Why We Charge You The Credit Report Fee Upfront

Why We Charge For The Credit Report Fee? 

 We Pass This Charge Off To You So Our Rates Remain Low

In 2023, the credit bureaus increased their costs for a tri-merged credit report. The reports for a joint borrower used to be between $30-$40. After the increase, companies are charging between $65-$100 per report. 

Anytime an increase like this occurs, businesses are faced with two options; increase their rates to account for the increase or pass the cost on to their customers.  We hate both of those options, but the second one is clearly the best.  

We don’t feel it’s fair for our clients to have to pay higher rates and fees to help cover the costs of those who apply for a mortgage and then disappear or don’t qualify. 

 So by passing the cost off to you, you are only paying for your portion while still receiving the lower rates we are known for. 

Every Lender Charges You For The Credit Report…

How Much Does The Credit Report Fee Cost

Generally, the credit report fee is $65.90 for a single borrower, and $85.80 for a joint report. Louisiana is a community property state, so if you are married or not legally divorced, a joint report is required unless you are applying for a conventional loan. 

Pro’s of Paying Your Credit Report Fee Upfront

1. Our rates are lower, which means you will save $50 or more PER MONTH on your mortgage compared to our competitors. 

2. Our upfront fees (closing costs) are often thousands of dollars less than our competitors. 

3. We can shop dozens of lenders for you who provide wholesale rates that are much lower than traditional mortgage lenders.

So to recap, you are going to save money each month and upfront on your closing costs, and we will help you eliminate one of the most stressful parts of applying for a mortgage: shopping around for the right lender.  💰

Con’s of Paying Your Credit Report Fee Upfront

1. You have to pay less than $100 upfront to have your credit pulled. 

When Will I Have To Pay The Credit Report Fee

We collect the credit report fee at the time we pull your credit report. This typically happens once you have completed your online application and uploaded your documents. 

We will call to collect your information over the phone, or we can send you a secure link to provide us with those details; however, for security purposes, we really prefer to do them over the phone. 

Do You Make Money Off The Credit Report Fee? 

No. When we get your card information, it is billed directly to the credit provider. Lending laws do not allow any mortgage company to collect any fee other than the credit report fee before a loan estimate is provided.  We also cannot and would not profit off of this fee. 

Our Gurantee

If you shop around and we aren’t at least $500 cheaper in mortgage lender’s fees (Box A of the Loan Estimate) than whatever quote you get from that lender, we will refund you your report fee. 

*We will require that you provide us with a locked loan estimate showing they are less from that lender because, until the loan is locked and the loan estimate is provided, those fees can be adjusted.