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Ken Lam Realty · Tools

Which score does the lender use?

Lenders pull 3 scores per person, not one. Enter each person's scores to see the one that actually sets your price.

Borrower 1 Equifax · Experian · TransUnion

Borrower 2 leave one blank if only 2 scores

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Score the lender prices your loan on
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Borrower 1 middle score —
Borrower 2 middle score —
Representative score (pricing, FHA) lowest borrower—
Average median score only for Fannie Mae manual underwriting—
Rule: each person's middle of 3 scores (or the lower of 2). With 2 borrowers, Fannie Mae and FHA use the lowest borrower's score. Fannie Mae's average median score is now used only for manual underwriting (620 fixed / 640 ARM); DU no longer has a minimum. A lender may pick Classic FICO or VantageScore 4.0, but one model for everyone on the loan.

Common myth: "The lender uses the higher score, or our average." No. For pricing, the lender takes each person's middle score, then uses the lower of the two. A strong co-borrower doesn't pull the weaker score up.

Next steps

  1. Take the score shown above to T235 to see which loans fit, and to T37 to see the monthly cost.
  2. Lower borrower close to a tier? Pay down that person's cards first with T232.
  3. One bureau much lower than the others? Pull that report and check for errors; dispute with T234.
  4. Before dropping someone from the loan, ask the lender to run it both ways: price and DTI.
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