Credit Repair Help After a Mortgage Denial

Start with your adverse action notice

Federal law requires a lender who denies a mortgage application to send an adverse action notice explaining why, including the specific factors that most affected the decision and which credit bureau's report and score were used. That notice is the most useful starting point — it tells you exactly what to focus on, rather than guessing.

Common reasons tied to your credit report

• Credit utilization too high relative to your available limits.
• Recent late payments or collections.
• Insufficient credit history or too few open accounts.
• A specific error you weren't aware of until the report was pulled for the application.

Some of these are things you can influence relatively directly — see our credit utilization guide. Others, like a genuine reporting error, are worth disputing (see disputing credit report errors) before you reapply.

What we can and can't help with

We can review your credit reports with you, help you understand what specifically may have affected the lender's decision, identify any genuine reporting errors worth disputing, and help you build a written plan for the months ahead. We are not a mortgage lender, a loan broker, or a housing counselor, and we cannot promise that any of this will result in approval on a future application — that decision is entirely the lender's, based on criteria beyond your credit report alone.

A realistic timeline

There is no exact timeline we can promise for when your credit profile might support a different outcome — it depends on what specifically needs to change and how quickly. See our how credit repair works guide for a realistic picture of the process and its pace.