Mortgage Blog

How Pulling Your Credit Annually Can Help You During The Mortgage Process

March 9, 2017 | Posted by: Holly Cochrane

Have you ever considered that a late payment on your phone bill could affect your attempt at getting a mortgage approval?

Being in the mortgage business for the last 20 years, I have helped clients through some extreme financial situations. It has been my pleasure to do so. It is my experience that many of these situations have had to do with low credit scores for various reasons.

One situation that I have seen is that some individuals do not have knowledge that anything has happened to their credit score. For example, something is reported to the credit bureau that was inaccurate or a late payment is reported that the individual does not know is late. This can be due to something as small as a balance left on a credit card that has been closed, usually caused by interest that has been charged.  This story is about a late phone bill payment that plummeted this person’s credit score during the mortgage process. The individual was unaware that he owed any money and without any request for payment made by the mobility company, his file was sent to a credit collector. Link to the full story, here.

 However, this story has a happy ending as they often can. My job is to be the mediator in situations like these to help explain your circumstance to the lender. I do everything in my power to ensure that your mortgage request gets approved and take pride in helping clients out of positions similar to these.

 There is a way to help avoid experiencing this headache. I would recommend pulling up your credit report annually. This can help to ensure that there is no unexplained activity occurring on your credit bureau. You can check your credit report here:

 http://consumer.equifax.ca/credit-product-list-ca/en_ca

 **The report for $23.95 is recommended as it will also include your credit score.

- Holly

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