If you have county court judgements (CCJs) on your file, then you might find it harder to find a mortgage deal. However, if that CCJ has been settled and satisfied, you will have far more choice, as there are specialist lenders in the market who will be prepared to accept your application.
Our mortgage advisers are specialists in helping applicants who have poor credit history, including CCJs on their file. With one quick call into our team you could be on the way to getting a mortgage.
Below you can find out more about how to get a mortgage after a CCJ, including the interest rates you might have to pay on any home loan.
Can you get a mortgage with a satisfied CCJ?
Getting a mortgage with a satisfied CCJ is possible. Providing you have paid it off in full and it’s listed as satisfied, then you will stand a far higher chance of getting a mortgage with the support of an adviser. However, you might have to pay higher interest rates than normal.
Whist you might find some high street lenders who will accept your mortgage application, expect to pay higher interest rates possibly in the bracket of 5% higher. You might also be required to have a larger deposit (see our CCJ mortgage calculator page).
However, our advisers have access to a wide panel of specialist lenders prepared to offer favourable terms to people with satisfied CCJs on their credit file.
Our advisers will shop around on the whole market, use their expert knowledge, and help you place a mortgage application into the lender most likely to accept you.
Can you get a mortgage with a paid CCJ?
Paid and satisfied CCJs are the same thing, so the factors outlined above apply to both scenarios.
There will be lenders prepared to accept your mortgage application, as competition in the specialist lending industry has improved over the last few years. This is a boost to people who might not have a good credit history, giving far more options than ever before.
It used to be that applicants who had defaults and CCJs against them would find it hard to get a mortgage due to stricter restrictions being in place after the credit crunch.
Whilst lenders will still place a large emphasis on your risk and affordability, a range of specialists have come onto the market prepared to offer a mortgage with satisfied CCJ and defaults on the applicant’s file.
Getting a mortgage with a satisfied CCJ
There are some factors to consider, all of which will be assessed by the lender before offering you a mortgage in principle.
The factors can include:
- When was the CCJ registered and satisfied? Settled CCJ mortgage applications where the issue is older, stand far better chances of success.
- Some lenders will prefer that the CCJ was satisfied more than 12 months ago, but there are some our advisers have access to who are more flexible.
- How large the CCJ amount was can also be a factor. If the lender considers it too high it can affect your loan-to-value (LTV) ratio meaning they can consider you too risky.
- Multiple satisfied CCJs can also be an issue when getting a mortgage, including any details where you defaulted or missed payments.
- Lenders can also demand higher deposit amounts depending on the type of size of the settled CCJ. The deposit amount could be as high as 35% with some lenders.
CCJ and mortgage application help
You can get a mortgage with a CCJ, and if it’s satisfied you will have far more options available to you, as more lenders will be prepared to accept your application.
Whilst the mortgage you get could be more expensive than normal, our advisers will work to give you an accurate quote and lending options once they have fully investigated your circumstances during the consultation period.
Our advisers make the process as simple and straightforward as possible, and work on a process similar to the one outlined below:
- Ask you to download a copy of your credit report from Equifax or Experian.
- Speak with you about the CCJ circumstances, employment history, and affordability.
- They will then complete an income and expenditure with you over the phone.
- This report will then be reviewed against your credit report.
- Your adviser will then talk to lenders on your behalf (no credit searches will be done until you say so).
- Once your adviser has found a lender that can help, an agreement in principle will agreed.
- This agreement in principle is then provided to you so that you can begin searching for a property, knowing you have a potential mortgage offer in place.
How long can it take to get a mortgage with a satisfied CCJ?
Our advisers always aim to work as quickly as possible on your behalf.
However, turnaround times will vary from lender to lender, but the aim is to work on a week’s time from your first enquiry to getting a decision in principle.
Whilst our advisers will work as fast as they can to find a suitable lender who will accept your satisfied CCJ and mortgage application, how quickly you can also provide accurate information is also key.
We’ve put together a guide on how long mortgage applications can take, which outlines the steps involved from start to finish.
Re-mortgages if you have a CCJ (read more here) can take a little longer but could be processed within 4 to 6 weeks.
Whichever route you decide to take, our advisers will keep you fully informed, so you know how your application is progressing.
What to do next
Specialist Mortgage Online have a large panel of advisers who can help people with bad credit history. As specialist bad credit mortgage advisers, they have an in-depth knowledge on which lenders will be most prepared to offer deals to those with satisfied CCJs.
To get started, call our friendly team. They will ask you a few simple questions and before you know it, you could be on the way to getting the mortgage most suited to you.