Did you know roughly 26 million American adults have no credit history? That’s a lot of people! Studies from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) found that, in addition to those 26 million “credit invisible” people, there are 19 million...
Can I Still Get a Mortgage with No Credit?
In short, if you are otherwise qualified, yes! What do we mean by “otherwise qualified”? Read on to learn more.
Waterstone Mortgage offers a Non-Traditional Credit Program, which allows you to qualify for a mortgage based on other indicators of payment history, which we’ll call “payment references.”* These can include:
- Cell phone bill
- TV/cable or internet bill
- Rent history
- Utilities that are not included in your rent payment, such as gas, electric, or water
- Insurance premiums that are not payroll-deducted (may include medical, auto, life, or renters insurance)
- Childcare provider payments
- School tuition
- And more!
While, of course, a credit score is useful for determining a homebuyer’s ability to pay back their mortgage loan, the above indicators can be extremely helpful in telling your story – which is great news if you’re one to typically pay in cash or haven’t utilized a line of credit in a while. If you pay your bills in full and on time, your history will speak for itself, and we may be able to qualify you for a mortgage with that evidence.
How Do I Know if I Qualify?
Our Non-Traditional Credit Program is available with a variety of loan types: conventional, FHA, USDA, and VA. We can help you figure out which loan type is best for your situation.
Also, keep in mind:
- The Non-Traditional Credit Program is not meant for homebuyers with poor credit; if your credit is less-than-perfect, we have other loan options for you to consider.
- All borrowers (people listed on the loan) must have no credit history to qualify for this program; if one borrower has no credit history and the other does, we can help you find another loan option.
- One of your payment references MUST be a rental housing payment; if you do not have documented proof of current rent payments, you cannot qualify for this program. (So, for example, paying cash for your rent is a no-go.)
- Payment references must span the past 12 months (and each must be paid at least every three months).
*Payment references should have a minimum of 12 months. This program is not intended to overcome bad or delinquent credit history
This article is presented to you by Waterstone Mortgage. Please click here to read the full article.
