If you have been listening to the Ramsey Show for some time, you most likely heard Dave and the Personalities talk about getting a home loan on a 0 credit score through Churchill Mortgage. This probably sounds appealing if you are living #theramseyway, as chances are your score is low to zero.
Sadly, you may have come to an impasse with Churchill making a decision based on your FICO score. This is not a bait-and-switch tactic, though we completely understand how it could feel that way. Churchill operates under the same rules and regulations as other mortgage lenders in the US so often times their practices are similar.
The difference is that Churchill mortgage is skilled and willing to provide you the opportunity for a loan using the manual underwriting process. You simply have to request a No Score Loan. You must request this as the process is time consuming and overall more difficult for lenders to complete. It is easiest for loan officers to simply check your FICO score and move onto the next step.
The end goal of using manual underwriting versus a FICO score is the same. The lender needs to determine the risk they incur by loaning you money (i.e how likely are you to make on-time payments). In the end, both use payment history to determine the likelihood that you will pay them back in full. A home loan using a FICO score uses debt payment history while a No Score Loan uses what they call trade line payment history. Think phone bill, utilities, insurance payments, etc! Your loan officer will simply need to see your payment history using several bills over a specified amount of time (typically, at least one year).
Something to keep in mind is that while manual underwriting can feel like the loan officer has more freedom in setting your loan amount, they still must adhere to the rules their regulatory agency sets. If you at any time have questions about your loan amount (or how to be pre-approved for more), please direct those questions to your loan officer. They are more than happy to help point you in the right direction!
If you have any additional questions, our Customer Success team is always here to help! You can reach us by completing this request form.