How does a CCJ affect getting a mortgage?
How does a CCJ affect getting a mortgage?
What does CCJ stand for? Can I still get a mortgage if I have a CCJ?
CCJ stands for County Court Judgment, and you could absolutely get a mortgage if you have a CCJ.
It comes down to all sorts of factors, including the amount it’s been registered for. We see very low value ones, like parking tickets for a couple of hundred pounds, all the way up to thousands of pounds for past debts.
Other specifics are also important, like when it was registered and whether it’s been satisfied, but you could still usually get a mortgage with a CCJ.
Which mortgage lenders accept CCJs?
There are quite a few. There are specialist lenders for all kinds of adverse credit. Plus, if you have small value CCJs and they’re quite historic, we have been known to get those through with relatively mainstream lenders. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have really high interest rates.
But if you got one perhaps 12 months ago for £3,000 pounds, it’s unlikely to go through with a mainstream lender. We would need a more specialist provider, but they could consider it.
Can I get a mortgage with a satisfied CCJ?
Satisfying it would certainly help matters. Moving it from unsatisfied to a satisfied CCJ would normally boost your credit score. Also, if you are able to act quickly, there’s a 30-day window where if you satisfy the CCJ, it won’t appear on the credit report at all.
Does the date of my CCJ matter for a mortgage?
Yes, it does. A CCJ has a specific set of circumstances, including when it’s registered. The more recent it is, the more it will negatively impact your score, which affects which lenders we could go to.
The more historic it gets, the better for you. A credit report covers a rolling six years, so it’d be there for that length of time once it’s registered.
If it was registered six months ago, that’s likely to cause quite a bit of damage to your credit score. If it’s five and a half years ago, the damage is limited because it’s a lot more historical.
SPEAK TO AN EXPERT
Does the size of the CCJ affect my mortgage application?
Yes, the size has an impact. A low value CCJ of a couple of hundred pounds will be OK with relatively mainstream lenders, even if it’s not satisfied. We recently got a mortgage through for a client with a £250 CCJ from a parking ticket – with a relatively mainstream lender, even though it was still active.
A very large CCJ will knock out most mainstream lenders. But normally specialist lenders won’t limit the value, so you could have quite a large value CCJ – even £10,000. It could be registered just over 12 months ago and lenders will still consider it.
Can mortgage lenders see a CCJ on your credit report after six years?
It would drop off your credit report after six years. Sometimes it takes a couple of weeks beyond the six year period to disappear, as credit reports always take a little while to get updated. Once it’s off, you have a cleaner profile.
If you were looking at getting a mortgage and you had a CCJ that was registered five years and ten months ago, it’s probably worth waiting a couple of months.
Then, instead of potentially needing a specialist lender, you might be able to go with a more mainstream lender and more favourable rates.
How do I find out if I have a CCJ?
Your credit report will show all the information. If you input all your details directly into a credit search with one of the reference agencies like Experian, that should pull everything through and display all the information about you.
The only other way really is you receive a notification in the post. If something like that came through, we’d always recommend taking action as quickly as you could, rather than burying your head in the sand.
If you get past that 30-day window, you might end up with a CCJ on your report which would stay there for six years. You’re much better off tackling it and getting it sorted quickly, because then it might never appear on your credit report. Once it’s there, the damage is done.
How can a mortgage broker help if I have a CCJ and want a mortgage?
If you have a broker with access to a wide panel of lenders, they could look at what’s on your credit report and find the lender who’s going to be right for that. As I mentioned, we’ve been able to get low value CCJs through with mainstream lenders, even where it’s been declined by a client’s existing bank.
With high value CCJs, we’ve still been able to help clients because there are lenders with good criteria for that. Depending on when it was registered and if it’s been satisfied, lenders could certainly look to help.
YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE.