner have a joint account with both Halifax and Santander, both with no overdraft and never go overdrawn. Halifax is our main account now but we kept Santander open and pay some money into it as still hoping they will give us the mortgage on day. If we do not get anywhere with Style do you know if any of the high street lenders are less picky about having one bad account on an otherwise clean credit report. Even though I have been paying my Santander mortgage on full repayment terms since I got back into employment in July 2007 without any missed payments they still won't allow the remortgage and it's only a £26000 mortgage. Thinking of trying someone completely different but not sure who!!

Tixy

If you cannot get it resolved I would suggest going to a whole of market independant mortgage broker who should be able to advise on which, if any, potential lenders would be willing to accept a mortgage in your name. But you will likely pay more than from a prime/mainstream lender.

greybear40

Ok thanks. Don't know if this makes any difference but I wanted something I saw in a Very catalogue for £15 in October and after years of not being able to get credit they gave me a catalogue with a £1000 credit limit. I paid it straight off but do you think this is a good sign regarding my credit worthiness?? I don't want any credit other than sorting the mortgage out and I know each application drops your score a bit so won't be applying for anything else. Also is it best to close this account or use it a little?? Which looks better on a credit report?? Sorry to keep asking loads of questions but want to spend the next six months doing whatever I can to improve my credit rating and then apply for remortgage

greybear40

Just a small update on my situation. I have spoken to credit expert who are going to get involved as been having no luck with Style myself due to them not being able to find my account so saying they can't do anything. I have found the letter which dates when the account was passed on to Wescot which is Feb 2010 so if it had been defaulted correctly it would be a 4 year old default with only 2 years left so still better than this deliquent account of over 7 years that I currently have left on my file. It may mean waiting another 2 years until I can remortgage but it's still better than the current 5 year wait that I would currently have and maybe there are companies that will accept an old default. What do you think?? Hopefully Credit Expert can help me as neither Style or Wescot have been much use!! The account wasn't on correct payment terms for about 8 years but wasn't passed over to DCA before 2010 so don't think I can predate the default. It's all very confusing as all my other defaults have long gone, even those I am still paying off