Halifax Credit Check

[majik]

Hi

 

Im hoping someone can help/give me some advise.(Sorry is a long one )

 

I recently spoke to Halifax about me and my partner jointly getting a mortgage.

Everything was going great system said yes no problem got initial quote (Mortgage Promise) etc then they needed a few extra details, This is where i think the problem is.

 

The details they needed were my partners previous addresses, As soon as we gave them to Halifax it was an instant no sorry we cannot help any further,Please refer to management !

 

I believe that this is due to the following.

 

She lived in rented property with 2 other people who abandoned the property and landlord chased through court. We have letter confirming my partner had paid her share and no further action would be taken, she left property in May 2007.

 

She also had a maritial home with her ex husband, He agreed to remove her name from mortgage when they split which he didn't do. After several months he eventually agreed to sell property (October 2007) and it was sold in Feb 2008. There was a £6k shortfall which he agreed was his liability. We have this in writting from him and he has signed it !

We were contacted in April/May to say they had not received anything (in relation to the shortfall/unsecured loan) and we agreed to pay half the balance if they removed liability which they accepted.

In July we were informed that her ex husband had declared himself bankrupt (March 2008 so the remaining shortfall has never been paid.

 

We have letters from previous Landlord and Northern Rock (original mortgage provider) confirming that there is nothing owed to them from my partner and she has no liability to anything currently outstanding (Northern Rock account shows settled on credit report). Is it possible that somehow either of these things are effecting her credit score?

 

She checks her credit file almost weekly and it was all great until this month (9/12/2008 when we have noticed that HFC Bank have carried out 2 searches under her previous married name (Changed back to maiden name in April 2007) and also using an incorrect date of birth (Date of birth used is wrong by 2 days). Have spoken to Experian who state these are unrecorded enquires so no other lender can see them.

We have spoken to HFC bank who are useless and have no records of anything according to there systems and there fraud squad are looking into it.

 

What i want to know is how can we prove that we are a good risk for a mortgage. Halifax have asked for copies of of letters proving that there is no outstanding debt and will look at it tomorrow but i just want some advise as to what else we can do to improve out chances.

 

My partner had completed a notice of dis-association from her ex (May 2008 and all his records were deleted but looking at in on 23/12/2008 they are now all back in part. Experian have confirmed that there is no association but there are 4 "Old searches" from February 2008 that are on there, Experian have again confirmed that no lenders will see these etc.

 

Any help would be great, we have found a lovely place and have been offered assistance by government as we are first time buyer, we have 5% deposit but whatever info is on Halifax's system about the previous addresses is certainly causing the problem. There are no defaults/late payments or CCJ's on either of our credit files.

Edited December 31, 2008 by majik
updated follwing new info from Experian

[raydetinu]

You need to keep speaking to the Halifax and give them everything they want, letters etc. about previuos history. It will be up to them in the end whether they lend you the money for the mortgage.

You general credit history will need to be updated and you need to send a subject access request to Experion and the other credit reference agencies for everything they have( cost about £10 ) then you can alter, query what they have and get the history put right. Takes time though.

Keep on with Halifax at the moment at laest they are willing to look at your case.

[majik]

Hi

 

Checked credit report and there is nothing bad on there except 2 searches by HFC bank that she has no record of both unrecorded on 9/12/08, HFC bank are looking into atm and will reply on Monday.

 

Have given Halifax all paperwork we have and are waiting for manager to look into atm.

Edited December 31, 2008 by majik

[buzby]

Their decision isn't based on a single reference - there are TWO more agencies, not including the additional fraud ones that are checked to counteract money laundering, multiple mortgage applications etc. Your new parter has a lot of baggage (no disrespect) and even if she is blameless for any of the previous problems, they will form the basis of her financial 'snapshot' going back 6 years.

 

If there was any court applied inhibition that prevented her and her former husband from benefiting from the sale of their earlier joint property, this will still show on her file even if it because discharged. Private letters of agreement between splitting couples do not change these inhibitions.

[majik]

Thanks for you reply Buzby

 

We have checked all her credit reports in last 6 months and nothing bad on them, There was never any court actions in relation to past so again nothing on there from that and she has dis-associated herself from her ex-husband so i would assume that now anything he does has no effect on her credit report.

[MARTIN3030]

Maybe your partners ex has applied for a report and relisted your OH ?

Its been known to happen-even though it is Fraud.

[majik]

He was declared bankrupt in March 2008 so he cannot apply for any form of credit until he is discharged.

