Not declaring old IVA on mortgage application?

In My Humble Opinion
1

You are not my lawyer, I am not your client.

I find myself in a bit of a predicament.

A younger version of myself spent a lot of money on toys and dreams. As a result when everything came to ahead I had two choices. Go bankrupt or start an IVA.

I took out an IVA. I understood this was the lesser of two evils, paying back some of the money I owed rather than just throwing my hands in the air and saying f**k it.

The IVA ended 6 years ago. That is, I started it 11 years ago; paid some money over 5 years and completed it.
I have a discharge letter etc.

Now, I am a model citizen. I have no debt, I pay what I owe. I make a lot of money / I’m well paid. I have an excellent credit rating. My credit reports have absolutely no information about the IVA on them.

I have saved what I need to put a deposit on a house so I see a mortgage advisor and answer all questions. I voluntarily tell her that I had an IVA once and it’s all settled. As I told her, she now goes and gives this information up to lenders. As a result, she can’t get me a mortgage.

I’ve changed tactic. I find another advisor and start the process again, however I keep my mouth shut about the IVA.

There are a few scenarios which could occur.

[ol]
[li]No one asks about previous IVA’s[/li][li]The financial advisor asks and I withhold the information[/li][li]The mortgage application asks and I withhold the information[/li][/ol]

Mortgage company’s have completely stereotyped and one who has ever had an IVA. Apparently, it would have been better for me to have become bankrupt… for some reason.

So, to my question(s).

Am I legally bound to declare this IVA.

If I’m asked directly if I’ve ever had an IVA and I don’t declare it to the FA / application am I committing a crime?

If I get the mortgage and through some magic foresight device the lender finds out I once had an IVA, what is the likely action?
Thanks for your time / input in advance. I’m keen to hear others views on this. I should point out this is from a UK member.

2

If asked and you lie and say “no”, you have committed mortgage fraud, which is a criminal offense in some jurisdictions.

3

You might want to look into how long stuff stays on your credit history. I think resolved (or otherwise inactive) issues are cleared away after 7 years here in the US.

4

I don’t know how things work in the UK but in the US you can get a free credit report on yourself once a year from each of the reporting agencies. You could possibly obtain one on yourself and see if the IVA is listed at all, it may have been long enough since discharge that it dropped off. If it has dropped off, then it’s a non-issue. It’s a good idea to obtain a report just in case the discharge isn’t listed correctly or something, but if you already know your credit rating is good, then the IVA is probably correctly reported.

In the US, you can apply for a mortgage just 3 years after bankruptcy discharge, I can’t imagine an IVA would be more strict.

5

Since this a real life personal legal question, it belongs in IMHO rather than General Questions. Moved.

samclem, Moderator

6

Also in the US, derogatory history lasts 7 years, but bankruptcy sticks around for 10.

7

IVAs stay on your credit report for a minimum of six years from inception. However, they’re likely to remain on your former creditors’ records much longer. I strongly suspect not declaring one in response to a question about insolvency or an accommodation with creditors would be fraud.

Being able to apply =/= getting approved. Anyway, the OP is in the UK. We don’t have IVAs here.