The availability of many loan programs and/or the interest rate within those programs may be determined by your credit scores which are based on a number of factors related to your credit history and consumer behavior. There are FIVE KEY FACTORS used by the credit bureaus to determine your credit score. 

1. Payment History (35% impact on overall score). Paying your debt on time and in full has a positive impact on your score. Late payments, charge-offs, judgments, and collections have a negative impact on your score. Missing a large payment has more of an impact than missing a small payment.  
2. Outstanding Credit Balances (30% impacts on overall score). The ratio marking the difference between your outstanding balance and your available credit is important. You should keep your balance below 10% of the available credit limit on your lines of credit.  
3. Credit History (15% impact on overall score). This marks the length of time a particular credit line or debt was established. A borrower who has adequate debt history is much stronger than one with limited history.  
4. Type of Credit (10% impact on overall score). A mix of credit types, auto loans, credit cards, retail accounts, and a mortgage is more positive than a concentration of credit card debt. You want to avoid excessive credit card debt.  
5. Inquiries (10% impact on overall score). The number of inquiries made on your credit history within a six-month period. Each inquiry can ‘cost’ you from 2 to 50 points, up to a maximum of 10 inquiries during any six month period.

There are hundreds of local and regional credit bureaus. Most of these organizations are either owned by or report to one of the three major credit reporting agencies, called repositories. Each of these three major repositories, Equifax, Transunion, and Experian, gives you the ability to order your personal credit bureau report directly from them.

CREDIT SCORES:

What’s a FICO ® Score? Commonly called FICO scores, there are actually different scores used by each of the three major repositories to measure your credit. They were all developed by FICO but modified for each company. Scores can vary between the repositories and most lenders will take the MIDDLE of the 3 scores. You may also have a BEACON and EMPIRICA score. It’s also possible that you have none, one or two of the three showing in your history.

For more information go to www.myfico.com

The chart below shows typical score ranges and what they represent to a credit provider.

720 + ........ Best rates and terms offered.

700 - 719.. Excellent score. You are a very good borrower but still not all loans offered.

680 - 699...Good credit. Most loan programs available.

660 - 679...OK credit.

640 - 659...Borderline credit.

620 - 639...Weak credit.

600 - 619...Difficult. Needs some work, or a special program

580 - 599...You could be in trouble. Need to fix your credit situation. Some programs down to 580 score. It would help if you had 3% to 5% saved for down payment.

560 - 579...Definely would need some where between 5% and 10% saved for down payment.

Use the link below for a summary of your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

    www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/fcra/summary.htm

FTC’s final rule on Free Annual Credit Reports, states that a centralized source must be established by the three national consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) for accepting consumer requests for free credit reports. The final rule provides for a structured roll-out of a centralized source, starting from the west (states) beginning December 1, 2004 and completed by September 1, 2005. Please read the details on this FTC link.

            http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/06/freeannual.htm

To help you better understand the credit approval process and your rights as a consumer, we have provided the following information resources. No  representations or recommendations are made by providing these links...

www.equifax.com

www.transunion.com
 www.experian.com

It is almost impossible for lenders to quote an accurate interest rate without knowing your scores.  Please watch out for misleading newspaper and internet ads posting rates without knowing your situation.  Would a doctor operate on you with out first doing an Xray, CatScan or MRI?