Poor Credit Rating Help please

ambers2000

Hi New to this great site - just glad there is somewhere to turn!!

I completed on my IVA in January 2006 and am now looking for a joint remortgage with my wife. The trouble is my credit rating is letting us down and we have been advised to get that straight before we apply to ensure we get a good rate! Some of my personal debt I put into my IVA was in joint names and still sits on my wifes credit report - does that mean that the only way she can get rid of it is to pay it or as it is part of the IVA is the debt done - especially as they have received a level of payment from the IVA settlement - could they if they wanted to pursue my wife?

fermi

What exactly do you mean by a joint debt?

Were you joint signatures on a credit agreement (and I literally mean that you both physically signed it). Or is this a case of your wife simply holding a second card for a credit card account in your name? There is a very important legal difference in how they can be treated.

ambers2000

One is a credit card with my wife as a second card holder - the other is a loan which is in joint names but only i signed

fermi

Simply being a second card holder on your account does not make your wife liable for the credit card debt. That was yours alone, and she doesn't have to pay it.

If she didn't physically sign the loan agreement, then it is arguable that she is not liable for the loan either. Read through this link:

http://www.payplan.com/debt-library/joint-and-several-liability.php

especially the bit below.

I did not sign any agreement what can I do?

For an agreement to be joint and several then it must be signed by all parties (except for Council Tax). If a lender says you are jointly liable for a debt and you believe this is not the case, it may be worth asking for a copy of the original agreement. If you have not signed it then you are not liable.

So if your wife is pursued for either of these debts then she has good grounds to dispute liability.

Getting any references cleaned up on your credit files could be a bit trickier though.

EDIT: By the way, even if your wife's CRF is cleared up, your bad one will still substantially effect any joint application as far as I know.

ambers2000

Thanks again x