Your Service Earned This. A Score Doesn’t Undo It.
VA financing starting at a 500 credit score, with no monthly mortgage insurance, for eligible veterans and service members.*
The benefit does not have a credit score minimum. Lenders do.
A rough credit stretch does not cancel what you earned.
- Purchase qualifying starts at a 500 credit score
- Purchase financing using your VA entitlement*
- No monthly mortgage insurance, at any credit score
- One to four units, PUDs, and townhomes*
- Purchase and cash out refinancing share the same credit score floor, though cash out is capped at 90% of value*
- Manual underwriting available when the automated system declines*
Qualifying starts at a 500 credit score*
Buy or take cash out
Owner occupied homes only
Automated approval, or manual underwriting with documented compensating factors
Residual income and reserves carry weight the score does not*
Full or partial entitlement, depending on prior use
What is the Saxton Low Credit Score VA Loan?
The VA benefit, written down to the lowest credit scores our investors will accept
The VA itself does not publish a minimum credit score. Lenders add their own. The Saxton Low Credit Score VA Loan takes that floor down to a 500 credit score, on purchases and on cash out refinances alike. A purchase can reach 100% of the home’s value; cash out is capped at 90%.
Everything that makes VA the strongest benefit in American lending still applies at that score. Your entitlement. No monthly mortgage insurance. Those are features of the guaranty, not rewards for good credit.
If the automated system will not approve the file, it can be underwritten by hand. Manual underwriting looks at residual income, cash reserves, and documented compensating factors rather than leaning on the score alone.*
Why choose the Saxton Low Credit Score VA Loan?
Built for veterans who were told their score disqualified them. Usually it did not.
Told No Elsewhere
A lender overlay is not a VA rule. A different investor can read the same file differently.*
After A Hard Stretch
A rough credit stretch does not reduce the benefit. Residual income and reserves carry the file where the score cannot.
Your Entitlement Is Unchanged
Your VA entitlement does not shrink because your score dropped.
Cash-Out Refinance
Cash out refinancing is available at the same credit score floor as a purchase, capped at 90% of value.*
No Monthly Mortgage Insurance
VA loans carry no monthly mortgage insurance, which is often the whole difference in a payment.*
Assistance Programs Stack
Combined financing can exceed the home’s value when a state, county, or city assistance program is used.
Hear From Homeowners Like You
Frequently Asked Questions
Straight answers about using your VA benefit with damaged credit.
No. The VA does not publish one. Every minimum you have been quoted is a lender overlay, which is why the answer changes depending on who you ask. Our floor is a 500 credit score for both purchase and cash out refinancing. The difference is how much you can borrow: a purchase can reach 100% of the home’s value, while cash out is capped at 90%.
No. Your entitlement and the absence of monthly mortgage insurance come from the VA guaranty itself, not from your credit profile. Score affects how the file is underwritten and priced, not what the guaranty provides.*
The file moves to manual underwriting. That review weighs residual income, verified cash reserves, and documented compensating factors, and it allows a higher debt to income ratio than an automated approval does.
It is the money left over each month after your mortgage, debts, taxes, and basic living costs. The VA sets a required figure by family size and region, and manually underwritten files are expected to clear it with room to spare. It is often what carries a low score file to approval.
Not on this program. A property owned free and clear is not eligible for the VA cash out refinance here. Cash out is also unavailable in Texas where the transaction falls under the state’s section 50(a)(6) rules.*
One to four unit properties, PUDs, and townhomes, and you have to live in it. Investment properties and second homes are not eligible.
You may still have entitlement available. Veterans with full entitlement have the most flexibility, while previously used entitlement that has not been restored reduces the guaranty available. It is worth checking rather than assuming it is spent.
The VA does not publish a minimum FICO score. Lenders set their own floors, and most set them a good deal higher than the benefit requires. Qualifying with us starts at a 500 credit score,* and the file gets read as a whole rather than as a number. Residual income, reserves and payment history all carry weight the score on its own does not.
The same one you would need anywhere else we lend. VA guaranty rules are federal, so the score floor does not change from state to state. Saxton is headquartered in San Diego and licensed in 40 states, so a veteran in California and a veteran in any other state we serve get looked at the same way.
Find out what you qualify for
Whether you’re buying, refinancing, or pulling cash out, there’s likely a Saxton Low Credit Score VA Loan program that fits. Get a fast, no-obligation pre-qualification today.
Get Pre-Qualified- Department of Veterans Affairs, eligibility for VA home loan programs
- Department of Veterans Affairs, VA home loan types
- Department of Veterans Affairs, VA funding fee and closing costs
*Loan amounts, rates, terms, and down payment requirements are subject to credit approval, income and asset verification, and program eligibility. VA guaranty and entitlement are determined under VA rules rather than by conforming loan limits. Down payment and cash-out limits vary by occupancy, credit score, and documentation type. Not all applicants will qualify. Saxton Mortgage, LLC is an Equal Housing Lender.