Bad Credit Mortgage Advice in Sunderland
CCJ Mortgage Advice in Sunderland
A County Court Judgment, commonly shortened to just CCJ, is a court order that can be issued to people residing in the UK if they owe money and have not been paying it off.
Being associated with a County Court Judgement can have a serious negative effect on your credit file, potentially reducing your chances of being accepted for a mortgage at any point in the future.
If you are at the point of having one of these whilst hoping for a mortgage, you will definitely appreciate the benefits of taking specialist mortgage advice in Sunderland.
We are very experienced in helping customers who have been dealing with CCJ mortgages, having come across a vast amount of these over our years in the mortgage industry. Contact us to have a chat with a member of our dedicated team and we will see how we are able to help.
When applying for a mortgage with a CCJ, your mortgage advisor in Sunderland will want to take a closer a look at a handful of things before they proceed. These include;
- The amount of CCJ’s that are currently registered to your name.
- The value of the CCJ attached to you name.
- The date that the CCJ was registered.
- Whether or not the CCJ’s are settled or unsettled.
- How much deposit you have saved for a property.
How do you get a County Court Judgement (CCJ)?
If you have regular payments you’re expected to keep up and fail to pay them back, you will be issued a CCJ. This applies to anything from a small loan to something as big as your mortgage payments. A CCJ can really harm your credit score.
When a CCJ is given to you, typically there will be a 30-day period in which you need to pay it off (this is called a satisfied CCJ). If you do meet this deadline, the CCJ can possibly be removed from your credit file. On the flip side, if you fail to meet this payment, your CCJ will stay on your records for 6 years (known as an unsatisfied CCJ).
Can I still get a mortgage with a CCJ?
Though it may be challenging, yes it may be possible. By enlisting the services of a reputable and hard working mortgage broker in Sunderland like ourselves, you may be able to obtain a mortgage with a CCJ when you otherwise might not have been able to.
If the CCJ has been given out within a recent time frame, it may be a little more complicated trying to obtain a mortgage. For the most part, depending on how much is left to pay off on your CCJ and how long it has been since that CCJ was issued, you may have a increased likelihood of being accepted for a mortgage.
We have a large panel of various different specialist mortgage lenders, each with their own unique lending criteria relating to CCJs and the amount of deposit needed. Your dedicated advisor will have an in-depth knowledge of this lending criteria, using it to recommend the best mortgage for your circumstances.
Having a CCJ linked with your credit file means that lenders will want to know more about the CCJ before they proceed. They will look for any underlying issues like potentially owing money to other lenders, the effect that your financial position could have on your potential new home and how you manage your finances in general.
Getting accepted for a mortgage whilst still having a CCJ in tow may be considerably more difficult than it would otherwise be, but that’s not to say it’s impossible. With the help of a mortgage broker in Sunderland, careful planning and the taking of steps to improve your credit score, it may still be an achievable target for you.
Can I dispute a CCJ?
Though a difficult task, if you are able to provide enough sufficient evidence, you may be able to get your CCJ removed from your credit records.
If you feel like a CCJ was added to your name by mistake, you do have the ability to ask that the court to reopen the case. This does come with it’s own costs, though if you are able to get it removed, it will be a huge benefit for you down the line.
In order to appeal a CCJ, you will need to fill out an N244 form and send that off to the court. If the case does reopen and the court deems the CCJ wrongly imposed, they will remove the CCJ from the register and have your name cleared.
Does the date of my CCJ make much of a difference?
Once you have reached the 6 year point of the issue date, an unsatisfied CCJ will be removed from your credit file. Like we touched upon previously, the further away you are from the CCJ issue date, the more likely it is that you’ll obtain a mortgage.
It is also worth noting that if the debt hasn’t been settled within the 6 years of the CCJ being issued, your credit score can be negatively impacted, potentially harming your chances of meeting lender criteria in the future.
Lender confidence will also go up if you manage to pay off a CCJ within a short amount of time. Each lender is different though and will approach applicant CCJs in a different way to how another would. In some cases, a lender may not even be willing to work with you at all.
The most likely course of action you’ll need to take, is to approach a specialist mortgage lender in order to secure a mortgage with a CCJ. If you’re lucky though, you might find a high street lender who is a little more lenient than others.
How can I rebuild my credit score after receiving a CCJ?
For you to get back on track with your credit score, you will definitely benefit from the mortgage advice service we provide. Sometimes you need mortgage broker who is specialised in working with bad credit to help guide you back onto the right path.
You will need to make sure that you are up-to-date with your monthly mortgage payments and current financial commitments. Of course your CCJ is a big part of this and you’ll have to keep that up over the 6 years as well.
Even if you manage to pay off your CCJ within the 30-day window, you should still be careful regarding your finances so that you can make sure that it doesn’t happen again, as multiple CCJs can cause further harm to your credit file.
If you would like to take a look at more free mortgage tips covering the topic of how to improve your credit score in Sunderland, feel free to check out our guides section. Alternatively, get in touch with a trusted specialist mortgage advisor in Sunderland today and we’ll get the ball rolling on your process.
Date Last Edited: 15/06/2023