Can my lender use the credit report or scores I bought myself?
Why the lender orders its own
Fannie Mae’s rule for the loans it buys is plain: “The lender must obtain a credit report for each borrower on the loan application who has an individual credit record.” The lender is responsible for the report it approves and prices your loan on, so it orders that report itself, through a credit reporting agency, with your permission. The lender receives the entire report.
A report you order for yourself is a different document. The bureaus give it to you so you can see and check your own file. It is not the merged mortgage report a lender’s underwriting system reads, and the lender cannot submit it.
What you bought is still useful
- It shows your accounts. Balances, limits, payment history and anything you do not recognize. That is most of what you need to prepare.
- It lets you find errors early. If something is wrong, you can dispute it yourself, free, with the bureau that reports it. Starting months before you apply gives the bureau time to finish.
- It shows which way you are moving. A score that rose on your copy has probably risen on the lender’s models too. The numbers will not match.
What you can buy and what your lender has to order
myFICO sells the score versions mortgage lenders use, so the scores themselves are not hidden. What only your lender can produce is a report it can use for your loan.
You can start that order yourself. Some loan officers let a buyer begin a credit check online, and the price is shown before anything is ordered. The check is ordered inside that lender’s workflow. The lender receives the report and can act on it. You receive the score disclosure: every score the lender used, under the model named, with the key factors behind each.
Which checks a loan officer offers is the lender’s choice. The options are a one-bureau soft check that returns a VantageScore only, the lowest-cost start; a three-bureau soft check with both Classic FICO and VantageScore 4.0; and a hard report. Your lender can add bureaus to the file you started; a full hard report is still pulled close to closing.
Before you buy anything
Your reports are free from all three bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com. The law guarantees you at least one free copy from each nationwide bureau every 12 months. Read those first. Pay for a score only if you want to track it over time, and expect your lender’s numbers to be the ones that count.
Questions people ask
I already paid for my scores. Why can't my lender just look at them?
The lender is responsible for the report it approves and prices your loan on, and the rules require it to order that report itself. Your copy still shows you where you stand.
Can I get my mortgage credit score for free?
Not the exact score your lender will use, because that score comes from the report your lender orders. Your credit reports themselves are free from all three bureaus.
Will the lender's scores match the ones I bought?
The accounts behind them should be close if both were pulled around the same time. The scores often differ, because the model, the bureaus and the date can all differ.
Notes and sources
- BestQualify: Who's behind your mortgage? (who orders the mortgage credit report and who receives it)
- Credit Technologies: How tri-merge reports work, merge logic and the middle score
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-5.2-01, Requirements for Credit Reports ("The lender must obtain a credit report for each borrower")
- Fair Credit Reporting Act section 604, 15 U.S.C. 1681b (permissible purposes of consumer reports)
- Fair Credit Reporting Act section 609(g), 15 U.S.C. 1681g (the score disclosure a mortgage lender gives you)
- Fair Credit Reporting Act section 612, 15 U.S.C. 1681j (free disclosures from the nationwide bureaus)
- CFPB: How do I get a free copy of my credit reports?
- AnnualCreditReport.com: free copies of your credit reports
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