What credit score do I need for a VA loan?
By Kyle Melvin · NMLS #1486450 · REV Mortgage ·
Short answer
VA does not set one. The VA Lenders Handbook has no minimum credit score; it asks lenders to evaluate the overall credit picture and to run a residual-income test. Individual lenders add their own minimums, commonly in the high 500s to low 600s, and those overlays are what most borrowers actually run into. If one lender says no on score alone, another lender with a different overlay may say yes on the same file.
The absence of a VA minimum is the single most misunderstood fact about the program. Chapter 4 of the VA Lenders Handbook directs lenders to analyze credit as a whole — recent payment history matters most, isolated late payments are weighed against the pattern, and a bankruptcy or foreclosure needs time and re-established credit, generally two years. It does not name a score.
Lenders name one. Their overlays exist because a lender's own risk tolerance and investor requirements sit on top of VA's guaranty, and they vary widely. That is why the practical advice is to ask the lender what its minimum is before you assume you do not qualify — and, if the answer is no, to ask a lender that specializes in VA loans, whose overlay is often lower.
What VA does require, and what a good file shows:
- Twelve months of clean payment history, or a documented reason for the blemish.
- Collections and judgments addressed or explained; medical collections are treated more leniently.
- Residual income above the regional table for your family size. This is VA's real qualifying test, and a borrower with a modest score but strong residual income is the profile the program serves well. The VA loan guidelines page covers how residual income and the debt-to-income ratio work together.
A pending Certificate of Eligibility is unaffected by credit; it is about service, not score. And if you are buying on orders, the orders-as-income page covers the income half of the file.
Questions people also ask
- Can I get a VA loan with a 580 credit score?
- Some lenders will, with compensating factors. Many set their floor higher. VA itself does not object; the overlay is the lender's.
- What does VA look at instead of a score?
- Payment history over the last twelve months, any collections or judgments, time since a bankruptcy or foreclosure, and residual income — the cash left after housing, debts and taxes for your family size and region.
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