Check your Bulgarian credit record before paying a property deposit

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A Central Credit Register report can help you identify an issue in your Bulgarian credit record before committing to a property purchase. It is not mortgage approval. Its practical purpose is to give you time to clarify an entry with your lender while you can still organise the transaction without a close payment deadline.

You have found an apartment, the seller wants a deposit, and an online calculator shows an affordable monthly payment. There is another question to answer first: what existing credit information will the lender consider?

What to look for

The Bulgarian National Bank describes records of borrowing, historical arrears and participation as a co-borrower or guarantor. The report reflects submitted information; a very recent repayment may need clarification with the reporting institution.

Read it alongside your loan agreements and repayment documents. An unfamiliar entry deserves an explanation rather than a guess. Establish which agreement it concerns and how your role has been reported, including any borrowing you signed for someone else.

Keep the report private. Discuss it with the lender through an appropriate secure channel. The property seller needs an agreed payment timetable, not unrestricted access to your financial history.

Repayment does not immediately erase past arrears

BNB explains that historical arrears information covers five years. Paying off a loan does not immediately remove that history. How an entry affects a mortgage application is a separate lending decision, not an automatic consequence of the loan being repaid.

If there was a previous difficulty, prepare a factual explanation with relevant documents. Avoid assuming that an old loan can no longer affect the conversation. Equally, do not assume that one entry means every lender will refuse you.

Be wary of promises to delete accurate history. First distinguish an incorrect entry, an update following repayment and a genuine past delay. Those are different problems.

What happens if information is wrong?

A correction request goes to the institution that submitted the information, not to BNB to edit its records on that institution's behalf. BNB Ordinance No. 22 provides seven working days for consideration and a written response. That is not a guarantee that every request will succeed or that an update will appear immediately.

Identify the disputed entry precisely and retain your supporting evidence, submission reference and reply. Tell your lending contact if a clarification is under way. If a property payment is already due soon, discuss the timetable with the seller as well: a register enquiry does not automatically change your purchase agreement.

Check early enough to act

Start when the property search becomes serious, not after signing the preliminary agreement. Use BNB's current register services page to confirm the application channel, identification requirements and expected timing.

Consider two buyers with the same income. One identifies and clarifies an unfamiliar entry before reserving a property. The other discovers it after paying a sum that their agreement makes non-refundable. Their practical difference is time, not salary. This is an illustrative scenario, not a real client case or a lender's policy.

Connect the report to the actual purchase

Ask the lender to consider both your circumstances and the chosen property. A satisfactory credit record does not settle the property's acceptability as security or the timing of disbursement. An early opinion based on income alone should not become a promise to the seller about a transfer date.

Have the agreement reviewed for what happens if financing is refused or lower than expected. Do not assume every reservation payment is refundable following a lending refusal; the payment's contractual terms matter.

Allow separately for acquisition costs using the Bulgarian-language guide to mortgage purchase costs. If choosing a property through TV Property, request documents and the payment schedule for the particular unit. Give them to the lender early enough to align the purchase with funding you can actually access.

Editorially checked against the linked sources on 5 October 2026. This is not individual credit advice or a guarantee of mortgage approval.