Default judgment ages ago, chance of a mortgage?

D

DK1000

Registered User
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1
Hi,

I went through a bit of a bad time a few years ago, lost my job and couldn't pay my debts. A bank took me to court and a judgment was registered against me in 2010, the judgment stated a reasonable amount which I had to pay each month and I never missed that payment.

Since then I have retrained and got a job that pays well in a booming industry, I have cleared all my debt and saved enough for a deposit in regular monthly amounts, I got a credit card which I use a lot and always pay the full balance before the due date to improve my credit score. I have checked my ICB report and it's clean as a whistle now, the debt has dropped off it. I have also checked the maximum mortgage amount I could get with my salary, it's about 33% more than I would intend to apply for. For the last year I have been conducting my financial affairs to give a really good impression to a mortgage decision maker in a bank.

So that's my background, the only fly in the ointment is that there is a default judgement next to my name and of course in a mortgage application it asks if there have been any judgments or agreements with creditors, which I would obviously want to answer honestly.

Am I a write off in current times for a mortgage or are banks understanding of things like this once a person dealt with them as best the could? Is this the kind of thing a broker would be able to spin positively on my behalf?

Thanks for your time.
 
Yes you are correct. No bank will give you a mortgage if you answer yes to this question. Given that the judgment was obtained in 2010 and you have now fully cleared it I would advise telling the white lie and answering no. It is highly unlikely that anything will come out in the credit appraisal once the debt has been cleared.
 
Lying on a loan application constitutes fraud in some juristictions. Is that the case in Ireland?
 
trasneoir said:
Lying on a loan application constitutes fraud in some juristictions. Is that the case in Ireland?
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Yep, it's a criminal offence under Section 7 of Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001.

If the judgment has been fully satisfied, I really don't see why a bank should have an issue. If anything, I would have thought that it shows that the OP takes his legal obligations seriously.
 
Sarenco said:
If the judgment has been fully satisfied, I really don't see why a bank should have an issue.
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I would imagine that a default in the past is a strong predictor of future default.

If a lender refuses a mortgage on the grounds of a previous default or judgement, then that is their decision.
 

Well done DK1000 on getting your life back on track and not only coming through losing a job and all that entails but on retraining and paying all your debt. Not only all of that you've saved a deposit, you manage your credit card correctly and now it's time to move on and get a mortgage. So I agree with 44Brendan who knows his stuff, and I've been round the block a few times myself. Forgot about banks understanding, it's all a tick box exercise by machines nowadays.

I'll give you an example, we were looking for a mortgage for an investment and needed life insurance (not compulsory anymore for investments and that's a matter for debate another day) but my OH had an accident a few years previously and to answer the form correctly I had to put that down and did I ever regret doing that is an understatement. We were put through hoops and purchase nearly scuppered. The stress that caused was unbelievable.

People like you are an example to us all of what can be achieved.
 
elcato said:
And banks never lie ... enough said, agree with 44B and Bronte.
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And the hundereds of false P60's and doctored self imployment incomes and banks staff getting bonuses to lend as much as possible and brokers up to their eyes in false forms.
 
Bronte said:
And the hundereds of false P60's and doctored self imployment incomes and banks staff getting bonuses to lend as much as possible and brokers up to their eyes in false forms.
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Some years ago I looked after the accounts of a company with a large number of employees. One day an employee approached me and asked for a P60 as he was applying for a mortgage.

I photocopied his p60 from the previous year and handed it to him. He looked at the form and looked back at me and said "I was looking for a blank one"
 
Folks,

I'm not making any moral judgments here and I am certainly not naïve enough to think that lenders and borrowers never try to deceive each other. Nor am I making any comment on the likelihood that any particular deception will be discovered much less prosecuted.

I am simply pointing out, in response to a question raised by trasneoir, that a person who dishonestly, with the intention of making a gain for himself or herself or another, or of causing loss to another, by any deception induces another person to make a loan, or to causes or permits a loan to be made is guilty of an offence. There is no carve out from this offence for "white lies".

As Brendan points out a default in the past may well be a strong predictor of future default which is precisely why a lender asks the question - it's material to their decision whether or not to advance the loan.

To Bronte's post, there is no similar offence for failing to make a material disclosure to a life assurance company (although the failure may well result in any subsequent claim under a policy being denied).
 
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