What’s the credit score needed to refinance? In Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide, there isn’t one number. For manually underwritten loans, the guide’s table of minimum credit scores lists “620” for “fixed-rate loans” and “640” for “ARMs”, or adjustable-rate mortgages. For loans run through DU, the same table says “A minimum credit score is not required for DU loan casefiles.”
A homeowner who reads one number and stops may rule out a refinance, or apply without knowing which rule applies to the file. The useful question is which of the guide’s rules fits the loan.
So the next step is narrow: find out which route the loan would take, check your credit report, and ask a loan officer which rule applies. What’s quoted here comes from two pages of the guide. Neither covers other loan programs or what a single lender asks.
Does Fannie Mae’s Guide Set One Credit Score Minimum for a Refinance?
No, not one. A table of minimum credit score requirements sits inside the guide’s credit score topic, and its rows are sorted by how a loan is underwritten. One row covers manually underwritten loans. Another covers loans run through DU. So the answer turns on which row a loan falls into.
For manually underwritten loans, the row points to another document. It says “The requirements are published in the Eligibility Matrix”. Then it names a floor: “The minimum credit score that applies for loan eligibility is:” and lists “620” for “fixed-rate loans” and “640” for “ARMs”.
The Eligibility Matrix is a separate document, and it isn’t reproduced here. Those two numbers sit in the manually underwritten row. They aren’t a statement about any lender or any file. A loan officer can tell you which line applies to the loan you’re considering.
What Does the Guide Say About Loans Run Through DU?
The same table gives loans run through DU a row of their own, and that row reads differently from the manually underwritten one. DU has a chapter in the guide, and the table’s row for it names no number. That difference is the whole answer here.
The chapter’s title is “Desktop Underwriter (DU)”. For that row, the guide says “A minimum credit score is not required for DU loan casefiles.” Its DU credit score requirements section adds: “Credit scores are not an integral part of DU’s risk assessment because DU performs its own analysis of the credit report data.”
Scores still get pulled. The same section says “lenders must request credit scores for each borrower from each of the three credit repositories”. So that row sets no minimum, and the guide still calls for the scores.
A row without a minimum isn’t a promise about your file. The page speaks to what Fannie Mae asks of the loan, not to approval, rates or what a lender will accept, so take that question to a loan officer.
Does Taking Cash Out Change the Rules?
In Fannie Mae’s guide, cash-out refinances get a topic of their own, with its own list of eligibility requirements. That list sits apart from the credit score topic. What the cash-out topic says about scores is brief.
If an existing first mortgage is being paid off through the transaction, the topic says “it must be at least 12 months old at the time of refinance, as measured by the note date of the existing loan to the note date of the new loan.” It also says at least one borrower must have been on title for “six months prior to the disbursement date of the new loan”.
On credit scores, the topic points elsewhere. Its own pointer reads: “credit score requirements for manually underwritten cash-out refinance loans, see the Eligibility Matrix”. The page prints no score of its own.
For DU loan casefiles, the topic adds a condition tied to the debt-to-income ratio: “if the DTI ratio exceeds 45%, six months reserves is required”. A loan officer can say how that reads against a specific file.
Where the Score Fits in Your Refinance Decision
The guide’s pages have limits. They cover how scores are treated in Fannie Mae’s own requirements. Neither says whether a loan is approved, what it costs or how long it takes. Neither says what another loan program or another lender requires.
Fellowship’s mortgage process page describes what its team looks at: “We holistically assess income, debt-to-income ratio, credit score, employment trajectory, and property type to determine eligibility.” It adds: “Each loan program has different sets of eligibility guidelines.”
Fellowship’s refinance page puts the starting point this way: “We can evaluate and explain your unique financial situation to help determine whether a refinance might be the right solution for you.” That’s why a score is a reason to start a conversation, not a verdict on your file.
For the rest of the file, Fellowship has a post on what a lender re-checks when you refinance.
The score is one input. A separate question is whether a refinance earns back its own closing costs, and Fellowship has a post on that.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Credit Score Needed to Refinance
What credit score is needed to refinance?
There’s no single number in Fannie Mae’s guide. The table lists “620” for “fixed-rate loans” and “640” for “ARMs” on manually underwritten loans. For loans run through DU, it says “A minimum credit score is not required for DU loan casefiles.” A loan officer can say which row applies.
Is 620 the minimum credit score to refinance?
“620” is the figure in the table’s manually underwritten row for fixed-rate loans. The same table’s DU row says a minimum credit score is not required. And the page doesn’t say what any lender requires. Which row a loan falls into is a question for a loan officer.
Does the guide treat a cash-out refinance differently?
Cash-out refinances have a topic of their own in the guide, with their own eligibility requirements. On scores, that topic points away from itself: “credit score requirements for manually underwritten cash-out refinance loans, see the Eligibility Matrix”. The matrix is a separate document, and the topic prints no score of its own.
Are there refinances the minimum credit score does not cover?
The credit score page lists exceptions. Its lead-in reads “Certain transactions are not subject to the minimum credit score requirement, including:” and one item on that list names “high LTV refinance loans, except for those loans underwritten using the Alternative Qualification Path”. The page doesn’t say which borrowers that covers, so ask a loan officer.
Do lenders still pull credit scores for DU loans?
The guide’s DU section says “lenders must request credit scores for each borrower from each of the three credit repositories”. So a row with no minimum is not a row with no scores. What a lender does with those scores is a question for that lender.
Does a cash-out refinance have requirements besides the credit score?
Yes, the topic has a list of its own. If an existing first mortgage is being paid off, the topic says it “must be at least 12 months old at the time of refinance”. For DU loan casefiles it adds “if the DTI ratio exceeds 45%, six months reserves is required”. A loan officer can say how those lines read for a file.
Questions to Bring to a Loan Officer
In Fannie Mae’s guide, the credit score needed to refinance turns on which row a loan sits in, and the cash-out topic adds conditions of its own. So the thing to carry into a first conversation is a short list of questions about the route your loan would take, not a number.
- Would this loan be manually underwritten or run through DU, and which credit score rule follows from that?
- Is this a cash-out refinance, and does that change the requirements?
- Do you look at anything beyond what the guide lists?
- Which of the three credit scores would you use?
When you’re ready, you can talk with a Fellowship loan officer about your credit and which refinance rules apply.
This is general education about Fannie Mae’s published rules, not individual lending, legal or financial advice, and not a commitment to lend.
