Too Many New Credit Cards, Your Credit Score, and Mortgages

Summary

Mortgage lenders look at your credit closely in deciding whether to approve your mortgage, what type of mortgage loan you are eligible for, and the amount of the mortgage.

One loan factor they may consider is if you open too many new credit cards or other lines of credit.

If you have too many new credit lines just prior to applying for a mortgage you may be rejected.

Basics

Your credit report will list your creditors by:

• when the credit line was opened
• the maximum available balance
• the current balance on the credit line

Your credit line lines on a credit report are any extension of credit that has been made to you, such as a credit card, department store card, car loan, or student loans among other creditors.

When The Credit Line Was Opened

This is the month and year the new line of credit was extended.

Even if you applied for a credit card only recently it is quite likely to show up on your credit report. Creditors often report data to credit bureaus quite quickly, and that is how your credit report remains up to date. Don't count on a new line of credit not showing up on a credit report. It may not show up, but it often will.

Maximum Available Balance

Your credit report will state what the maximum available balance is for each credit line. If you add five credit cards and each of them has a maximum available balance of $10,000 then you have just increased your available credit by $50,000.

From a mortgage lender's perspective additional available credit represents a potential risk to them. If you take on too much additional debt you may not be able to pay your mortgage properly.

Current Balance On Credit Line

Your credit report will list your current balances on each credit line. It is usually up to date. If you have a lot of new credit and have started to use it, your credit card balances may show up on the new credit report.

Also, although items may not show up on the credit report that you obtain the mortgage lender will run their own version of your credit report. Since they will check the credit report after you have they will have the latest information.