Mortgage

TMurphy

Hi guys
I used to be a big gambler up until I was 25 won money lost money the usual but was big amounts but overall lost more than I won. I sought help and got rid of my addiction.

Now I'm 30 have a partner and kid on the way. We are thinking about going for a mortgage and I was wondering has anyone any experience of this? It's over 4 years since my last bet and was wondering how will this effect things when we go for a mortgage.

My partner is a teacher with a full time teaching post, I own my own business which I take home 650€ a week for myself.

Any advice or help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks😊

Henry Ford III

If your savings record is good and you have the deposit I can't see an old gambling problem being a showstopper.

podge018

will be no issue whatsoever as long as there's no betting activity on your recent bank a/c statements. If, as you say, you haven't bet in 4 years then you're fine.

Trish56

Did you have unpdaid debts due to gambling if so this could cause a problem.

My advice would be to apply for a credit report to www.icb.ie. You can apply online and it will cost €6. If this is all clear then there should be no problem.

RIALTO1

On a related topic, currently going through for approval. Have a couple of withdrawals for a few hundred from a betting site showing on my statements, which the prospective lender has asked for background on. The transaction references on the statements do not indicate they came from a betting site. Any idea how far the lender will push for information on these? i.e. is it worth saying what they are and taking my chances, or worth trying to explain them away as something else?

3DataModem

Some banks are treating small amounts to betting sites as red flags. Even 50 or 100 a month to PP.com can mean your application is flat out rejected, even with impeccable ICB record.

Banks only look over past 6 months (sometimes 12 months) statements for mortgage applications; if you have stuff prior to this I suggest applying where you don't bank.

"Any idea how far the lender will push for information on these? i.e. is it worth saying what they are and taking my chances, or worth trying to explain them away as something else?"
> It really depends on what appears on the statement. I'd suggest explaining them as paypal payments from ebay sales or something, but they may dig further and in fact they may already know what they are.


[I've worked in gambling for 11 years, much of which involved testing payment methods, so my bank accounts used to have deposits and cashouts all over the place. The banks told me they didn't care about my explanation, a red flag was a red flag.]

el Fenomeno

Google whatever names the transactions on your statements say - it'll be pretty obvious whether it's easily linked to gambling or not.

As for the OP, it'll only be an issue if:
- there are betting transactions on your statements for the last 6-12 months.
- you have unpaid loans or missed credit card payments, or any type or bad credit history that would show up on your ICB credit report for that time.

I had 3 betting transactions on my recent statements from Ladbrokes, I wasn't questioned about them.

Oh, and for those that use Revolut to hide their gambling transactions, I had to submit my Revolut statements also. Though if there's nothing linking your current and/or savings accounts to your Revolut account, then they won't look for them as I guess they don't know you have one.

RIALTO1

3DataModem wrote: »

Some banks are treating small amounts to betting sites as red flags. Even 50 or 100 a month to PP.com can mean your application is flat out rejected, even with impeccable ICB record.

Banks only look over past 6 months (sometimes 12 months) statements for mortgage applications; if you have stuff prior to this I suggest applying where you don't bank.

"Any idea how far the lender will push for information on these? i.e. is it worth saying what they are and taking my chances, or worth trying to explain them away as something else?"
> It really depends on what appears on the statement. I'd suggest explaining them as paypal payments from ebay sales or something, but they may dig further and in fact they may already know what they are.


[I've worked in gambling for 11 years, much of which involved testing payment methods, so my bank accounts used to have deposits and cashouts all over the place. The banks told me they didn't care about my explanation, a red flag was a red flag.]

Thanks. Yeah the reference is really generic - 10 digits followed by TRNXXXX GP. I guess what we are saying is if I identify them as from a gambling site I am snookered and need to wait to let them clear through. So probably worth a shot that they won't delve further.

Trish56

If it was betting recently from Cheltenham the lenders will not make an issue of it as the majority of people have a bet on Cheltenham so no big deal. If a regular gambler they may decline your application. You must have a paper trail for all transactions on your accounts.

RIALTO1 wrote: »

Thanks. Yeah the reference is really generic - 10 digits followed by TRNXXXX GP. I guess what we are saying is if I identify them as from a gambling site I am snookered and need to wait to let them clear through. So probably worth a shot that they won't delve further.