Can You Get a VA Loan With a 500 Credit Score?

The VA has no minimum score

Nothing in the VA lender handbook sets a credit score floor. Every minimum you have been quoted is a lender overlay. Our lending partners allow VA purchases down to 500 FICO, which is why we can often approve a file another lender has already declined.

What underwriters weigh instead

At lower scores, the file is judged on the pattern behind the number rather than the number itself.

• Twelve months of clean housing payment history, rent or mortgage, with no 30-day lates.
• Residual income, the VA's signature test, which measures cash left after all obligations.
• Stable income and time in service or on the job.
• Reserves, even modest ones, and a documented explanation for past derogatory items.

Bankruptcy, foreclosure and collections

VA guidelines generally look for two years past a Chapter 7 discharge and allow Chapter 13 with 12 months of on-time plan payments and trustee approval. Medical collections rarely block an approval. A prior VA foreclosure is different because it consumes entitlement, and we check that first.

What to do before you apply

Do not close old accounts or pay off collections at random — both can hurt. Send us the credit report and we will tell you the two or three specific moves that raise your score fastest, or confirm you can move forward today at the score you already have.