Help with increasing Mortgage Scores!

[Anonymous]

My middle score is 619 and my husband's is 577. 

I know that we need a minimum of 580 score to get an fha loan.

I am more worried about my husband's credit and what we can do to build it up before we look into purchasing a home. He has one thing in collections but it is paid off. It also says his revolving credit is at 9%

Any help on ideas to boost scores would be great. 

[Anonymous]

On the same boat, one thing I did recently had my mom add him as an authorized user to a credit card with a high credit limit and no balance. Also paid down debt. 

[NC_Mtg_Loaner]

DO you each have 2-3 account open and actively reporting your monthly, on-time payments to all 3 bureaus?

It would seem to me that your scores would be higher if that were the case.  

If your hubby only has 1 account open then he needs to add another tradeline ASAP.....perhaps the AU line, but I recommend another credit account in his name.

[CreditInspired]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

My middle score is 619 and my husband's is 577. 

I know that we need a minimum of 580 score to get an fha loan.

I am more worried about my husband's credit and what we can do to build it up before we look into purchasing a home. He has one thing in collections but it is paid off. It also says his revolving credit is at 9%

Any help on ideas to boost scores would be great. 

---

There is something else going on besides one paid-off collection for scores to be only 577. It may be time to get all three of his credit reports to see what it is. There may be some inaccurate information on there that may need correcting. Get all 3 free reports from annualcreditreport.com.

Next, are these FICO mortage scores?

Second, are there any student loans reporting?

Are there any other collections, judgement, liens?

Number of inquiries? If he's been applying for CCs and getting denied, please don't apply for any more!

Since his UT is 9%, please list CCs he hold, CLs, and outstanding balance.

[Anonymous]

These are the FICO mortgage score. The other scores are higher than these.
He does have 2 student loans but they are always on time. It is a total of $6500.
He has two other baddies one where he canceled a phone bill through Verizon and they kept charging g him. He eventually paid it off, it never got to collections though. Another was when he was in college and leading an apartment through school, they tried saying that he caused damages but that one was forgiven and not considered in collections either. They were both 2 years ago.

He has not been denied any credit cards he did recently get approved for one through NFCU at 10k. We both applied to get my car refinanced through them and it was denied twice. I asked them to reconsider and they pulled credit the 2nd time.

He has 2 cc's one is 300 with only 130 balance and the other he just got which is 10k with $12 balance. He was also an authorized user on one of my cards through Walmart that I let go and got to 60 day no payment. Then it was closed. It has been up to dat for a year and continuing to make payments on time. The cl on it was 4k and has a 2997 balance now. But it is closed.

[CreditInspired]

---

@Anonymous wrote:
These are the FICO mortgage score. The other scores are higher than these.
He does have 2 student loans but they are always on time. It is a total of $6500.
He has two other baddies one where he canceled a phone bill through Verizon and they kept charging g him. He eventually paid it off, it never got to collections though. Another was when he was in college and leading an apartment through school, they tried saying that he caused damages but that one was forgiven and not considered in collections either. They were both 2 years ago.

He has not been denied any credit cards he did recently get approved for one through NFCU at 10k. We both applied to get my car refinanced through them and it was denied twice. I asked them to reconsider and they pulled credit the 2nd time.

He has 2 cc's one is 300 with only 130 balance and the other he just got which is 10k with $12 balance. He was also an authorized user on one of my cards through Walmart that I let go and got to 60 day no payment. Then it was closed. It has been up to dat for a year and continuing to make payments on time. The cl on it was 4k and has a 2997 balance now. But it is closed.

---

$130 balance on a $300 CL is 43% UT. Please get this down to $26 so you can be under 8.9%. 

Is DH still an AU on the Walmart card? If yes, he should dispute stating that he is not responsible for this CC.

Please, please, please do not apply for anything else.

How do the 2 baddies show on his CR?

[Anonymous]

He is still an AU on the Walmart card.

His baddies one reports as a collection, which states that it was terminated for default. The other is reported as a Charge Off.

Neither one of us plan on applying for any other credit any time soon.

I also forgot, he had a southwest airline card that he maxed out at 4k and then let fall behind. It got closed and then sent to a collection agency. He then paid the balance for less than half of the actual amount Owed. It was closed 2 years ago but paid off one year ago

[homeloanexpert]

First, many lenders like myself can go down to 550 on FHA to 96.5% LTV and down to 500 on 90% LTV, so having  a 577 is not in itself a deal killer. That said, you need to strategically charge and pay down your revolving credit cards where they report every month under 10% utilization. Never $0 and NEVER over 30%. I tell all my clients trying to raise their scores, to pay at least 5 days before the statement cutoff date to ensure the bill comes out every month with a targeted remaining balance. My experience has led me determine that the sweet spot of utilization is 7%-8%. That seems to be the magic percentage. Once paid down, don't charge on your cards until they report. Then you charge on the cards and repeat the process. You do this, and you will see your scores gradually increase.

NOTE: Don't be afraid to start the process of getting pre-approved. We Loan Officers have newly improved credit analyzing tools that have saved my behind on multiple occasions. Your LO could run your credit through one of these tools and give you the road map and maybe refer to you to another credit building account or two so you can boost your scores another 25-35 points.

Best wishes to you!

[Anonymous]

---

@homeloanexpert wrote:

First, many lenders like myself can go down to 550 on FHA to 96.5% LTV and down to 500 on 90% LTV, so having  a 577 is not in itself a deal killer. That said, you need to strategically charge and pay down your revolving credit cards where they report every month under 10% utilization. Never $0 and NEVER over 30%. I tell all my clients trying to raise their scores, to pay at least 5 days before the statement cutoff date to ensure the bill comes out every month with a targeted remaining balance. My experience has led me determine that the sweet spot of utilization is 7%-8%. That seems to be the magic percentage. Once paid down, don't charge on your cards until they report. Then you charge on the cards and repeat the process. You do this, and you will see your scores gradually increase.

NOTE: Don't be afraid to start the process of getting pre-approved. We Loan Officers have newly improved credit analyzing tools that have saved my behind on multiple occasions. Your LO could run your credit through one of these tools and give you the road map and maybe refer to you to another credit building account or two so you can boost your scores another 25-35 points.

Best wishes to you!

---

What lenders go down that low?  I have never found one willing to do anything below 580?

[VALoanMaster]

---

---

What lenders go down that low?  I have never found one willing to do anything below 580?

---

For scores under 580, FHA requires a minimum down payment of 10%.