Hi all,
The letter he got says in fine print "This is not a commitment to lend." However, the OP said they needed a "pre-qualification" letter, not a preapproval.
As a reasonably knowledgeable customer, I had a very frank conversation with the LO. I actually expected an automatic denial, since I didnt know what the Experian score was, but we talked about every negative in DH's credit reports, and discussed the positives. DTI was 31%. My sense is that this guy would not bother to spend his time and send out what he did send out if he thought there wasn't a chance. As Dallas said, they are very busy.
In any case, without a specific deal in place, it was clear he wouldn't take the next step. It's got to be a numbers game for these guys - some small ratio of the people he talks to probably actually follow through.
The original poster, however, should be able to get a pre-qual letter from Countrywide easily if my darling husband could. 
Hi again,
Likewise you are right that the person who originally posted this could probably get a pre-qual letter but based on the post they need a pre-approval letter. Also based on Dallas response there is a very big difference between the two. I wish you the best of luck, we are at the underwriting stage, got the automated pre-approval and now are awaiting the final say from the underwriter.
