Credit Plus Inc. has announced that its Lending Hand program introduced earlier this year is achieving its goal of helping lenders provide solutions for home loan applicants who have been turned down for mortgage loans due to not reaching credit minimums. “Lending Hand offers mortgage professionals an in-depth analysis of the positive and negative factors that are influencing their applicants’ credit files and scores. This is not credit repair or credit restoration,” said Greg Holmes, national director of sales and marketing for Credit Plus. “No company can legitimately guarantee an improved credit score. What Credit Plus can do is help mortgage professionals educate their customers about the importance of taking steps like correcting outdated credit report information and paying down revolving debt. Credit Plus helps consumers in the right way with Lending Hand.”
Lending Hand uses a combination of proprietary technology and personalized attention by industry experts to help mortgage professionals show loan applicants how taking specific steps could impact their loan scenario and deadline. It also gives participating mortgage professionals periodic updates to ensure that they monitor the applicant’s progress, and notifies them when the applicant is ready to move forward.
Mortgage professionals at Creekside Mortgage in Boardman, Ohio, and Intercounty Mortgage Network Corporation in Hazlet, N.J., are among the many lenders who report that the Lending Hand program has been a useful tool for educating home loan applicants who are challenged by rising minimum credit requirements.
Eleftherios Hazimihalis, vice president of Creekside Mortgage, said as many as 60 percent of prospective home buyers fail to qualify for a mortgage with his company because their credit scores fall below the minimum score threshold. He turned to Lending Hand and said that close to 30 percent of his declined applicants have been able to reach their goal within 60 days by following the program’s recommendations.
“Lending Hand enables me to give them very specific action steps,” Hazimihalis said. “It’s nice to be able to say, ‘If you do A, B, and C, you’re going to have a great opportunity to get where you need to be.”
Alex Ricci, a loan processor with Intercounty Mortgage Network, said that a significant portion of Intercounty Mortgage loan applicants do not initially qualify for a home loan because of a credit score below 640. He said numerous applicants who followed the Lending Hand recommendations later rescored 25 to 110 points higher than their original credit scores.
“We try to use this tool to the best advantage of our customers and it’s been a real success,” Ricci said. “The customer just has to be willing to roll up their sleeves and follow the program’s recommendations.”
For more information, visit www.creditplus.com.
