Would you work with a mortgage originator who has a 620 credit score? Would you prefer to work with a mortgage originator who has a 720 or higher credit score? Does how someone manages their credit history important to you if they are providing you advice about credit scoring and/or helping you with one of the largest debts you may have in your lifetime?
Starting November 1, 2010, the NMLS and Washington State DFI will begin pulling credit reports on LICENSED mortgage originators. This is one of the final "background" checks being performed as required by the SAFE Act. If a mortgage originator works for a depository bank (like Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Washington Federal, etc.) or any credit union, they will not have their credit pulled and reported to DFI.
I'm not aware of what the "magic number" is that DFI will use for weeding out mortgage originators with lower scores. I believe they're looking more at credit history than the actual score…but I don't know for sure.
What I do know is that mortgage originators who are licensed are held to higher standards per the SAFE Act than mortgage originators who are merely registered. If you're curious about whether or not your mortgage professional is registered (bank/union union LO's) or licensed, you can visit www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org.
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