“Hi Gary. Yesterday my wife and I got pre-approved for a mortgage by a loan broker. But we didnt make a loan application and he was late for an appointment, so I dont even think he ran our credit. In fact, we didnt give him our social security numbers, so I dont think he could have possibly run it. But he did fax us a pre-approval letter. Do you think were really even pre-approved?”
***ANSWER:
Unfortunately, no. Heres a story I shared when someone else asked me the same question a couple of years ago:
Awhile back, I received an offer on my clients’ condo. Due to past experiences with lenders who didn’t perform, Ive learned to be careful. So to protect my seller-clients I often have my favorite lender talk with the potential buyer of my clients property.
In this case, we had trouble reaching the buyer, so my lender spoke with the buyer’s mortgage broker who pre-approved him. Here’s a basic transcript of the discussion…
My Lender: “What’s his credit score?”
Other Lender: “It’s 685.”
My Lender: “How much does he make?”
Other Lender: “I don’t know.”
My Lender: “What does he do for a living?”
Other Lender: “I don’t know.”
My Lender: “Do you even have an application?”
Other Lender: “No.”
So this lender “pre-approved” someone with no information but a credit score. Fortunately, despite this sloppy, bogus “pre-approval”, the sale went through. But it could just as easily have gone the other way.
I recommend you talk further with your lender AND get a 2nd opinion from another lender. Feel free to call me at (858)457-KENT and Ill put you in touch with the lender I use.
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