A client came to us after inheriting a mortgage-free property. He needed to raise money against the property to repay family, clear existing debts and bring outstanding payments up to date.

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The difficulty was that his credit file showed two recent missed payments that were still outstanding.

The vast majority of lenders would expect those payments to have been cleared and the credit file updated before they would consider proceeding. We initially approached a high-street lender that can sometimes accept recent missed payments, but the application was declined.

 

We knew another lender whose criteria could work differently. Although they wouldn't accept the payments remaining outstanding, they could accept proof that they had now been paid rather than waiting for the credit agencies to update the client's file.

 

The client paid the outstanding amounts and provided the evidence. The lender's initial Decision in Principle was still declined, so we spoke to them directly, explained the situation and provided proof that the payments had been made.

 

They overturned the decision.

 

We were then able to submit the full mortgage application, which was assessed and approved, allowing the client to raise the money he needed.

 

The important part wasn't simply finding a lender willing to consider someone with recent credit problems. It was knowing exactly how that lender's criteria worked — and what evidence they would accept — rather than waiting for the credit file to update or assuming a decline was the end of the road.