This applies to both Purchase and Refinance Loans.

If you have applied for any NEW Credit since you were preapproved the loan underwriter will be required to call the new trade line and get proof that no new credit was extended.

If new credit was extended, they will recalculate the debt to income ratios and the application will need to be re-underwritten. Even if you still qualify THIS WILL CAUSE A SIGNIFICANT DELAY TO CLOSING.

This delay could potentially ruin the whole deal.

I personally have had 3 of these situations happen. Fortunately none of them caused major problems but in all cases caused between 7 and 10 days delay in closing.

 If you have made any new credit application since being qualified,

tell your Real Estate Agent, and Loan Agent right away and deal with it before it becomes time critical.

35%- Payment History. Late payment bills such as Mortgage, Credit Cards, Car loans etc will lower a person’s FICO score to drop. Paying bill as agreed over time will improve the score.

30% – Credit Utilization. The ratio of current revolving debt (Credit Card and Charge Account balances) to the total available credit (Credit Limits). Consumers can improve their FICO scores by paying off debt and reducing balances to less than 50% of the available credit. Closing existing revolving charge accounts can have a negative effect on this ratio and lower your score. Before closing accounts be sure to do some more research, or get qualified advice.

15% – Length of Credit History. Time improves FICO scores without any action other than paying all bills on time.

10% – Types of Credit Used. FICO scores are improved by having a record of good history of managing multiple types of credit (Installment, Revolving, Consumer finance etc).

10% – Recent Credit Applications. Multiple requests to obtain new credit over a short period of time can hurt an individual’s FICO score. However, individuals shopping for the best rate for a Mortgage or Auto Loan over a short period will not see any negative impact on a FICO score. All such enquiries will be counted as just one.

http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/