Bad Credit Borrowers And Their Mortgage Options

Summary

People with bad credit can still get all different kinds of loans. There are many mortgage lenders who work with people who have challenging credit situations.

There are even mortgage lenders that specialize in lending to people with bad credit.

Do not be discouraged if a lender has declined your application. There are hundreds of mortgage lenders in the United States, and many of them may have loan programs that fit you.

Basics

There are all types of loans available for people with bad credit. Lenders will initially look at:

• Employment
• Income
• Assets
• Some kind of credit

Employment

Employment is a critical part of the mortgage application.

Being employed continuously for the past two years is helpful. Lenders most often focus on just the past two years of your employment.
 

Income

Being able to properly document your income helps with loan approvals. This is not a requirement.

Assets

If you can document your assets you should.

Credit

If you have some small items on your credit report that are collections you may want to pay them off to improve your credit.

Available Loans for Bad Credit Borrowers

There are lots of loans available for people with bad credit, including:

• 30 year fixed
• 50 year loans
• Interest only loans
• Minimum payment loans

Refinancing

One of the most critical items that may help you is equity in your property. If you have lots of equity it will be much easier for you to get the loan you are looking for even if you have bad credit.

Some lenders do not require a minimum credit score for some loan programs if a borrower has enough equity in their property.

Debt Consolidations

Lenders will often allow you to refinance and pay off your debts with the proceeds. They know this will help raise your credit rating and improve your monthly cash flow.

Many lenders require that debts be paid off directly to your creditors to make sure the debts are paid off. A lender may decide to pay off your car loans, credit cards, student loans, or other debt. Make sure you know these in advance, or you may end up being surprised at the debts you have to pay off.

Many lenders will also require that bad debts and collections be paid off. For a variety of reasons some borrowers do not want to pay these off. There are specialized lenders that do not require all of these to be paid off, or they cap the payments so you get to keep more of your cash during a refinance and not send it off to pay old debts.