Bad credit and mortgage worry

Submitted by amymorris on Wed, 09/09/2009 - 09:49
Forums

I have been checking my credit report for a year now - i'm looking to buy a house with my partner next year and am very worried as my credit score is in the very poor section. I have no outstanding debt at all and am in a fairly high paid job £25,000 - my problem is i had trouble 3/4 years ago which resulted in a couple of defaulted accounts. I'm really worried i won't be able to get a mortgage... can you give me any advice?

Depends on what your score is, do you know what it is? If not you need to find out.

You can start building credit by applying for a store card or another account such as fingerhut that builds a payment history on your credit report, this will help raise your score.

Wed, 09/09/2009 - 10:12 Permalink

Thanks for replying so quickly!

I have been using Experian - i think it's around 661 or something like that. The trouble is, all the advice given is for people to apply for more credit such as store cards, but for people like myself who can't ger credit that's not possible! I can't get accpeted for more credit at the moment so am not sure what to do...

Thanks Again
Amy x

Wed, 09/09/2009 - 10:16 Permalink

Hi amymorris

Have you checked your credit report? I mean not just your score, but also the report? It will tell you if there are anything you need to work on. Are you aware of all the debts that are showing on your report? Are you sure all those debts are valid? Check to see if any debt is past the SOL or if there is any false debt. You can dispute them to get them removed. This may fairly improve your score. Besides that take a look and find out what are the other debts you have to work with. Have patience, your score will move up, but it will take time. Do let us know how your report looks.

Wed, 09/09/2009 - 11:34 Permalink

Have you went to a possible lender and seen what they think about it, you don't have to apply, but take a copy of your credit report and your partners situation and see what they have to say about it.

Sometimes if one persons credit is pretty high and the other is okay they will lend anyway. Worth a shot, try a lender and see if they would just give their oppinnion, can't hurt.

Thu, 09/10/2009 - 11:11 Permalink

I also think you need to take into the fact that it will not be just your credit the lender will be looking at when you do go to purchase a home. They will also look at your mates credit score if he is to be on the loan. Hopefully he has good credit and your score being a little low will not count as much.
Also if this loan does go through you can build your credit even more by being on this loan. Go through your report and see if there are errors. If you have a question come back and we can help you answer it. Be sure you are looking at the whole report. There are alot of different things your score is composed of.

Thu, 09/10/2009 - 20:21 Permalink