You may have seen it said that mortgages no longer have a minimum credit score. One piece of that is true, and it is narrower than the headline.
The minimum came off one underwriting system for one kind of loan. The other lines people used to talk about are still there, and every lender is free to draw its own. A missing minimum is not the same as a missing standard, and the difference matters most to someone whose file still needs work.
Is there still a minimum credit score to get a mortgage?
It depends on the loan and on how it is approved. As of October 2026, Fannie Mae's underwriting system, Desktop Underwriter, has no minimum score, manually underwritten Fannie Mae loans still need 620 for a fixed rate or 640 for an adjustable rate, FHA will not insure a loan when the borrower's decision score is below 500, and VA sets no minimum of its own. Any lender can add a higher minimum on top of those rules.
So there is no single number anymore. That makes the question harder to answer from a headline and easier to answer from your own file, which is where the rest of this guide points.
What did Fannie Mae actually change?
Fannie Mae removed the minimum credit score requirement from Desktop Underwriter, its underwriting system, in a Selling Guide update dated November 5, 2025. Its current guide, published September 2, 2026, still sets a minimum of 620 for manually underwritten fixed-rate loans and 640 for manually underwritten adjustable-rate loans.
Desktop Underwriter, usually called DU, is the system a lender uses to run a loan file against Fannie Mae's rules. Manual underwriting is the other route, where an underwriter reviews the file against the guide by hand. The score floor came off the first route. It is still on the second.
Two things did not move at all. Lenders still have to request credit scores from all three bureaus, and Fannie Mae still requires a merged credit report built from all three bureau files. If you want to know what that three-bureau report costs and who pays for it, why mortgage credit pulls cost more in 2026 covers it.
If there is no minimum score, does my credit still matter?
Yes. Taking the score floor out of Desktop Underwriter did not take out the review: DU still reads your credit reports, and a lender still decides whether to make the loan.
Here is how this goes wrong. Someone reads that the minimum is gone, assumes a low score no longer matters, and applies without looking at the reports first. The score was never the only thing on the page. Recent late payments and collections are still there for the system and the underwriter to see, and so is every balance.
The score can also shape what the loan costs, not just whether it is approved. VA's buyer's guide, for example, notes that most lenders use a credit score to help set your interest rate.
Which credit score will the lender use?
On loans sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the lender chooses between Classic FICO and VantageScore 4.0, not the borrower, and since September 30, 2026 the two companies' upfront fees are the same whichever model the lender uses. FHA will accept VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T alongside Classic FICO for case numbers assigned on or after January 1, 2027.
Can you get a mortgage with VantageScore instead of FICO now? goes through that change in detail.
There is a second choice hiding in here: which of your scores counts. FHA spells its rule out. When three scores are reported, the middle one is your decision score. When two different scores are reported, the lower one counts. And when two people apply together, the lender takes the lower of their two decision scores. Because of the middle-score rule, one weak bureau file does not set the number by itself. Two weak files do.
What is the minimum credit score for an FHA loan?
FHA will not insure a mortgage when the borrower's minimum decision credit score is below 500, according to HUD's Handbook 4000.1 as updated August 12, 2026. A score of 580 or higher qualifies for maximum financing, which on a purchase is a loan of up to 96.5 percent of the home's value as HUD measures it, while a score from 500 to 579 limits the loan to 90 percent.
In plain terms, that is roughly the gap between putting down about 3.5 percent and about 10 percent. On the same house, the lower band asks for a much larger check at closing.
Borrowers without a credit score, because their credit history is thin or nontraditional, are not shut out. HUD allows maximum financing for those files, but they must be underwritten by hand. And these are FHA's floors, not the lender's. A lender offering FHA loans can still ask for more.
Is there a minimum credit score for a VA loan?
VA does not require a minimum credit score, but it says the lender may set one, and you still have to meet the lender's standards for credit and income. VA's buyer's guide adds that lenders may want a minimum of 620 unless there is a large down payment.
If you are buying in El Paso with VA eligibility, whether it comes from service at Fort Bliss or anywhere else, that means the real minimum is whatever each lender sets. Ask it directly, and ask more than one lender, since VA itself encourages shopping around.
Can a lender require a higher score than the official minimum?
Yes. Fannie Mae, FHA, and VA rules set what each program allows, and a lender can set a higher minimum of its own, so two lenders can look at the same file and give different answers.
The program rule is the floor a loan must clear to be sold or insured. The lender's rule belongs to that lender, and it can sit higher. When you talk to a lender, ask two questions before anyone pulls your credit: what minimum score it uses for the loan you want, and which score model it runs.
What should I do if a mortgage is a year or more away?
Start with all three credit reports, not the score: pull them, dispute anything inaccurate, outdated, or unverifiable with each bureau that shows it, and give those corrections time to settle before any lender pulls your file.
How early credit work should start before a home purchase lays out a realistic timeline. A short list for the months ahead:
- Pull all three reports. Free weekly reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion are available at AnnualCreditReport.com.
- Look for collections and late payments that are reported wrong, and dispute them with each bureau that shows them.
- Check whether your rent shows up. Fannie Mae says DU can consider on-time rent payments found in a credit report, or in bank records when rent is not on the report.
- Ask each lender its own minimum score and which score model it uses.
Disputes fix what is wrong. Accurate late payments and collections stay until they age off, and no one can promise you a particular score by a particular date.
What is the right first step?
The right first step is knowing what all three of your reports say before a lender sees them. A missing minimum does not make an unreviewed file ready to submit.
If you are already working with Daisy, hold off on applying for a mortgage or any other new credit until your repair is finished, and call her at (915) 603-0785 before you apply for anything or let a lender pull your credit. If you are new here and a home is on your list, book your free credit strategy review. It is a no-pressure look at all three reports, so you know where your file stands before any lender does.