Changing mortgage deal post bankruptcy (joint mortgage)

Hollygoheavily

I hope someone can give me some advice!
I was made bankrupt in 2014 as a result of debts from a business partnership I had left in 2010. I was discharged just over a year ago.
My husband paid my beneficial interest in the house (ie half of the equity) so we got to keep the house, and he kept on paying the mortgage.
The mortgage is in joint names.
We have never had any defaults on the mortgage and have been with the same mortgage company for 13 years.
Our fixed deal comes to an end soon and I enquired about changing to a new low rate fixed deal. They said we had to complete an application and they would do a credit search before deciding.
Obviously my bankruptcy will show up on any search.
Do you think there is any point in applying in light of this? Should we change it so that my husband applies in his own name, only?
The outstanding amount is £152K and he earns £70K so I am not sure if he would be eligible on his own.
Any advice would be appreciated :-) Thanks.

andyfromotley

Are you certain that they will do a credit search just for a product change (ie no new borrowing and with the same company). I can tell you for sure that Nationwide do not. You can do it online, takes about 15 minutes and DEFINITELY no check. I understand that some other companies are the same. So double check and use the term product switch not remortgage.

Dpending on your other outgoings your husband should be good for that amount of mortgage.

Hollygoheavily

Thanks for your reply Andy. It is for another fixed term deal, no extra borrowing - but we want to reduce the mortgage term. The guy on the phone definitely did say they would do a credit search, that is why I was alarmed.

National_Debtline

Hi

There are some mortgage advisers in the 'Mortgage & Endowments' board so it might be worth asking for an opinion in there.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=15

James
@natdebtline

JimmyTheWig

Hollygoheavily wrote: »

Thanks for your reply Andy. It is for another fixed term deal, no extra borrowing - but we want to reduce the mortgage term. The guy on the phone definitely did say they would do a credit search, that is why I was alarmed.

By reducing the term you are increasing the amount that you have to pay each month. Not surprised that they will need to do a credit check before allowing that. They need to be sure that they're happy that you can pay back at that rate.

Switching the mortgage to your husband's name looks perfectly possible on the figures you've given. However, I believe that the names on a mortgage must match the names on the deeds of the house. So you'd have to do a "transfer of equity" to put the house solely in his name. For which you'd need to pay a solicitor. Not sure that it is worth going down this route.

Why do you want to formally reduce your mortgage term, anyway? I get that it will get it paid off quicker and reduce the interest that you pay, but why not do the same by making overpayments? Or, if you can transfer onto a good rate, put the extra money in a savings account that earns more than you're paying on the mortgage.

Hollygoheavily

That's a good point! I think just psychologically speaking my husband is keen to get it paid off as quickly as possible. I'll look at the two other options though! Cheers

JimmyTheWig

You might want to have a read of Martin's blog:
http://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2014/10/09/dont-shorten-your-mortgage-term-if-you-can-overpay/