Understanding Credit Scores

DO YOU HAVE A CREDIT SCORE ON THE BUBBLE?

A score below 620 means no mortgage with most lenders. However, Midwest Mortgage can lend down to a credit score of 580 if there are other strengths in the application (such as cancelled checks showing proof of on time rent payment for the last 12 months).

A score below 640 means you will probably pay higher interest rates than average, and a lot more documentation may be required, slowing your loan approval. The best rates and fastest loan approval for conventional mortgages begin around 680. A score of 720 earns the best available mortgage interest rate.

Are you on the bubble? At no cost whatsoever, as part of any loan application process, if your credit scores are very close to desired levels, Midwest Mortgage can help you understand how to improve your score. Our Professional Loan Officers can often review your credit report and advise how minor changes in payments or balances per trade line can raise your credit score. Our loan officers have years of successful experience in reviewing credit reports and offering free advice about how you might improve your score enough to get better interest rates and loan terms.

THE HIGH PRICE OF LOW CREDIT SCORES

If your credit score has been damaged by late payments, identity theft, or inaccurate information such as old collections showing as owed when they have been paid, you could have difficulty qualifying for a mortgage loan, or end up with very high mortgage interest rates. Sometimes you can raise your score substantially by disputing incorrect information.

AVOID CREDIT REPAIR SCAMS

Many credit repair services are simply consumer finance scams. You should never pay a large sum of money for help with credit repair. Nobody can substitute a higher score for yours. Anybody who offers to add data from other accounts to improve your score is scamming you or committing bank fraud.

LEGITIMATE HELP IMPROVING CREDIT SCORES

Legitimate credit repair companies can help you by disputing inaccurate information. We do not provide this service but can refer you to a reputable company if you need professional help. The truth is that you can dispute inaccurate information yourself if you have strong abilities and skills in the area of attention to detail and follow-through. Thorough knowledge of the various credit reporting bureaus and their dispute processes will help. You must dispute each item with all three credit reporting bureaus if it is being reported by all three bureaus.

Many of our customers with bruised credit benefit from professional help with this process. We do not provide this type of credit repair service , but can refer you to an independent and unrelated business that does a good job.