Would we be approved for home equity loan?

[Anonymous]

Partner and I are thinking of applying for a home equity loan for debt consolidation (NOT Heloc) but we wanted to have an idea if we have a chance of approval. The house has enough equity but the issue is credit score. We need to apply jointly to meet DTI requirements which would put us at 39%. With the HEL the DTI would go down to 32% being that the HEL monthly payment would be about half the amount our current monthly debt payment which we are planning on paying it off with the Home equity loan.

Partner's FICO scores are between 720 - 760, however, mine's are all in the low 600's with several lates (60 days) in the past 8 months. All of which have been fully paid two months ago and the CR's have also been duly updated by the bureaus. I don't think my scores are going to get any better in the near future as these lates just need time to age.

The idea is to have my partner apply and I co-sign. Partner has the good score and higher income. My score is low but with my income (only slightly lower than partner's) we can keep our DTI low enough. 

Anyone here who went through something similar our any finance person or mortgage broker here can share their experience or she a light?

Thank you.

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

Home equity loans are becoming more flexible, but not sure who is doing them with scores in the low 600's.  I know PNC Bank goes to lower scores on their home equity program, they could be an option if there is a branch in your state (what they told me was a requirement to be eligible for a home equity loan).  Late payments could be the dealkiller anyway though, as from my old Chase & Wells Fargo HEL guidelines, usually just 1 or 2 30-day lates are allowed in the last 12 months.. those are old (from a decade ago), but I figure banks guidelines aren't too different on payment history these days.