Credit

Many lenders have hard credit score requirements. If a borrower does not have scores over a certain set number, the lender will not entertain the loan application. This is not an SBA requirement, but an “overlay” which the lender has included as part of its underwriting criteria.

There are national SBA Lenders who do not have a minimum credit score requirement. These lenders will look past a credit score to find out the “story” of the Borrower’s credit history. However, a Borrower will have major hurdles to overcome or not be able to qualify if there are issues on a credit report: late payments, charge offs, judgments, tax liens and the like.

A Borrower should have ready a “Letter of Explanation” for any credit issue in the borrower’s history.