If I provide my own credit reports and score, do I still have to pay a mortgage lender the credit report fee?

Question

Do they still have to obtain their own copy of my credit report?
This is for a home mortgage loan; first time buyer.

Answer 1

Yep. They will run their own, probably twice. It should not cost very much, they pay a yearly fee to run them.

Answer 2

The answer is complicated. You really need to work on the credit score by getting your bill in order. That is something to do even if you were not trying to buy a house. Having a larger down payment will reduce the lender's concern about the score. Once you get to 30% down many lenders will go pretty low. It sounds like some of the items on the credit report could be removed after you prove that you were not at fault. You can negotiate with people you owe to pay off less than the full amount. You can also negotiate to have negative credit items removed if you pay off the bill. They can pull the item if they are the original lender that put the item on the credit report. Old medical debt was likely sold one or more times so you might not be dealing with the original lender. You can consider creative financing techniques for properties that you will fix up quickly and sell. Hard money is one option. A lease/option is another way. Borrowing for repairs is difficult as many lenders will only lend up to the value or the sale price, what ever is lower. If you had other assets and a better credit score they become more flexible. Maybe the best plan is to not buy a home but buy property that you will fix and sell so that you get lump sums of money. Then use the cash to deal with the debt and build up a bigger down payment for a home. Consider partnering with someone who can fund a project where you supply the labor and manage the project. Or just flip a few deals where you never go on title as the owner so therefore do not need to obtain financing. Check the website noted as there are articles and success stories from others who were in similar situations.

Answer 3

Often lenders require the search for their own records, providing your own report from each of the credit agencies may work for a temporary solution but its up to each individual lender to determine if that is sufficient.

Answer 4

I get credit reports on people who want to rent property from me.

I get my own reports because occasionally they are different from a report a potential renter might have. I would expect the same would be true for a lender.

However, I do I think that it is a good idea to get your own reports because that does count as an inquiry against you.

If a lender or as in my case, a landlord requests a copy of your credit report, that counts as an inquiry and reduces your credit score.

Often people who want to rent from me will have pulled their own credit reports and they will show me a copy. If we agree and they decide to rent a property from me, then I pull my own report This way they only have one inquiry instead of many inquiries on their report.

Once you have decided who you are going to have your transaction with, then let them obtain a copy of your credit report. That way it only counts as one inquiry on your credit report instead of many inquiries.

Also, do not let them overcharge you for pulling a credit report. It costs me less than $20 total to pull credit reorts from all three bureaus. It should not cost them any more than that amount to pull your credit report.

If they try to charge you much more than that to check your credit, you are probably dealing with a bunch of crooks and I would take my business elsewhere.

Also, I would start by contacting your credit union if you are a member of one or the bank where you have your checking and savings accounts. They will be the most accurate and least cost source of information.

My experience with mortgage brokers, especially the on line Mortgage Brokers has not been good. The experience that I have had with them is that they are bait and switch artists, probably because they can make very large commissions if they bait and switch you.

Answer 5

You could do some legwork yourself, provide your own credit reports, credit scores, house appraisal, etc. - and the lender will still do all that again for themselves.

Lenders want to obtain all the information from their sources, their way.

Answer 6

They most probably will not accept your copies. For record keeping, they are going to want evidence that THEY themselves procured the credit reports.

Answer 7

In most cases yes. They need to see the most recent report with their own eyes.

Answer 8

Don't bother - they will want to obtain it through their sources.