Looking for solutions, need to know some facts.

vickyh_2

Dear Everyone

I hope you can help me. I thought I was going to have to go bankrupt - but actually, now I've thought it all through I think I have one or two options. I am waiting for my CCCS interview but its not till next week. I was going to sell my house, pay my debts and then rent. Trouble with that is that renting is very expensive here and housing benefit will only help with a place for myself and my little one, if you have children at university apparently you're not supposed to provide homes for them any more! I have one son at university and another one going in October. Also the housing benefit people told me that because the rents are so high locally the benefit falls far short of the rent anyway. Because of that I think I'd be better off to try and buy an ex local authority house and have a mortgage as it will be cheaper than paying rent. Problem is, is it ethical to do that, and then go onto a debt management plan for my debts? In fact, is it legal?

If I go onto a debt management plan now, before I sell, will it stop me getting another mortgage. I have a massive mortgage and my fixed rate is about to end. I am a single mum who has racked up huge debts over the years, not by being wildly extravagant, just consistantly living beyond my means. So far I am not in arrears on anything, but I can't hold out much longer. Is it better to wait till I move before I do a debt management plan and if I have equity in my house can the credit card companies etc force me to sell? I haven't any secured borrowing. If I go onto a debt management plan is that it for my credit rating? Would I have to include all my cards/loans, or could I keep one card to use? Would my bank find out?

This is a bit jumbled, hopefully you can make sense of it?

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Vicky

silvercar

How easy it will be to secure a mortgage (and the rate you can get) will depend on your credit rating and your income.

Get hold of your credit reports and see a mortgage advisor to see what sort of mortgage you can get.

Since the credit crunch started is has been much harder to get a large mortgage, so it really would be best to see the size of mortgage you could get before making any decisions. To get much over 3.5 x salary you are going to need a perfect credit rating.

vickyh_2

Thanks Silvercar. My credit rating is still good (but for how long?) and I have non-status mortgages. I'll only be looking for 100k which compared to the 360k I have at the moment is chicken feed!!!! If I go onto a debt management plan, will it show on my credit file?
Thanks for your imput.

Vicky