Credit Check
A lender's review of your credit report and score to assess your willingness and ability to repay debt.
Mortgage lenders pull what's called a tri-merge, your reports from all three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion), and use the middle of the three FICO scores for qualification. This is a hard pull and may dent your score by a few points temporarily.
Multiple mortgage credit checks within a focused shopping window (typically 14–45 days, depending on scoring model) are treated as a single inquiry, so it's safe to get rate quotes from several lenders without compounding the score impact.
Beyond the score, underwriters look at the underlying tradelines: how long accounts have been open, payment history, recent late payments, collections, and how much of your available credit you're using. A score is just the summary, the report is the full story.
Related terms
Other terms you'll see alongside Credit Check
A three-digit number summarizing your credit history, used by lenders as a primary risk metric.
A lender's preliminary commitment to lend you a specified amount, based on a review of credit, income, and assets.
The lender's formal review of a loan application to confirm it meets program guidelines and is acceptable to fund.
The standardized three-page disclosure a lender must provide within three business days of a complete loan application.
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