Countrywide said that in order to do a pre-qualification?

Question

you need a credit score of 580 to get a mortgage. My fiance is lacking 3 points. Do you think that they could let it slide or stick to the guidelines? He just paid the last thing off and now has nothing on his credit report.

Answer 1

CWide will have strict guidelines, and 580 is at the bottom of what is possible to close an FHA at any lender.

It is best to do 2 things:

1) Open a secured credit card and KEEP IT EMPTY. Let it  go 30 days through a billing cycle

2) meanwhile, make sure any other credit accounts are PAID DOWN to $0 - $25 then wait til another billing cycle

This is the only way to PULL SCORES UP!

Your scores will go up about 10 points, and an underwriter will be impressed that all the credit accounts are near zero (demonstrating financial responsibilty).

Every person is unique, so you might not fit CWide's stricter guidelines.

Get with a mortgage broker (not a banker like CWide) who can SHOP your loan with lots of lenders.

Best of luck!

Answer 2

I deal with Countrywide daily and they will not touch anything under a 580 even it is a 579. The other problem that you may face is you say that he paid everything off. Do you mean that he just paid all the bad things off? Does he have any open trade lines like a car payment or credit card? They want open tradelines also.

Answer 3

Can't hurt to ask but if they say you absolutely need a 580 score (and you know he averages 577 between the 3 credit reporting bureaus) just don't apply.  Still, even if they won't lend to him I'll guarantee someone will (though they will charge him a higher rate).  Call up a mortgage broker if you have trouble finding a bank that will do this.

Answer 4

Lending restrictions are just that, no lender will let a restriction slide.

Answer 5

You might want to consider a more stable lender