Just to start, this really is not a case of placing the blame. I just thought it would be a good title.
We are very big on not placing blame for adverse on either applicant, we take the situation at face value. You are not coming us to be blamed, looked down etc. You have come to us for a solution and that is all we are interested in.
The situation
So lets get into it. This is the case where one of the applicants had perfect credit and the other applicant had a Debt Management plan (DMP) and the associated arrears and defaults that typically come with a DMP.
One of the applicants had entered a DMP just over 2 years prior to the application being submitted. This had also resulted in 3 Defaults towards the back end of 2019 (26 months prior to submitting the application). There were also a number of late payment markers showing from around the time of the DMP starting.
This was due to a loss of job and carrying forward a reasonable amount of debt. The debt could not be paid at the time due to only one income.
The options
Because all of the adverse was in one of the applicants name there was the potential to do this as a sole application. The problem with this however is that if the applicant were to pass away the person not on the mortgage is then in a difficult position. Also if there are issues within the marriage, it then potentially puts the couple in unequal footings.
The couple were happy to make a joint application however (despite it costing a little more).
The outcome
We were able to secure them a joint mortgage on a 5 year fixed rate. This will ensure they know what they are paying for the foreseeable future. More importantly it will mean they do not need to worry whilst they continue to pay down the DMP. Once the deal finishes the DMP will hopefully have been cleared. This should then give them the pick of lenders at the end of their deal all being well.