 

How can we insure that he doesn't re-associate himself repeatedly though. We have written to experian and others and it was all deleted and then suddenly there are weird searches etc with Wrong name (Married name not used for 18 months) and date of birth (date of birth is wrong by 2 days and he alsays thought that was her correct date of birth).

 

Was thinking of putting Notice of Correction stating that any application involving the following name XXXXX should be rejected as it is fraudulent ?

 

Would that work ?

 

She changed her name by Deed poll back to maiden name and in April 2007 and divorce was finalised in November 2007 so there is absolutely no reason for him to name her on anything.

Edited December 28, 2008 by majik

[chesham]

Mortgage approvals are down by 70% and I know of people with spotless credit files being refused any form of credit. It could be a simple case of the bank not lending at all to anyone unless they have a 99.9% deposit as in most of the cases.

 

The bank will normally tell you why they declined your application, even if it is only to say that they use credit scoring or some other generic reason.

[majik]

Bank said that a manager will look into it and tell us what problem is

We passed everything and they just needed my partners previous addresses etc and then we needed to pay valuation fee.

Sonn as we gave the previous addresses then computer stated that they could not proceed and to refer to manager ?

Checked credit report and experian have confirmed that there is no financial association to her ex husband (now bankrupt) and that there is nothing untoward on her credit report No late payments/Defaults everything good and up to date.

Due to the fact that everything seemed great until previous addresses we believe that this is causing the problem somehow but dont know how.

 

If it is of any help we have a Mortgage Promise from Halifax which is for £20k more than we need. Looking at there website is claims that is it a offer of a mortgage subject to the infomation we gave being correct (It is 100%) and a valuation (Cant have until computer allows mortgage to proceed ?)

Surely the fact that we have a Mortgage promise would prove that they have checked our credit etc and the "Promise" is based on that ?

Im just very confused how there system can say no cannot proceed at this time but directly underneath it say that they will lend just over £20k more than we want

Edited December 29, 2008 by majik

[bobbyh99]

Just a thought, was it a extraordinary mortgage deal i.e. a really good IR? I wouldn't put it past them to cancel the deal because they have moved the IR goal posts!!

[majik]

not massively good deal it was around 5.75% fixed for 5 years ??

 

However the Mortgage Promise and deal leasts for 6 months (June 09) so i doubt that this would be causing the problem.

Edited December 31, 2008 by majik

[majik]

Quick update, Had had nothing from HFC bank as of yet will be phoning again on Friday, Also spoken to halifax call centre and they have confirmed that the have no had any documents as of yet,Documnets were emailed to Mortgage Advisor on Xmas eve and he said he would look at and deal with on 27/12/2008. Haven't managed to get hold of him as of yet,will try again on Friday.

 

Also on a side note, Halifax have given us the Key Facts Illustration and infomation on when payments would leave bank and how much etc, Surely they would not issue these documents until you had passed there credit checks and were actually issued the mortgage ?

Edited December 31, 2008 by majik

[gemspan]

Hi there

 

It could be something as simple as your partner living in rented accommodation so try not to worry too much. If its not straightforward ie she had owned a house before then it would be flagged. Unfortunately, renting a property in this country does not carry the same clout as owning one because the landlord doesnt register with a CRA. If she can get bank statements to show the rent coming out every month that should help somewhat.

 

I wish you all the best of luck.

 

Kind regards

Gemspan

[majik]

Hi All

 

Have found the problem, The problem was that British Gas have put a default on my partners account 18 months after leaving the rented property (Other 2 tenants didn't pay there part of bill) and without ever informing her of the fact so mortgage people have said no.

 

The default was put on her account on xmas eve and at no point have we had any contact from British Gas. They claim they have spand 18 months trying to track her down when all they did was give the account to Wescot who immedialetly tracked her down, Took 1/3 off bill as payment and informed us that the other 2 tenants would pay rest (July 2007).

 

We have had no further contact from anyone in relation to this account,she checks her credit report monthly and there is nothing on there from British Gas (No searches and No account) until xmas eve.

 

Have now spoken to British Gas who have taken payment and informed us that default will be removed then that the account has been sold to EOS Solutions and that they cant take payment but to pay them, Paid them and it now appears that both companies have applied for the funds.

 

What can we do to get back the additional funds (Bill paid twice) and to ensure that the default is removed. Halifax have told us that they cant/wont help due to the default, We feel this is unfair as we were not informed of any problems and were given any way/chance of correcting it before it got to that stage. We would have happily paid the £161 if we had been given a bill as we didn't want anything to mess up our chances of a mortgage.