Ritchie School of Real Estate Finance - Arizona Mortgage Education: FICO score

Showing posts with label FICO score. Show all posts

Monday, November 26, 2012

Story From the Vault: Surprise Medical Collection

The majority of collections I see on credit reports stem from medical debts. The collection industry has published reports showing medical collections account for roughly 40% of all collections. The problem with debts related to medical services is that the billing is sometimes lackluster, making some of the collections inaccurate, and thereby decreasing credit scores in error. One of my clients applied for a mortgage to finance the purchase of a vacation home, she told me that her credit was good, her score was typically in the high 700 range around 780, but sometimes reached 800.

When I pulled her credit I discovered she had a 705 FICO score, which is not a bad score at all, but cream of the crop is 740 and up. If someone has a 740 FICO score they will always get the best interest rate as it pertains to credit. A 705 may or may not get the best available rate, it varies by the specifics of the scenario.

She had a 705 for one reason, there was a collection on her credit report for $381 from a medical provider. I gave her a copy of her credit report and told her about the collection, she was furious because she said it should not be on her report. Where do we go from here?

First off, the collection is not going to prevent her from getting approved for the mortgage, so we are safe there. However, will she get the best terms possible? The answer would be no if the best terms for her scenario require a 740, but even then, the terms for a 705 FICO score will still be good, just not necessarily the best. Imagine it this way, I have two pizzas, one came from the freezer aisle at the grocery store, the other was made fresh at a low-end pizzeria. I am going to say they are both good because they are pizza, but I will say the fresh made pizzeria pizza (740 FICO) is better than frozen pizza (705 FICO). It could be worse, it could be school cafeteria pizza, which I am going to compare to a 660 FICO, still pizza, just not great pizza. A FICO score under 620 is just a dry cracker with tomato paste on it, not even close to being pizza.

Now that I have you hungry for pizza, let's move on. She is mad and confused, why would this be on her credit report?

She had only experienced a single medical issue recently, an injury on the job that sent her to the hospital. Keep in mind that collections can come from years ago and appear out of the blue, I have another story for that at another time. She called her employer to inquire about whether the bill had been paid, and confirmed that it had. Next she contacted the medical facility that had placed her account in collection to see why they had sent a paid account to collection. They acknowledged that the account had been paid, and that it should not have been sent to collection, and they promised to remove the collection within 30 days from the three credit bureaus.

In the meantime she is trying to close on a vacation home in less than 30 days, and her FICO score is at least 75 points lower as a result of the error made by the hospital. My recommendation to avoid this issue is to apply for a mortgage early to make sure there are no issues on the credit report, and if there are, there is still time to address it and fix it. Early meaning that if you know you are going to be in the market for a home in the next 90 days apply now or earlier to guard against issues, always check your credit report at the minimum once a year, and always follow up with medical providers to get a final billing reflecting your account paid in full to be certain there is nothing leftover unpaid by insurance. NEVER ASSUME ANYTHING WHEN IT COMES TO MEDICAL BILLS, I see these things bite people every week, it is unfortunately common, be aware.

In the end there was no time to get the collection removed before she needed to close. There is the possibility of a rapid rescore when there is an error, which could correct the report internally within 48 - 72 hours, but the collection agency would not provide the letter required for a rapid rescore. Ultimately her interest rate was slightly higher (1/8), the result being an increase to her payment by $14.05 per month. $168.60 each year more because of the collection, $5,058.00 over the term of her 30 year mortgage. It adds up, but despite the monetary cost, the bigger issue is we have a person who has always done the right thing, paid her bills on time, never abused credit, but when her credit counted it wasn't at its best.

The moral of the story, you can have perfect credit at this moment, but will you watch your credit to make sure it is perfect when it counts? Will you apply for a mortgage in advance to make sure there is time to rectify any surprise issues, such as errors knocking down your FICO score? The biggest question is, will you use a loan officer who cares enough to help you address mistakes when there is enough time?

Have a mortgage or credit question you would like for me to cover on this blog? Shoot me an email so I can address it. If you want to apply for a mortgage in Arizona give me a call at 480-203-4641, the application process is easy, and it only takes 10 minutes for me to get the information to get you started on your way to home ownership.

Patrick Ritchie
Mortgage Finance Instructor

Ritchie School of Real Estate Finance

480-203-4641 Cell
Patrick@PatrickRitchie.com

NMLS# 276438 AZ#0913109
Click Here to go to Patrick's Mortgage Website

Monday, October 1, 2012

How Long Will My Credit Be Impacted After Foreclosure?

CREDIT has become the adult grade card. It opens and closes doors of opportunity and survival. For someone in a mortgage crisis it is more important to focus on closure in order to move forward. Once a house is foreclosed upon or sold in a short sale the healing process begins.

