Typically six months or so, though that's very much YMMV based on what the rest of your credit report looks like.
Where did you get the 640 number from? If from a credit card app, well, that's not necessarily a good comparison to your mortgage app. I'd simply suggest spending the $20 or whatever it is and pull the Equifax score from here on myFico.
Also FWIW, mortgage inquiries typically get rolled up into some time period, though if you went through an extended closing process it may have fallen outside the window... or they may be miscoded which is all too common on auto loans at least. Easy thing to recon with a lender.
@kariered wrote:
Thanks for the info! Especially in the last paragraph. I never thought about it them being miscoded. They most likely are. I purchased a foreclosure so my closing process was a bit drawn out, unfortunately. I shopped around, but was very careful about letting just anyone pull my credit. They all seem to want to do FIRST THING that no matter what you tell them. Sorry if I wasn't clear, I got my current score from this site, MyFICO. Thanks for your help!
Ah, take a look to see which product you purchased as that'll be useful information for you to know offhand for this forum.
A 640 isn't the end of the world, there are plenty decent cards which now exist in that space; however, I'd take a careful look at my reports and see what's up. I'd even go so far to say in your case, pull all three from annualcreditreport.com and just see what's there.
Which lender and specific card did you apply for, and what score did you receive and what denial reasons were listed? Long term you're going to be fine as a mortgage is literally nothing but goodness credit-wise; however, in the short-term the more accurate picture you can give us of your various report data, the better recommendations people will be able to make in your case. Also I'd recommend figuring out what your goals are with regards to obtaining credit both now and future requirements and sharing tthose as well.