I have a ccj, do we have any hope of renting a house?

[zacattack1]

I have a CCJ which we are currently in the process of paying off in monthly instalments. We have no other debts, DP works very hard to support us and I am at home with Ds. We have another baby due in September.

We have just seen a house which we would love to rent - we are renting at the minute but there's hardly room for the three of us, we definitely wouldn't manage with another baby here too!

Honestly, if you were a landlord, would you rent to us? Should we actually bother to apply for the house or will we just be rejected instantly on the grounds of the CCJ?

Meant to add, my mother would be willing to stand as a guarantor for us on this house, as she does for our current property.

I have to say that if you were amongst several potential tenants for my property I wouldn't be keen. It's very hard not to see a CCJ and feel wary. Certainly don't hide it though. Being upfront and perhaps outlining the reasons for it and the ways you are tackling it with your application would help. Talk to the letting agent too to make sure they can see your side of it.

I think if you go in and are up front and say, I wont pass the credit check but my husband will and we have a guarantor too, then some of them will allow you to proceed but it does diminish your chances (I have a bad credit rating and struggled, but did get there in the end) I think it depends on your area too and how sought after the property is?

Can you go view it and make an amazing impression and then tell them so they don't just write you off over the phone? I think that would be my plan.

Good luck!

The fact that you have a guarantor is really good. Also I am guessing you have good reference from your present landlord?
Would a CCJ even show up on the basic credit checks they do?
What have you got to lose? Try it!

Hi there,

Don't be discouraged. We had a satisfied one on our file and a satisfied IVA, believe me they still look at them even then! We met the landlord at the house and really won him over, we were local and my parents were the guarantors. The letting agent more or less told us we would not get anywhere as they make the recomendation to the client so I am afraid more often than not the landlord would take their advice. In the end the landlord trusted us and we had a good long relationship. It boils down to making the letting agent/landlord think you would suit the house, if there are many faceless applicants though it can just all come down to how good an applicant looks on paper. It's much easier looking for a private rent if you can find one, good luck.

Hi,
Thank you so much for replying. We have been to see the property this afternoon, fingers crossed we did make a good impression
We plan on being completely open about it, no point hiding something that would be revealed during a credit check anyway. We would also be able to provide proof that it was being paid off

I think it's just going to be a lot of crossing fingers and explaining until we get somewhere.

Reference from current landlord would definitely be good, we've never missed a rent payment and the house is in the same condition as when they handed over the keys

Fingers crossed. We have had many dissapointments house wise, and there were one or two we didn't get that I could have seen us being very happy in that we were gutted about at the time. It really is true that 'what is for you, will not pass you by'. If you werent successful this time it just means it wasn't right for you.

give it a go. My questions for you as a landlord are:

can you afford the rent? Ditto after the baby? What if the sole earner loses their job?
have you run a house before? (Obviously you have). This means that you look after it and also let me know when something needs fixing. Also that you'll be reasonable if something goes wrong and won't expect a fix in an hour (that said I have home emergency cover for the property)
do you smoke?
do you have pets?

and in this case; will the situation that caused the CCJ arise again?
a guarantor would be essential so good that you have one. BTW 'always paid the rent on time' is to be expected, that's like saying 'I'm not a thief'.

but I'd like your honest and adult approach.

good luck.

specialsubject - completely agree that rent being paid on time is already a given. Just clutching at straws really and trying to think of pros.

Thank you so much for all of your replies, we shall just have to wait and see!

Actually sometimes people can't pay the rent on time so it is definitely a positive!