"Educated" Guess Anyone?

[Anonymous]

I met with a mortgage lender back in May about a guaranteed USDA loan. My credit scores at that time  were 588 (TRANS) 558(EXP) and 538 (EQU) I had a bankruptsy which was dischaged in Feb. '04 and a couple of 60 day lates from nov.-dec. 2009. Given that, one of the biggest issues effecting my scores (I was told) was my credit card utilization ratio, which was right at 91%(all 3 almost maxed)  . So, flash forward to Jan. 26 2011 and here's where I now stand: no lates on anything from 2010 to present , was also fortunate enough to have ptd collection removed from Equifax (the only one showing the coll.) and MOST importantly (i hope) I now have my credit card ratio down to 43%  My question: Do you believe, given the time that has passed with no "lates" or any other negatives, combined with cutting my credit card ut. ratio more than half, that this would be enough to pull my 558 (Experion) to 620?  *I plan on seeing the same lender in Feb. regarding the same property (85k home) and hope my " scores" are there.  PS. i plan to put more on my credit cards to bring the ratio below 30(as soon as i'm able) but was curious to see where you all think I stand at the present. Appreciate any help/advice! Barry

[Anonymous]

Paying down should have brought your score up a bit, but there is another problem you may have to address.  What was the situation with the lates?  Were there several accounts or one?  Did they go late for a while or was it just one month or some mistake?  Were all the lates/collections at once or were they spread out and if so, in what intervals?  Any other negative items since the BK?

I ask this because when you have a BK on your record the main thing they are going to look at is clean history after the BK.  Often times even 1 late can be enought to kill a post BK loan.  Now with your BK being pretty old, that is not likely to happen over 1 late, but if there is a history of lates after the BK it may kill the deal at least until you can show a couple years of clean history.  It may have never been brought up before because at a midscore of 558 they could not really do anything for you at that time anyway.  If you have intermittent negatives ever since the BK you may have some issues getting aloan right now.  Again, they like to see totally clean history post BK, and without that, they are likely to want to see at least a couple years of clean history. 

[Anonymous]

From the BK. in Feb. 2004 thru Oct. 2009 I had no lates . I got behind only on my car payment  and a 2nd mortgage (which i had taken out in July 2007 at the home i owned at the time) for the months of Nov. and Dec. only. The second mortgage was paid in full in Jan. 2010 and I have been current on everything since.

[Anonymous]

What was the reason for falling behind on the mortgage.  Mortgage lates post BK (even with that many years clean between) are alwasy going to be an issue.  If there was a decent and documentable reason though it will probably be OK.  They may want to see some decent reserves or something to use as compensating factors for the mortgage lates though.

[Anonymous]

The company i was with sold out and they eliminated most positions in my region. *I'm still in the same line of work/career but moved from Fl. to Ms. after selling in early 2010

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

Were the 2nd mortgage late payments just 30 days late?  If so, then you'd have a fair shot at getting approved, but it'd very likely have to be manually underwritten rather than through the automated approval system.  If they were 60 days or greater you may need more than just 12 months of clean credit.  When you go back, ask your loan officer if they can the manually underwriting done as part of your pre-approval process.

[Anonymous]

Shane I pretty much have the "go ahead" as far as the "lates'. All of this was explained to my lender in May. She told me in may to wait until Feb. 2011 before applying. Her main concern were my credit scores- which brings me back to my original question: Will bringing my ut. ratio from 91% in May  to 43% at present , combined with no lates be enough to bring a 558 (experion) to a 620 ??

[Anonymous]

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