Wednesday, Sep 01, 2010

Excuse of the month - computer says no

Mortgagestrategy: Automated lending systems are holding back housing market

The housing market is being held back due to lenders’ reliance on automated systems, Aldermore research shows. In a survey of 200 mortgage brokers were asked what percentage of mortgage enquiries had been declined over the past six months because their clients did not achieve a sufficiently high credit score. A massive 88% of brokers confirmed clients were regularly declined by lenders’ automated credit scoring systems.

Posted by jack c @ 05:14 PM (972 views) Add Comment

15 Comments

1. Crunchy said...

'The housing market is being held back due to lenders’ reliance on automated systems.'

Nothing to do with reverting back to sensible lending then, or would that claim mean dropping the bombshell at last.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010 05:25PM Report Comment
 

2. brickormortis said...

I absolutely believe that this is a phenomenon affecting many. I agree that it is not to blame for lack of mortgage granting but creditworthy individuals are being rejected all the time. I tried to apply for a small loan not too long back for a car (about £5000) and despite having double digit multiples of that sitting in my savings account, not a single missed payment on anything and a credit score of 958 out of 1000 or something very similar I was rejected time and again. Had I been face to face with a bank manager who could have talked to me about my very stable career, sensible attitude to lending and savings backup (with documentation) he would surely have realised that this was great business.

I know that I am not the only one and some circumstances simply can't be explained to a computer. Moreover, we as humans are very good at judging based on face to face contact- bnot perfect but very good!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010 05:50PM Report Comment
 

3. drewster said...

brickor - Maybe they've re-programmed the systems to only lend money to homeowners (because they have collateral....)

Wednesday, September 1, 2010 06:32PM Report Comment
 

4. alan_540 said...

I'm regularly getting loan offers through the post. All went quiet for 18 months but this year loans are being offered again.

bricksormortis, I'll loan you £5k @ 7% over 24 months.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010 06:41PM Report Comment
 

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7. quiet guy said...

@brickormortis

"I tried to apply for a small loan not too long back for a car (about £5000) and despite having double digit multiples of that sitting in my savings account, not a single missed payment on anything and a credit score of 958 out of 1000 or something very similar I was rejected time and again."

According to some of my friends, if you haven't borrowed money in the past, that can hurt your credit rating for loans (yes, stupid but allegedly true.) If you make frequent credit checks or loan applications, that will also count against you (infuriating for those shopping around for a good mortgage deal.) Have you considered that your credit rating has been damaged by ID theft or problems at a previous address?

Wednesday, September 1, 2010 07:10PM Report Comment
 

8. titaniccaptain said...

This is as we talked about Jack C...........but slightly different.

It only takes one sale in an area where the price of the house is reduced to seriously affect a valuation for a future sale in said area.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010 07:40PM Report Comment
 

9. tick tock said...

I tried to apply for a small loan not too long back for a car (about £5000) and despite having double digit multiples of that sitting in my savings account

Bricks,

Forgive my ignorance, but why did you want to borrow the money for the car rather than using your savings? Surely the loan interest was higher than the saving account rate?

Wednesday, September 1, 2010 08:43PM Report Comment
 

10. khards said...

@brickormortis

Give zopa.com a try you can apply for a loan face to face there and the rates will be better than a retail bank.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010 08:49PM Report Comment
 

11. alan_540 said...

Exactly, tick tock, methinks bricks is being a little disingenuous.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010 10:05PM Report Comment
 

12. paul said...

The subtle irony of credit scoring is that to achieve the best score you have to be profitable for the lender therefore borderline delinquent on your loans (i.e. paying the minimum each month and racking up huge debts in the process).

That is precisely why UK consumer is soffocating under an unsecured debt mountain!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010 10:09PM Report Comment
 

13. Crunchy said...

9. paul

Nailed it. Less risk more profit. Banks can make £5 per day if you are overdrawn on an agreed £100 overdraft.

That's not a bad return. Loan sharks? Never!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010 11:14PM Report Comment
 

14. paul said...

In addition, most credit scoring systems used by Equifax, Experian and CallCredit are out of date, inflexible and error-prone. Just take it from me, they are.

Thursday, September 2, 2010 12:10AM Report Comment
 

15. inbreda said...

brickor - the accusation is that credit scores lead to people being automatically rejected. If you were rejected despite having a high score, then it clearly isn't the score that is causing the rejection!!

TBH if you have the money sat in a savings account you'd be mad to borrow to pay for it. I say mad but of course the other alternative is that you might be fraudulent. Perhaps the reference agency picked up on that, in which case - clever them!

...and mad you!

Thursday, September 2, 2010 10:04AM Report Comment
 

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