So when I started to take charge of my credit almost a decade ago (to rule it and not let it rule me) I never took into consideration anything to do with a mortgage. At the time I had just moved from my childhood home and became a renter and never thought I would buy a house.
Fast forward to now. Due to issues with my landlord, and no rental properties taking animals, I am in the process of buying a home. My loan officer mistakenly pulls my TU credit last year, I forget how he explained it, but said he would make good and do what is necessary to have it removed (so far he hasn't, but that is another story.) Because of that mistake, I locked my TU report, and told him about my displeasure. So since then I finally found a home. Going thru the motions on what needs to be done, I see yesterday another pull attempt on my TU, but I got the notice it was blocked. Because of being busy and could not call at the time, I text my loan officer. Of course it's met with "Call me".
Next thing I know, my EQ and EX are pulled as well! **bleep**?! I finally get him on the phone, and he said:
- This is necessary for the loan process
- Even though TU was blocked, I would need to unfreeze that as well to get a "refresh".
Question : do all 3 CBs need to be pulled to obtain a mortgage?
He also explained it yesterday (why he didn't say this previously knowing I am anal about my credit I don't know) that when looking for a mortgage, multiple pulls of credit reports are OK because in a given amount of time (45-days?) they only count as one.
Question : is this correct? If it is correct, does that mean 1 per credit bureau, or one in general? I would have to think its 1 per credit bureau. I cannot see how multiple pulls of different CBs count as one. Which one? Who knows. 
Another thing : He seems to want to pull from the report that is showing the lowest. I guess I can understand the logic behind that. But here's the kicker. MyFico has my EQ as 800 (always fluctuates between 800 & 803) yet he shows me its 747? How can that be? I said you must not be using Fico 8, he indicated he is.
Question : How can MyFico show my EQ Fico 8 as being 800, yet he has it @ 747? Doesn't make sense.
Going with a 747 instead of an 800 - how much will that affect my getting a good mortgage rate? He says (which I question) that after 740 score, its pretty much the same. Yeah? I work hard to get my EQ score to 800 and a 747 is the same as an 800, I find that hard to believe.
Anyways, rant over. 
I hope those more experienced than me when it comes to mortgages can shed some light on my situation.
@Wavester64 wrote:So when I started to take charge of my credit almost a decade ago (to rule it and not let it rule me) I never took into consideration anything to do with a mortgage. At the time I had just moved from my childhood home and became a renter and never thought I would buy a house.
Fast forward to now. Due to issues with my landlord, and no rental properties taking animals, I am in the process of buying a home. My loan officer mistakenly pulls my TU credit last year, I forget how he explained it, but said he would make good and do what is necessary to have it removed (so far he hasn't, but that is another story.) Because of that mistake, I locked my TU report, and told him about my displeasure. So since then I finally found a home. Going thru the motions on what needs to be done, I see yesterday another pull attempt on my TU, but I got the notice it was blocked. Because of being busy and could not call at the time, I text my loan officer. Of course it's met with "Call me".
Next thing I know, my EQ and EX are pulled as well! **bleep**?! I finally get him on the phone, and he said:
- This is necessary for the loan process
- Even though TU was blocked, I would need to unfreeze that as well to get a "refresh".
Question : do all 3 CBs need to be pulled to obtain a mortgage?
yes
He also explained it yesterday (why he didn't say this previously knowing I am anal about my credit I don't know) that when looking for a mortgage, multiple pulls of credit reports are OK because in a given amount of time (45-days?) they only count as one.
Question : is this correct? If it is correct, does that mean 1 per credit bureau, or one in general? I would have to think its 1 per credit bureau. I cannot see how multiple pulls of different CBs count as one. Which one? Who knows.
yes
so the inquires remain on the report, but the FICO score impact only counts as one for each score
so, for any given report you can have as many mortgage inquires in a 45? day period and only take one score hit, what happens across reports is irrelevant, this is just a per report basis kinda thing
Another thing : He seems to want to pull from the report that is showing the lowest. I guess I can understand the logic behind that. But here's the kicker. MyFico has my EQ as 800 (always fluctuates between 800 & 803) yet he shows me its 747? How can that be? I said you must not be using Fico 8, he indicated he is.
Question : How can MyFico show my EQ Fico 8 as being 800, yet he has it @ 747? Doesn't make sense.
mortgage scores, fico 5, 4, 2 are rough and scores are typically much lower and not nearly as generous as fico 8/9, they're worse than even fico 10
this is why AZEO is important for mortgage scores, all $0 balances but one balance of a few dollars is where I would be at for the highest possible mortgage scores
Going with a 747 instead of an 800 - how much will that affect my getting a good mortgage rate? He says (which I question) that after 740 score, its pretty much the same. Yeah? I work hard to get my EQ score to 800 and a 747 is the same as an 800, I find that hard to believe.
