Jim and Nancy Russo were excited to finally be at a point where they were ready to buy a home for their growing family. With two little girls running around and another on the way, they knew it was time to settle into a home of their own. So Amy set to work window-shopping on Trulia and Zillow, while Jim looked for a realtor who could assist them in finding their dream home.
After speaking with an agent through their local Real Estate Agency, they learned that before they could really start shopping it was important to find out how much of a mortgage they could afford / qualify for.
Mr. and Mrs. Russo had been saving up for many years and had accumulated a significant down payment, they have always been diligent about paying all of their bills on time, and are very financially organized. So getting approved for a mortgage was the least of their concerns.
Their real estate agent referred them to a lender who evaluated their financial situation and pulled their credit to provide them with a pre-approval letter and feedback on what size loan they would qualify for and the pricing associated with it.
From that meeting they learned that Jim’s FICO middle score was a 680 and Nancy’s was a 700; this was when their exciting house hunt turned stressful. They checked their credit monthly through their Capital One credit card and knew that both of their scores were well above a 720, how could this be possible?
What they did not know is that the “free” credit scores provided by credit card companies are not the same FICO score used by mortgage lenders when evaluating the risk level of a potential borrower, it’s an entirely different score that is usually higher. When applying for a mortgage, loan officers look at the middle FICO mortgage lending score, their Capital One card was giving them their FICO credit card score.
Their loan officer informed them that they did not qualify for the type of loan they needed. They proceeded to shop around but found that the only loans they qualified for were priced way too high. The original banker suggested they call a credit restoration firm and offered them our information since he and his team had great success with clients they sent to us in the past.
They spoke with a FICO Certified Credit Expert at North Shore Advisory, Inc. and after reviewing their credit reports we found that Nancy and Jim both had accounts that needed work. After discussing the details of each delinquency, NSA’s expert credit team developed a strategy and estimated that the work would take roughly “3” months to complete.
The Russo’s were in a big hurry to find a home since the current lease on their rental home was up in about 4 months which made the timing tight. NSA was hired and went to work to help the Russo Family get into a home as soon as possible. We wound up getting it done in 70 days and the Russo’s were able to purchase an affordable home that fit the needs of their growing family.
“Dear Tracy and Team,…With the help of you and your team, you repaired credit reporting errors that we thought were unfix-able. It is with great thanks and appreciation that we are now able to move our children into their first official home to start this holiday season. We couldn’t be more grateful…”
– Mr. & Mrs. Russo