Mortgage app declined in principle

cjw32

Hi,

I am trying to switch my mortgage onto a fixed deal. I applied for a decent 80% LTV deal with HSBC and got declined. I put in all the details for me and my partner, it did a very quick search and came up declined instantly.

I then applied for Tesco Bank deal which was similar 80% LTV. Same thing, quick search and declined instantly.

The Tesco decision said "we carried out a credit search which revealed information that influenced our decision. Contact Experian on...."

So I went to Experian and set up accounts for me and my partner.

My partner recently changed her Surname to match mine even though we're not married until April 2015. It's because we have had a baby and wanted it to appear on the birth certificate. I therefore set up an Experian account in her old name too.

It seems that Experian haven't linked my partner's old and new names and her new name isn't showing on the electoral roll. She is contacting Leeds City Council about it to find out why, though it's understandable since they're public sector and she ONLY changed it 3 months ago.

Anyway, the Experian reports all showed positive. All 3 (mine, my partner's and my partner's in her old name) showed a 999 credit score, though her new name shows as not being on the electoral roll.

We have 0 debt between us other than our mortgage and £199 on my credit card I use for expenses and clear every month. We haven't missed a payment in the last 5 years and we overpay on our mortgage by about £500 extra a month. The mortgage application was for about 2.5x our gross income.

So I am at a bit of a loss as to why we were declined.

We were applying for £154k on a house valued (at least on paper) at £200k.

So what else is there that could affect a mortgage application in this way?

Experian have said that Leeds City Council should have informed them of the name change and then they link the accounts as an alias. Her new account not being on the electoral roll could be a reason for rejection, though I find that hard to believe since neither of us were on the electoral roll for 3 years or more when we applied for our first time buyer mortgage last year and we had no issues.

I don't know if it's relevant but earlier this year Halifax wrote to us to say they were closing our joint account. They wouldn't give a reason after numerous phone calls and trips to the branch.

The only thing out of the ordinary were a few 'bitcoin' related transactions. Private sales via bank transfer of around £3000 and I sent money to OK Pay (a legitimate company like Paypal), used to purchase bitcoin. Perhaps something got flagged because I know that the banks don't like these new currencies.

When we applied for a new joint account we got declined by First Direct which was quite a surprise. We easily met the requirements for minimum deposits etc. I think the application said something about not meeting their criteria, maybe minimum salary, but I can't see any information on their site re a minimum salary.

A second application to Santander went through fine and we've been with them since.

kingstreet

cjw32 wrote: »

My partner recently changed her Surname to match mine even though we're not married until April 2015. It's because we have had a baby and wanted it to appear on the birth certificate

... and what makes you think what's on the credit history makes any difference to your kid's name?

For future readers, if you are going to do something like this, leave enough time inbetween for the credit system to catch up.

For the OP, make sure when you apply for any credit, use the second applicant's new name and old name where possible. That way, credit bureau data is visible and linked with the alias and association with you.

If it isn't, you're going to have to contact all three CRAs and have it done manually...

cjw32

kingstreet wrote: »

... and what makes you think what's on the credit history makes any difference to your kid's name?

For future readers, if you are going to do something like this, leave enough time inbetween for the credit system to catch up.

For the OP, make sure when you apply for any credit, use the second applicant's new name and old name where possible. That way, credit bureau data is visible and linked with the alias and association with you.

If it isn't, you're going to have to contact all three CRAs and have it done manually...

I don't get it. I didn't say it makes a difference to my kid's name. I just meant that my partner changed her surname before we're married for the baby's birth certificate.

As for the application, well, the Tesco one, I did put in her old name in the 'aliases' box. So that application for sure knew of her full credit history.

She has now contacted Experian to get it changed, but, a point you bring up worries me, do you think she'll have to contact them all?

Also - I still don't get why Tesco Bank would decline it as a decision in principle as it had access to all of her credit info and it's all squeaky clean.