Higher income = higher credit score?

Income will have little to no effect on credit score.

is as good a discussion as any I have seen.

I'm thinking, not. See

and you'll find they never ask income. But FICO alone isn't the end, so, yes to your question, they may have the same score, and FICO impacts the rate they'll be offered, but the amount they'll get qualified to borrow will be based more on income. JOE

I don't think they'd even know income. How, exactly, other than obtaining your private IRS tax forms, would they even begin to know your income? Unless you release your tax forms to the credit reporting agencies, there's no way they'd even have a way to determine your income. Have you given them your tax forms lately?

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That is an interesting question. It can be interpreted in different ways. In your example, the answer is "No," provided particular lenders did not fiddle with the scores in some way for their own purposes. However, if you randomly selected 1000 people from the general population, you would find that people with higher incomes would tend to have higher credit scores. For one particular person, income would not be an added factor in calculating the score from the numbers available. But income would be a strong influence in determining the numbers in the first place, that is, what one's credit history happened to be, whether or not previous loans were repaid on time, and so on.

Do lenders check your income when you apply for a home loan? First time home buyer, starting to make preparations. Thanks.

If you want the best rate, and you have a good FICO score, the answer is yes, they should check. I bought and sold some properties, and refinanced the house I am in now. In the house 10 years and on my 4th mortgage. Each refi dropped the rate as well as the length of the mortgage. Anyway, I have, at the ready, 3 years' tax returns, they usually ask for two depending. Also two years of bank records, to show where the money for the deposit came from. And last two pay stubs. They may or may not ask your employer for 'verification'.

Given the anomaly of inverted yield curve, the 1 year adjustable would be 5.00% (the 1 yr rate) + 2.75% (the common adder) = 7.75% full rate. Anything lower is a teaser rate and would likely adjust up at the end of the first year. Standard 30yr fixed are still in the low 6% range. Shoot for no closing cost, no points. That way if rates drop, you can re-finance to a lower rate. There's more room for rates to rise than drop though, so I do recommend staying fixed. If your mortgage payment is more than 28% of your monthly gross, and/or your total monthly payments are over 36%, you may not qualify, or you may get offered a higher rate. I'll get off my soapbox now.

JOETAXPAYER.COM

Yes, they do. Sometimes they ask for tax returns going two years back. But keep in mind that different lenders have different priorities. Put it this way: Income does not determine the FICO score, but lenders consider other things besides that score, including income, in deciding whether or not to approve a loan. More important usually is the price of the house relative to your income and what other monthly payments may be eating up your income.

That's an easy one to answer: When you apply for a mortgage or a car loan (and other types of loans), you are asked to provide your income. Therefore, this information is available to lenders, who in turn report to the credit reporting agencies. I am NOT saying that lenders always or routinely report income to the credit reporting agencies (I don't know one way or the other), but, that is one way that they would or could know.

Well ... yeah. That's the *mortgage company* asking you for your income (and supporting docs) that you are agreeing to supply them.

My question still stands: How, exactly, other than obtaining your private IRS tax forms would they [THE CREDIT REPORTING AGENCIES -- NOT THE MORTGAGE COMPANY] even begin to know your income.

Not without your permission or authorization, which is not a common request on anything I've ever signed with a mortgage company.

Again, not without your authorization.

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