Anyways, rant over.
@GZG wrote:
@Wavester64 wrote:So when I started to take charge of my credit almost a decade ago (to rule it and not let it rule me) I never took into consideration anything to do with a mortgage. At the time I had just moved from my childhood home and became a renter and never thought I would buy a house.
Fast forward to now. Due to issues with my landlord, and no rental properties taking animals, I am in the process of buying a home. My loan officer mistakenly pulls my TU credit last year, I forget how he explained it, but said he would make good and do what is necessary to have it removed (so far he hasn't, but that is another story.) Because of that mistake, I locked my TU report, and told him about my displeasure. So since then I finally found a home. Going thru the motions on what needs to be done, I see yesterday another pull attempt on my TU, but I got the notice it was blocked. Because of being busy and could not call at the time, I text my loan officer. Of course it's met with "Call me".
Next thing I know, my EQ and EX are pulled as well! **bleep**?! I finally get him on the phone, and he said:
- This is necessary for the loan process
- Even though TU was blocked, I would need to unfreeze that as well to get a "refresh".
Question : do all 3 CBs need to be pulled to obtain a mortgage?
yes
He also explained it yesterday (why he didn't say this previously knowing I am anal about my credit I don't know) that when looking for a mortgage, multiple pulls of credit reports are OK because in a given amount of time (45-days?) they only count as one.
Question : is this correct? If it is correct, does that mean 1 per credit bureau, or one in general? I would have to think its 1 per credit bureau. I cannot see how multiple pulls of different CBs count as one. Which one? Who knows.
yes
so the inquires remain on the report, but the FICO score impact only counts as one for each score
so, for any given report you can have as many mortgage inquires in a 45? day period and only take one score hit, what happens across reports is irrelevant, this is just a per report basis kinda thing
Another thing : He seems to want to pull from the report that is showing the lowest. I guess I can understand the logic behind that. But here's the kicker. MyFico has my EQ as 800 (always fluctuates between 800 & 803) yet he shows me its 747? How can that be? I said you must not be using Fico 8, he indicated he is.
Question : How can MyFico show my EQ Fico 8 as being 800, yet he has it @ 747? Doesn't make sense.
mortgage scores, fico 5, 4, 2 are rough and scores are typically much lower and not nearly as generous as fico 8/9, they're worse than even fico 10
this is why AZEO is important for mortgage scores, all $0 balances but one balance of a few dollars is where I would be at for the highest possible mortgage scores
Going with a 747 instead of an 800 - how much will that affect my getting a good mortgage rate? He says (which I question) that after 740 score, its pretty much the same. Yeah? I work hard to get my EQ score to 800 and a 747 is the same as an 800, I find that hard to believe.
Anyways, rant over.
Perfectly stated and explained 👍
@ShanetheMortgageMan wrote:780 scores get the top tier mortgage rates if going with conventional financing, but the difference between a 740 and 780 isn't very significant. The difference is the greatest if putting between 10% and 24.99% down, and there is no difference if putting at least 40% down.
It's a little concerning the loan officer is pulling credit without your authorization though. Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) – 15 U.S.C. § 1681b states that a business or individual must have a "permissible purpose" to access a consumer’s credit report. Mortgage lending is a permissible purpose, but we must first obtain the consumer’s written authorization before pulling their credit. Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) and Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) also emphasize the importance of obtaining consent before accessing a consumer’s sensitive financial data or taking actions that affect their credit.
It was required anyway, but ultimately it would've been nice to get advance notice of your credit being checked.
Thanks @ShanetheMortgageMan In my scenario, I am putting down 20%.
You're welcome. So if your score is 740-759 then with 20% down and a loan term longer than 15 years, you'd have to pay .500 discount points to get the same rate that someone with a 780+ score wouldn't have to pay any discount points for. 1 discount point = 1% of your loan amount. See the Fannie Mae chart below.
Were you told what all 3 of your mortgage scores were? It sounds like so far the mortgage loan officer only checked 2 of them since your TU report was frozen.
@ShanetheMortgageMan wrote:You're welcome. So if your score is 740-759 then with 20% down and a loan term longer than 15 years, you'd have to pay .500 discount points to get the same rate that someone with a 780+ score wouldn't have to pay any discount points for. 1 discount point = 1% of your loan amount. See the Fannie Mae chart below.
Were you told what all 3 of your mortgage scores were? It sounds like so far the mortgage loan officer only checked 2 of them since your TU report was frozen.
I had to un-freeze TU at his request - here were the scores :
Experian: 759
Equifax: 747
Trans: 746