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Credit for big goals

Mortgages, car loans, renting, insurance, and jobs. Each guide opens with a short answer, then shows the mechanism and the sources.

  1. Credit score for an FHA loan: the 580 and 500 rules, explainedFHA requires a minimum decision credit score of 500. With a score from 500 to 579, the loan is capped at 90% of the home's value, so you need at least 10% down. At 580 or higher you qualify for maximum financing, which is 3.5% down on a purchase. Many lenders set their own higher floor, so FHA's minimum is not always what you'll be offered.
  2. Credit score for a conventional loan after Fannie Mae dropped 620For loans run through Fannie Mae's Desktop Underwriter, there's no minimum credit score for casefiles created on or after November 16, 2025. Manually underwritten Fannie Mae loans still need 620 for fixed rates and 640 for ARMs. Many lenders keep a 620 floor anyway, and lower scores pay much higher loan-level price adjustments.
  3. Credit scores for VA and USDA loans: who actually sets the minimumVA's underwriting regulation doesn't set a minimum credit score. It judges credit history, debt-to-income and residual income, so the score floor you hit is the lender's. USDA's handbook lets its automated system decide which score is acceptable, and requires a validated score for at least one applicant when a file is referred or manually underwritten.
  4. How your credit score changes your mortgage cost, in dollarsOn conventional loans sold to Fannie Mae, your score sets a one-time loan-level price adjustment. On a $240,000 loan at 80% loan-to-value, Fannie's September 30, 2026 grid charges 0.375% ($900) at 780 or higher and 2.75% ($6,600) at 639 or lower. Lenders usually build that cost into your interest rate, and rates themselves change daily.
  5. The middle score rule: which of your three scores a mortgage usesFor one borrower, mortgage rules use the middle of three credit scores, the lower of two, or the only score reported. With more than one borrower, FHA and Freddie Mac take the lowest of those borrower scores, and Fannie Mae prices the loan on the lowest one too. Fannie uses an average of the borrowers' median scores only for certain manually underwritten loans.
  6. Getting your credit mortgage-ready in 12 months, month by monthStart a year out by pulling all three credit reports and fixing real errors while there's time. Spend the middle months keeping every payment on time and bringing card balances down, and avoid new accounts. In the last 90 days, time your balances for the statement dates, do your rate shopping inside one short window, and change nothing until closing.
  7. Credit scores and car loans: what your score costs per monthThere is no official minimum score for a car loan. Lenders price by tier instead, and the gap is large: Experian's Q2 2026 data shows average used-car APRs of 8.81% for prime borrowers and 13.93% for near prime, with tiers set by VantageScore 4.0. Many auto lenders decide with a FICO Auto Score, which runs from 250 to 900.
  8. Credit scores and renting: what landlords see and how to get approvedThere's no legal minimum credit score to rent. Each landlord sets its own bar, and many screen through tenant screening companies whose reports combine credit data with eviction records, criminal history and a risk score. If a report leads to a denial, a bigger deposit, higher rent or a cosigner requirement, you're entitled to a notice and a free copy of that report.
  9. Credit-based insurance scores: why your credit affects premiumsA credit-based insurance score is built from your credit report but predicts insurance claims, not loan repayment. Insurers in most states use it as one rating factor for auto and home policies. Some states ban or restrict it: California's auto rating law and Hawaii's motor vehicle insurance law both keep credit out of auto pricing. If credit raises your premium, federal law entitles you to a notice.
  10. Credit checks for jobs: your consent, your copy and state limitsFederal law lets employers check your credit, but only after a stand-alone written disclosure and your written authorization. Before rejecting you because of the report, the employer must give you a copy and a summary of your rights. Several states and New York City go further and bar most employers from using credit history at all.
  11. Adverse action notices: how to read the letter and use itAn adverse action notice is what a lender, landlord, insurer or employer must give you when a consumer report contributes to a denial or worse terms. Under the FCRA it names the bureau and gives you 60 days to get that report free; if a credit score was used, it shows the score and up to four key factors. Creditors also owe you specific reasons under the ECOA.
  12. Cosigning and co-borrowing: what you owe and how to get outCosigning makes you legally responsible for someone else's debt, and the lender can report it on your credit as your own. Late payments by the borrower can land on your report too. An FTC rule requires covered lenders to hand you a written Notice to Cosigner first. Getting off later usually takes a lender-approved release, a refinance in the borrower's name, or payoff.