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February 13, 2008
Mortgage brokers and credit reports?
After raising our credit scores to the mid 700's we're trying to refinance our condo. I have all 3 credit report for myself and my husband. Every mortgage broker I've talked to wants to pull up our credit before they even talk to me further. Is this necessary and will it lower out credit scores?
Why won't the brokers take the reports we've pulled down as a reference in the beginning of the process?
Comments
you ABSOLUTELY DO NOT want them to pull your report. What you need to do is find out what's the best rates being offered. Some brokers have insight on programs that certain banks offer. What you can do is tell them what your "Middle Score " is.(the score thats falls in the middle of the three bureaus) Ask them what's the best rate they can get you with a middle score of "720?" It wouldn't make sense for them NOT to give you the information.
On the other side, you need to be very honest about what that score is. (The reason they almost insist on getting the credit report is so they can see the "TRUTH")
Shop around to find who is truely offering the best score, then go with THAT company or broker and let them pull your credit ONLY when you're ready to go the distance.
Use Bankrate.com to get an idea of who offers the most favorable rates.
Hope this helps.
Posted by: guest at February 13, 2008 11:48 AM
I just went through this with our mortgage guy and he said that there is a three month window for having your credit checked without penalty. i.e. if you have your credit checked several times in a month it shouldn't impact your score.
Posted by: bunkerlabs at February 13, 2008 12:17 PM
12:17 is correct, the multiple pings, because they're all for a mortgage, and within a short time frame are looked upon as one event. Now on the other hand, if you apply for three different credit cards, those will be viewed as individual events. How do I know? In the business....best of luck with your search.
Posted by: guest at February 13, 2008 12:44 PM
If you already know your score. And it is an Accurate score not a guestimate, there is no benifit to giving your broker permission to pull a credit report. No need to do it unless you're sure you're going to do business with them.
Posted by: guest at February 13, 2008 2:33 PM
OP here. 2:33 That's what I assumed. Again, I have copies of all 3 credit reports, how inaccurate can they be? I don't want to be giving away my SS. while shopping around.
I don't remember this happening the first time around, but perhaps with the stricter mortgage guidelines, this has become a standard procedure.
Posted by: kdabrowski at February 13, 2008 4:36 PM
To add what 2:17 has said, this applies to car loans as well. You can shop for a mortgage and a new car loan within a short time and it wont affect you.
Posted by: guest at February 13, 2008 4:59 PM
That three month window comment is dead wrong.
To compensate for this, the score ignores all mortgage and auto inquiries made in the 30 days prior to scoring. So if you find a loan within 30 days, the inquiries won't affect your score while you're rate shopping. In addition, the score looks on your credit report for auto or mortgage inquiries older than 30 days. If it finds some, it counts all those inquiries that fall in a typical shopping period as just one inquiry when determining your score. For FICO scores calculated from older versions of the scoring formula, this shopping period is any 14 day span. For FICO scores calculated from the newest versions of the scoring formula, this shopping period is any 45 day span. Each lender chooses which version of the FICO scoring formula it wants the credit reporting agency to use to calculate your FICO score.
Posted by: guest at February 13, 2008 5:50 PM
If you checked your your credit scores on your own (ie. freecreditreport.com or one of those), then you most likely DO NOT have your scores as the bank would see them. Those scores almost always come out higher compared to when a bank or mortgage broker runs them, because they use different formulas that are more linient. I would have 1 person (bank or broker) check your credit report and then show that report to the others.
Posted by: guest at February 14, 2008 10:25 AM
I have worked in consumer lending for many years at several different major lenders. There is no need for you to give over your social security number until you get a rate that you are comfortable with and having them check your credit score may effect your credit score, but not necessarily. In fact, it is a law that is not well enforced that they are required to reveal to you all costs associated with a loan before you sign you life away. The bottom line: keep shopping!!!
Posted by: guest at February 14, 2008 10:31 AM
A consumer-pulled credit report is of no use mortgage broker or lender. The scores almost never agree. The only valid credit report is a tri-merge report that must be pulled by a mortgage business, not a consumer.
As recommended before, have one person/company pull it for you and give you a copy. Then use that copy to shop around. Note that it will be pulled again at the time of loan application since the one you used for shopping around has a different company name on it.
Posted by: guest at February 16, 2008 4:03 AM
to mail you a package with your closing costs I would have to run your credit but to tell you what your zero point rate is all I need is your credit score, asset info, income info, property type. If you are wrong about the score I will try to fix it but otherwise your rate will probably be higher.
email me @ jamesrhee@optonline.net. Once I can verify you are a real client I will give you my work number and email...
Posted by: guest at March 2, 2008 10:37 AM
If it is within 2 weeks I believe you can have many inquires for a mortgage and it won't affect it. Rates should go down on Mon. I will do a free consultation with no credit check but if you want to do the deal I will have to run your credit. If it does affect your score it won't be so much.
jamesrhee@optonline.net
Posted by: guest at March 2, 2008 10:40 AM
hey i know you can also just deal with a direct lender not some guy. The 14 day window is only for direct lenders example(quicken loans, BOA, Country wide). the credit score is not the only reason they look at your credit some people have a good score yet have a mortgage late in the last 3 months it is the same way as if you went for car insurance and said what is my annuel policy, they need to look up your driving record to quote you information that "you" qualify for. If you are serious about getting the best deal you will have to talk to all 60k lenders and with how unstable the market has been means you will have lots of information that is in accurate due to changes that happen daily. Dealing with a broker that only has information on what he thinks he can give you instead on what the bank knows they can give you is a big difference. Point is that you have to understand that in the end everyone that is truthful and upfront in a quote will be within a few hundred dollars which is nothing on a 100k plus transaction. Price is what you pay quality is what you get. I hope that helps you
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 11:32 AM
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