Why would no credit profile come up for someone on a search?

[welliesandpyjamas]

This credit check is for a mortgage. If someone has no debts, paid off their mortgage, is on the electoral roll, pays on time for council tax and all other bills, is in employment, etc etc why on earth would a mortgage provider not be able to find any trace of them? Ironically, are they just too 'clean' despite being an excellent bet for a loan?

It's like hitting my head against a brick wall.

A friend was told her credit rating was too clean, as she had never been in debt, she couldn't prove she could manage her way out of it - even tho it was money management that meant she lived within her means....
The suggestion was to get a credit card, and spend on it, and not quite clear it one month.... Sounds mad to me, but she got a mortgage (for a much nicer house) after the first house fell through due to mortgage being declined...

Good luck. Its a bonkers system

My financial advisor told me to do the same. I was 19 when I got my first home. I spoke to my FA before house hunting. He said get a card and clear almost all the balance every month. I got the house, no problem.

Thanks for the replies. It just seems so silly that the only way to prove you are a safe bet with a megabucks mortgage is by being being careless with small debts

Do either of you, or anyone else, know whether that is the only reason someone would simply not appear at all on credit checks against an address? Seems bonkers, with electoral roll and council tax and so on. Does paying off a mortgage in the past not count?

Sigh

Just a thought. Can you sign up for a free trial to one of the credit checking services this for example and make sure the mortgage provider is right? ie they have in putted your name and address correctly?

Like your style. I have doubted them tbh. Our financial advisor was actually with the mortgage people today watching them search and really, nothing was coming up.

If I do a search, would that affect any future searches on the name? Don't too many searches (i.e. the mortgage company and then mine) count against you?

Exactly the same happened to me at 19. Had to get a credit card, max it, nearly clear it and just pay minimum for six months! Got me a credit rating and a mortgage. Mental system!

Make sure they are using equifax or experian. If you're going straight through a bank I'd imagine they will but smaller companies or mortgage brokers sometimes use CreditSafe. Which is shit and has hardly any details at all.

A credit search does come up on your history so don't go apeshit and check it every day!

I don't know what they use, will have to ask in the morning.

Thanks for clarifying on the frequency of searches, mrscumberbatch. Perhaps I should hold off doing a search with experian until the financial guy tries another company.

Wellies - its not that you have to be careless with small debts at all, its that you have to prove you can manage smaller debts before you will be deemed credit worthy enough for a mortgage iyswim?

Its all about showing the mortgage co. (via a credit reference search) that you have the wherewithall to a) pay on time, b) the agreed amounts, C)as per the agreed contract.

Simply living within your means does not demonstrate any of the above to the mortgage lenders unfortunately

I don't think that a few searches would make a huge difference but multiple credit searches suggest that you are having issues finding a mortgage/loan provider and so they get a bit suspicious of why you haven't found a deal yet. (Assuming that you've been turned down). Tis rubbish.

Do not miss working in a bank at all. It's so backward.

Ooo-er! Now there's a thought!

I understand what you're saying, btw (I was a bit ranty upthread because this has dragged on so long). I guess I just think it's stomp-my-feet-unfair that living safely ends up counting against you. What about having paid another mortgage off succesfully in the past, why would that not appear or count, I wonder?

(that was at Misskeithlemon btw)

Thank you mrscumberbatch. So it wouldn't hurt to have a look...

From what I can remember, (and it was pre-credit crunch so it'll be even stricter now) we were only interested in faults. Not pros.

So if you had defaulted a few times on previous mortgage or missed 2 credit card payments in the last 2 years you'd be blacklisted. Even if it were for good reason (ie on holiday when it happened etc) they don't pay attention to how quickly you rectified it. Just the fact that it happened.

The lifestyle checking can be quite intrusive as well: How much do you spend on your hair, how much do you drink, how much do you spend on clothes for your children, what contract is your phone on etc etc Very OTT.

Even lifestyle checking would be welcomed if they could even find a single trace!! It's almost like finding out you're invisible :(

If you are on the voters roll experian and equifax should both come up with a credit profile for you. It may well be blank if you have had no debt for 6 years plus but it should find you. If it literally comes back with no matches found I would suggest there is a fault with the search.

If you paid your previous mortgage off in it's entirety 6 years or more ago it will have dropped off. Otherwise if it was with a company that filed with experian or equifax it should still be showing as a settled debt. Council tax never shows on a credit report. But a monthly contract mobile phone bill does so that should show if you have one.

Although it sounds bonkers the more well managed debt you have the better your credit rating is true. It's because lenders can see a history of an ability to borrow and repay. If they have literally nothing to go on it should trigger a 'referral' not a decline. In the case in the case of a referral you would normally be expected to supply 3 months payslips, possibly a p60 if erratic bonuses/overtime need to be taken into account, 6 months bank statements (unless you are applying to where you hold your bank account) and a SALIE (statement of assets, liabilities, income and expenditure) this information will allow an underwriter to assess the application.

HTH

Ok, so maybe there really is a fault (fingers crossed) because electoral roll is a definite and mortgage was paid off in 2007 so should still appear. And there is a monthly mobile contract too. Curiouser and curiouser. I think I'll have to try experian.

and hopefully wave the results under their noses and make them blush

You're fine to get a credit card & pay it off in full each month too.

Yes Wellies - there will definitely be something on your 'credit profile' if you are on the electoral roll and had a mortgage until 2007. Also, nearly every phone contract also registers, although some do not regularly update if you pay on time every month. Lots of current accounts also register an update even if you don't have an overdraft, so you should see this type of thing.

I would check it myself here www.equifax.co.uk/?gclid=CPq6m8jjjrECFRIjfAodlBo1NA and make sure all your details are correct as you search. You can register for a free report or pay a fee for a full report which may be worth it for you. It will give you a rough guide of the info the mortgage co are also getting, although different lenders use different criteria, so its not an exact science.

Also - as Whatever said - you may still need to provide further info, mortgage co's are being very wary still with regard to lending to 'new' borrowers.

Thank you very much, misskeithlemon

Found out this morning that the lender had been using Experian so don't know if there's any point in me doing my own search with them. The financial advisor guy said "They use Experian as their basic platform but each lenders system is tailored to their own specification ?so it may not be a problem with others, but as far as the lender was concerned they can only use their own system, for obvious reasons". I don't know what to do this morning.

Equifax might be worth a try.