Mortgage Credit Reports
When refinancing your current mortgage or applying for a new mortgage, getting your credit report is easy. The cost of obtaining a tri-merge credit report is about thirty five dollars.
A tri-merge credit report is a combination of reports from all three credit bureaus. When applying for a mortgage, a single credit report is not sufficient, a tri-merge credit report is required. Mortgage lenders evaluate the three credit scores and use the score which ranks in the middle as your final credit score.
Each time your credit is checked a record is added to your credit report. If there are too many checks on your credit in a short period of time your score may be negatively impacted. At a minimum, the credit checks will be displayed to all subsequent creditors, who may be more cautious if they see too many credit checks.
Credit scores range from about 375 to 900. A score of 700 or above is normally required for the lowest interest rates available. 620-699 for average interest rates. And 500-619 for B&C loan programs.
Your credit score alone does not determine whether you get a loan. Lenders use a number of facts to make credit decisions, including your FICO score and also look at information such as the amount of debt that you can reasonably handle given your income, employments and debt history. Accordingly, if you have good assets and income levels, you may still be able to qualify even with a lower score.
Poor credit scores can be improved. A credit score is a "snapshot" of your percieved risk at a particular point in time as information from creditors is added to your credit bureau files. Scores change as past credit problems impact your score less, based on the number of recent credit inquiries against your file, the balances on your credit card accounts and other factors.
Credit Reporting Companies
Equifax Credit Information Services, Inc
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374
Phone: 800-685-1111
Internet: www.econsumer.equifax.com
Experian
955 American Lane
Schaumburg, IL 60173
Phone: 888 397 3742
Internet: www.experian.com
TransUnion
Post Office Box 2000
Chester, PA 19022
Phone: 800-888-4213
Internet: www.transunion.com