The majority of the damage comes from the number of days of delinquency someone experiences. FICO put out a good study to refer to: http://bankinganalyticsblog.fico.com/2011/03/research-looks-at-how-mortgage-delinquencies-affect-scores.html

The chart in the link shows us a few things, first of all that a short sale with the debt forgiven is better than a short without the debt forgiven. A short sale without the debt forgiven is no better than a foreclosure in the chart. There is one thing where the chart falls short, it only shows 90 days of delinquency, in Arizona most homeowners would likely be at 180 days delinquency before the foreclosure would actually take place, so the credit score would be lower just based on the longer delinquency period being reported, and of course the longer the delinquency the more damage to the score. No matter what, once the final event takes place, foreclosure or short sale, the recovery period begins. The derogatory information will remain for seven years and as each year passes will have less and less adverse impact on the credit score. Generally the scores are back to the high 600 range to low 700 range in 2 - 3 years, however, every credit report is a like a stand of DNA, so recovery depends on the whole picture, not just one account.

The GOOD NEWS: nothing bad on the credit report will last forever. It may be necessary to look at bankruptcy as an option in order to weigh your options and guard against deficiency liability. While not favorable, it is an efficient means to cleaning up the problems of financial disarray in a very specific and legal manner without leaving the door open to future liability. When facing the prospect of losing your house always sit down with a bankruptcy attorney to find out your potential liability.

The other GOOD NEWS: a foreclosed homeowner today can be a home buyer again, generally at the 3 year point. In 3 years (FHA 4155 Guidelines as of 4.21.2010) no matter what my circumstances are right now YOU can buy again, that is 1,095 days, or only 26,280 hours (1/3 or more of which you will sleep through). Of course, at the 3 year mark, you will have to qualify and there cannot be any derogatory credit issues after the original foreclosure.

Patrick Ritchie
Mortgage Finance Instructor

Ritchie School of Real Estate Finance

480-203-4641 Cell
Patrick@PatrickRitchie.com

NMLS# 276438 AZ#0913109
Click Here to go to Patrick's Mortgage Website

Credit Scoring

The credit system in place today is fast. A credit report and score can be obtained by a creditor within seconds. Generally used for lending, it is the basis for approving or denying loans.

The credit score came along in the early 1990’s when Fannie Mae approved the FICO credit score to be used in mortgage approvals and it saved hours per loan application in terms of approving or denying a loan request. the FICO credit score ranges from 300 - 850, higher is better, being at a 740 or higher will almost always get you the best terms on a loan.

The three big credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) provide credit reports which contain information on a consumer’s current and past accounts, including details such as amounts owed, payment history, length of time the account has been open, etc.

The Five Factors of the FICO Scoring Model:

1. Payment history - 35% of the score. Paying accounts on-time is the largest factor for credit scores. An account is considered on-time as long as the payment is received within 30 days of the due date. One day past the due date may be considered LATE in the eyes of the lender.

You could be subject to a late charge, but if it is received before it is 30 days past due it will not affect your credit scores. Could a lender report an account that was one day past due as being late to the credit bureaus? Absolutely. Will they? Not likely. It is an accepted practice by lenders to report only payments that are 30 days late.

2. Balances owed accounts - 30% of the score. The balances we carry have an impact on the credit scores, coming into play mostly with revolving accounts such as credit cards. The rule of thumb is that you should try to keep your balances on credit cards less than 50% of the available credit limit. The closer you get to the limit on an account the more likely you are to see a decline in credit scores. Try to keep your credit card balances as low as possible, lower is better.

3. Length of credit history accounts - 15% of the score. The longer the positive credit history the better. An installment loan has a set lifespan and will be closed when the last payment has been made. Conversely, credit cards (revolving accounts) can have an infinite lifespan.

Contrary to popular belief, closing accounts is not a good thing when it comes to credit scores. If you cannot withstand the temptation to accumulate more debt on open credit cards, put them out of immediate reach (safe deposit box) to avoid spontaneous purchases. Try to avoid closing out history you have already earned.

4. New credit accounts - 10% of the score. Inquiries and new accounts fall into this category. Every time a lender gets your credit report or credit score it shows up as an inquiry on your credit report. An inquiry can have a small impact on your credit score, maybe a decline of a point. Gaining a new credit account can have a larger impact on your credit score in the short term. Do not apply for unneeded credit.

5. Mix of credit accounts - 10% of the score. An ideal mix of credit would be credit cards, car loans, mortgages, student loans, etc. Someone with only credit card accounts and nothing else may be at the most risk. Keep in mind - the “mix” is only 10% of the overall formula.

Patrick Ritchie
Mortgage Finance Instructor

Ritchie School of Real Estate Finance

480-203-4641 Cell
Patrick@PatrickRitchie.com

NMLS# 276438 AZ#0913109
Click Here to go to Patrick's Mortgage Website