Bad Credit

Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA)

An Individual Voluntary Arrangement, or IVA is an alternative to bankruptcy in which the debtor arranges a formal agreement with his creditors to pay off a percentage of his debt over a set period of time, usually around 5 years.

An IVA is often seen as an alternative option to bankruptcy as it may have less of an adverse effect on the persons credit history and their home remains relatively untouched.

However if you have arranged an Individual Voluntary Arrangement, you will probably be aware that although an IVA makes it much easier for you to keep your home, is it standard for many IVAs to include a clause that stipulates that after a set number of years you will be required to have your home valued and to give your creditors a certainer percentage of the equity that has been built up as final payment.

At NMF we are able to help those who:

• Are currently in a IVA that is running satisfactorily and are looking to remortgage to make the final payment to their creditors
• Have completed their IVA less than 1 year ago and are looking to purchase a property or remortgage their home
• Have completed their IVA between 1 and 3 years ago and are looking to purchase a property or remortgage
• And those who have completed their IVA over 3 years ago and are looking to purchase or remortgage

Generally speaking the longer you have competed your IVA, the better the deals which you will qualify for and the less deposit will be required from you if you are looking to purchase.

Mortgage Arrears

Your mortgage is secured on your home. This means that if you are struggling to make your mortgage payments and have fallen into arrears you need to act quickly to prevent your home from being repossessed by the bank and sold to pay off your debt to them.

For this reason if you have run into financial problems it is also important that you give your mortgage priority over any other unsecured debts you may have.

However if you are still struggling to make your mortgage payments every month and catch up on any payments you have missed in the past, there are still things you can do to take control of the situation.

By remortgaging you home, you may be able to release enough equity to pay off arrears you have accrued and possibly even reduce your payments to make it easier to pay your mortgage in the future.

At NMF we can arrange mortgage products regardless of how many payments you have missed.

It is important to note, however, that the more payments you have missed the higher risk you will be to a new lender, as a result you may not qualify for the most competitive deals if you leave the problem for too long. Remember is it always better to try and fix the problem soon rather than later.

CCJs

Upon receiving notification of a County Court Judgement, you have one month in which to pay the amount in full BEOFRE the CCJ becomes registered with the Register of County Court Judgements. Once the CCJ has been registered, even if you pay it in full at a later date, it will remain on your credit record for six years.

This will affect your credit history, but it is not the end of the world as it will still be possible to get finance from specialist lenders.

The overall cost for comparison is 4.8% APR. The actual rate will depend on your circumstances. Please ask for a personalised illustration. Rate correct as at 17/03/2010.

     THINK CAREFULLY BEFORE SECURING OTHER DEBTS AGAINST YOUR HOME.

      YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE.

There will be a fee for mortgage advice. The amount will depend on your circumstances. Our typical  fee would be £695.