Composite Credit Report Score Simplifies Mortgage Issues

Do you want a mortgage loan for your new home' Trying to qualify for a new mortgage can be very tough, especially if you aren't aware of the effect your credit report score has on your ability to get approved for loans. One of the first things a lender looks at to determine your suitability for a mortgage loan is your credit report, or FICO score.

This is a composite score that gives a quick glance at your overall responsibility rating when it comes to finances. It has to do with how well you maintain repayment plans, how well you keep the ratios of your overall debt to income, your stability in employment, and many other things. Basically, the better your credit report score, the more likely you are to qualify for the loan you want.

Of course, there are many things that a lender considers before reaching the decision about your suitability for a mortgage loan. Employment stability is one. Lenders know that people who stay in the same field of work will more likely stay employed, and therefore will be more likely to repay their obligations. So, even if you have changed jobs recently, if you have kept a progression of advancing within the same field, or have simply changed employers but kept the same basic job with each, your ability to be approved for a mortgage loan should not be hindered much, unless there are negative reasons for your changing jobs.

As a matter of fact, now that automated credit report scoring has come into the lending business, less discretion gets used in determining who qualifies for what credit rate. This is supposed to ensure more objectivity in the loan approval process. For this purpose, the automated credit report score is used to give lenders the ability to boil the entire process down to review of only your overall score.

Unfortunately, this can close out some borrowers from getting loans of the amount, or interest rate they would like. Its even possible that a prospective borrower with enough income could actually be denied a loan he could afford due to a low standardized credit report score. For this reason, its imperative that prospective borrowers be diligent about improving their credit report scores and paying their bills on time. In this way the problem of disputing a low credit report score is alleviated.

Since there are five key factors that go into the composite credit report score, knowing what they are can help consumers to take control of their financial destiny by making them able enough to change things in their favor.

The very first thing that affects your overall credit report score is how well you repay your debts. Even a person with low income who carefully ensures that all his debts are repaid on time will be able to maintain a high credit report score. And timing is everything. A recent late payment is worse than several late payments some years ago.

Next, collection accounts and public histories are important to your credit report score. This means accounts that go into collection, foreclosure, and bankruptcies are harmful to your score. Ensuring these don't show up on your credit report goes a long way towards improving your credit report score. And therefore, the accuracy of your credit report becomes more important than ever. Consumers need to check their credit reports at least yearly and make sure the information therein is accurate.

Credit report scores below 620 will require remedial work to bring up to an acceptable level. This may take extended amount of time, perhaps years. But its worth it. You must build a positive credit history that shows extended time of handling your finances in a responsible way in order to bury old negative information.

About the Author: James is a regular finance columnist with RNCOS ( http://www.rncos.com)