(MCT)—Whether you plan to buy a home in six months or a year or two, you’ve probably been told to request your free credit report to check for errors and to see what a lender can learn about you from the report.
“We usually tell people to request one of their three free credit reports from either Experian, Equifax or TransUnion every four months from AnnualCreditReport.com, but when you’re getting ready to apply for a home loan, we suggest that you get all three at once,” says Susan Tiffany, director of personal finance for adults for the Credit Union National Association in Madison, Wis. “All three credit bureaus have different reporting patterns and each could have a different error that you might need to fix.”
Here are six tips for understanding your credit report — and how to correct errors — when you’re preparing to buy a home.
READ YOUR CREDIT REPORT LIKE A LENDER
“When lenders read your credit report, they’ll be looking for issues such as a problem making your mortgage payments on time, a high level of debt and the maturity of your credit,” says Jeffrey Taylor, managing partner of Digital Risk, a provider of mortgage processing services and risk analytics in Maitland, Fla. “If you have a four- or five-year history with a major credit card, that’s better than six months with a local store credit card.”
A pattern of late payments, especially recently, is one of the worst things to have on your credit report, says Patrick Cunningham, vice president and partner of HST Mortgage in Fairfax, Va.
“Recent late payments are even worse than an old judgment or lien that shows up as satisfied on your report,” says Cunningham. “The other thing that will stop a loan in its tracks is a tax lien or judgment that hasn’t been satisfied.”
Keeping in mind what lenders are looking for, you should work your way through your credit report to check for accuracy and negative information.
CHECK YOUR ID
The first section on your credit report will have your name, address and previous addresses, but before you skim past this, check these for accuracy. Cunningham says even people with good credit need to make sure that the basic information on all three credit reports is accurate because an inaccuracy will need to be corrected and can cause a delay when you’re getting ready to settle on your home.
REVIEW YOUR PUBLIC RECORDS
The public records section of your credit report shows any liens, judgments, bankruptcies or foreclosures that have been reported by a court system. If this section is empty, it means you don’t have any of these items on your credit report. If you do have one or more of these items, check carefully to see if they’re yours and if they show as satisfied or settled. Anything unresolved will prevent you from getting a home loan, says Cunningham.
“I had a collection show up on my credit report that wasn’t mine,” Taylor says. “You can make calls directly to the creditor and try to get them to send corrected information to the credit bureaus, but I ended up hiring someone to get my report corrected.”
Any negative information such as a settled lien, judgment or bankruptcy will stay on your report for seven to 10 years, Tiffany says.
LOOK FOR DELINQUENCIES
“Every payment you make is very important, so make sure your credit report shows that you’ve made each one on time,” Taylor says. “Consistency is key when you’re applying for a loan.”
One or two late payments from several years ago isn’t likely to stop you from getting a loan, but you need to have at least 12 months of on-time payments, particularly on a mortgage, to qualify for a loan, Cunningham says.
