The role of the FICO score on poor credit home mortgage loans has changed recently since the mortgage meltdown.

In the not too distant past, a high FICO score would generally assure you of getting a home mortgage loan at a low interest rate. Things certainly have changed in the financial markets.

However, it is important that you have a high FICO score because it still plays a major role in influencing the mortgage originator to lend you the money for your house.

If you have a low FICO score in today’s market, you surely will have to settle with a home mortgage loan at less than prime interest rates. So what exactly are FICO and the role of the FICO score on poor credit home mortgage loans?

FICO is the acronym for Fair ISAAC and Company. This credit reporting company is the authority agency that determines on a scoring basis, the creditworthiness of an individual.

The exact method of determining your FICO score is a closely kept secret made possible by Congressional mandate. There are some basic measures that have applied in the past regarding how a low score will put you in the range of poor credit.

The true range of FICO scores is from 300 to 850 and of course the higher the number, the better. Rarely, does anyone fall into the two extreme ranges. As a general rule the following is the breakdown of what the scores mean: 700 or higher is excellent, 680 to 699 is good, 620 to 679 is OK, 580 to 619 is fair, 500 to 579 is bad and under 500 is really bad.

In today’s difficult mortgage market, when you get down to the 619 and below FICO score, you’re entering the range of the poor credit home mortgage loans. Although a FICO score is not the only factor that goes into a lender’s decision to originate a loan for you, it plays a prominent role.

FICO is directly influenced by your credit rating so it behooves you to carefully inspect each of your credit reports and clean up any inaccuracies that may be contained in the reports. If you can eventually raise your score into the good to excellent range you won’t have to deal with poor credit home mortgage loans ever again.

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