Whenever you make an application to a lender for finance, you’ll be asked to sign a form which allows the lender to register the loan. In Australia, this is generally done through Veda Advantage (formerly Credit Advantage and before that the Credit Reference Association of Australia).

Your identity, the loan amount and date (and some personal particulars) are submitted to the agency, which will then advise the lender:

• What other loan applications (whether they proceeded or not) have been registered against your name in the past five years

• Whether you have defaulted on any previous loans

• Whether you have been sued for non-payment of outstanding accounts or have any judgments against you in such matters.

Obviously, it will be helpful to know what information is being held about you on Veda Advantage’s files. You can contact them by telephone on (02) 9464 6000 or 1300 762 207 and request a copy of your credit file or use the following form. Once you get a copy of your file, you should examine it closely to identify any incorrect details or what may need to be explained to future lenders.

You may be unaware of problems registered on your file. An adverse comment may be lodged against you by a lender if a loan was more than 90 days in arrears, an item was repossessed, a judgment was obtained against you or if some dishonored cheques were presented.

Lenders will also check if ‘too many’ applications for credit have been made within the previous 12 months. If they see you have applied for several loans prior to approaching them, they may be put off – either because it appears you have been refused by others, or because it is obvious you’re shopping around.

If your credit file is clear and you have demonstrated one year in the same house and the same job, it is likely you’ll have a sound credit rating.

>>> Coming Next: Selecting an Investment Lender

Please note: This is an extract from the Success From Scratch – it may not contain the exercises from the full version of the book/audioset, for full version please contact us or follow our blog for more.

Thank you,
The team@Custodian