Getting a VA Loan with Bad Credit

One of the more frequent questions we get is can someone get a Veteran Affairs home loan with bad credit.  Although the VA guidelines do not have a minimum score, the reality these days is the lenders who issue the loans do have minimum score criteria.  There are a few that will go as low as 580, some to 600 and many set the bar at a 620 FICO score.  The guidelines also require lenders to review your recent credit history over the past 12 months; so if there are some items on your credit that don’t belong there you’ll want to get them removed. Here is what you can do if your score needs improving:

1)      Use a trustworthy credit repair service:

Just a 5-10 point improvement in your score can make the difference for a loan approval or a lower rate.  There are many unreputable credit repair companies that don’t really do much to help improve your score.  Make sure you do your research to find a good reputable credit repair company.

2) Know and Protect Your Credit Score

In order to get pre-qualified for a VA Loan a credit report will be required.  Experian offers a free credit report and monitoring services. We highly recommend credit monitoring, it’s like an alarm system for your credit!  For a low monthly fee any, any inquiry or significant change to your credit will be detected and you’ll be alerted immediately. Go to annualcreditreport.com to obtain your free credit report.