Middle score or all scores?

[Abcmom22]

Hello! I tried to search this on the rebuilding credit as well as this page and even google but can not find anything. I posted this in the rebuilding credit forum as well.
I know the middle score is the most important however do I need to make sure that all credit reports are clear with collections and disputes for a mortgage or just the middle score? Will mortgage lenders only look at that middle score? Thank you so much!

[Anonymous]

Hi ABCmom,

You seem to be confusing scores with reports because well... It's confusing. You have 3 reports that each generate their own scores.

Loan companies are going to look over all 3 reports. So all three reports need to be cleaned up and ready for reveiw. This will part of what determines whether you qualify. They will also look at all 3 scores. They will throw out the highest and lowest score and use the middle score to determine your interest rate.

Other items they look at include your income, your debt to income ratio, time on the job etc...

Hope this cleared stuff up and didn't confuse you more 😁

Edited to add: I'm not a mortgage broker

[Anonymous]

Generally when a lender checks your credit they do a tri-merged report. Basically a combination of the information from all three credit reports. What this means is any negitve info is held to the same standard regardless of whether its found on all 3 or only 1.
In addition It's probably a good idea to have any dispute remarks resolved or removed from your report prior to applying.

[gdale6]

Hi there OP, I have removed the cross post on this from the RYC forum as its against our TOS to cross post its considered thread bombing. I thank you for your understanding on this. I have also moved your post from MLs to General Credit.

[iv]

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@Abcmom22 wrote:

I know the middle score is the most important however do I need to make sure that all credit reports are clear with collections and disputes for a mortgage or just the middle score? Will mortgage lenders only look at that middle score? Thank you so much!

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Yes, all three reports matter.

Not only will data from all three be looked at during the underwriting process... but also, since having an open dispute can inflate a score, which score is your "middle score" may very well change when disputes are removed or resolved.

[Anonymous]

My response is based on recent experience with a REFINANCE. Make sure there are no disputes open and your middle score is the required score. In addition, if there will be a co-borrower, they will use tge lowest middle score.
Goodluck