- Published minimums in October 2026 ran from 620 (Griffin Funding; LoanStream's Core DSCR program) through 640 (Easy Street, Defy, ACC Mortgage, Total Quality Lending) and 660 (Lima One, RCN, FundLoans, Pennymac) to 680 (Angel Oak, eLEND). Kiavi doesn't publish one.
- Lenders use your middle score of three, or the lower of two. With several guarantors, ACC Mortgage uses the lowest score, as Fannie Mae does; Pennymac's DSCR profile uses the score of the largest owner.
- Tiers move leverage: LoanStream's October 8 matrix allows 70% of the price at 620, 75% at 640, 80% at 680 and 85% at 720+ (with a 1.20 ratio) on loans up to $1 million.
- Price moves faster than leverage. On Spring EQ's October 30 rate sheet, a 660–679 score cost 4.750 points at 70–75% LTV against 0.500 at 740–759: $12,750 more on a $300,000 loan.
- Low scores close doors: at 640, ACC Mortgage allows no ratio below 1.00 and no cash-out; LoanStream's no-ratio loans start at 700, and Pennymac's interest-only option needs 700.
The lowest DSCR loan credit score on lenders' published guidelines in October 2026 was 620, and most programs started at 640–660. Because a DSCR (debt service coverage ratio) loan is approved on the rental's income rather than yours, the credit report is the main thing the lender learns about you as a borrower. It decides four things: whether you're eligible, how much of the price the lender will fund, what the money costs, and which features you can use, from ratios below 1.00 to interest-only payments. Every figure below comes from a lender's own guideline, matrix or rate sheet, with its date.
The broader checklist (down payment, reserves, paperwork) lives in our DSCR loan requirements guide. This one goes deeper on credit alone: how the score is picked, how it's picked when partners sign, what each tier buys, and what to do if you're starting below 660.
Minimum credit scores by lender, October 2026
| Lender (date read or effective) | Minimum score | What the minimum gets you |
|---|---|---|
| Griffin Funding (page updated Oct 29, 2026) | 620 | Tiers not published; 15% down needs 740+ |
| LoanStream Core DSCR (matrix Oct 8, 2026) | 620 | 70% purchase, 65% cash-out |
| Easy Street Capital (Oct 2026) | 640 | Tiers not published |
| Defy Mortgage (Oct 23, 2026) | 640 | Tiers not published; Defy says its lower tiers price above 7% |
| ACC Mortgage (matrix Oct 1, 2026) | 640 | 75% purchase, 70% rate-and-term; ratio of 1.00+ only; no cash-out |
| Total Quality Lending (Oct 30, 2026) | 640 | 75% purchase on loans to $1 million; no cash-out |
| Lima One, RCN Capital (Oct 2026) | 660 | RCN: 65% purchase, 60% cash-out at 660–679 |
| FundLoans Spectrum (matrix Aug 1, 2026) | 660 | 80% purchase, 70% cash-out |
| Pennymac correspondent DSCR (profile Oct 22, 2026) | 660 | 70% purchase or rate-and-term, 65% cash-out |
| Angel Oak (Oct 2026) | 680 | Up to 75% LTV |
| eLEND (matrix revised Sept 16, 2026) | 680 | 70% purchase and rate-and-term at 680–699; no cash-out |
| Kiavi (Oct 2026) | Not published | Not published |
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Two patterns stand out. The floor sits lower than many investors assume: two programs take 620 and four take 640. But the floor rarely buys the full loan. At most of these lenders the bottom tier caps you at 65–75% of the price, and several turn off cash-out refinancing altogether. Griffin reports that its DSCR borrowers averaged a 732 score in 2026, a fair marker of where a typical approved file sits.
Which score counts: the middle one on a three-bureau report
Lenders pull a tri-merge report, with a score from each of Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, and boil it down to one number. The method mirrors Fannie Mae's Selling Guide (section B3-5.1-02, dated April 22, 2026): with three scores, use the middle one; with two, use the lower. eLEND, ACC Mortgage and Pennymac's DSCR profile print the same rule.
| Scores on the report | Score the lender uses |
|---|---|
| 702 / 668 / 655 | 668, the middle |
| 702 / 668 / 668 | 668; when two match, the middle is still 668 |
| 702 / 655 (one bureau returns no score) | 655, the lower of two |
| 702 only | Not eligible at ACC Mortgage, which won't lend on a single score |
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- Classic FICO, not your app's number. Pennymac requires the classic FICO model for qualifying and pricing, with no exceptions. The score in a banking or monitoring app may come from a different model and read higher or lower.
- Every bureau must be unfrozen. Pennymac won't proceed with any bureau frozen; you lift the freezes and the lender pulls a fresh report. Do that before you apply, not during underwriting.
- Thin files need tradelines. With three scores, ACC Mortgage and eLEND waive their tradeline minimums. With two, both want three accounts reporting for 12 months or two for 24 months, with recent activity. ACC Mortgage doesn't count authorized-user accounts, collections or charge-offs.
- A quote isn't an approval. Kiavi advertises rate quotes with no hard credit pull, but the loan is underwritten on a full report; Pennymac requires a tri-merge from every borrower.
Two or more guarantors: the lowest score, or the largest owner's
When an LLC with several members borrows, each guarantor gets a representative score as above, and the lender then picks one for the loan. Published guidelines use two different methods, and they can produce very different answers on the same file.
| Source | Rule |
|---|---|
| Fannie Mae Selling Guide, B3-5.1-02 (April 22, 2026) | The lowest representative score in the group. Conventional loans, shown for comparison |
| ACC Mortgage DSCR matrix (Oct 1, 2026) | The lowest qualification score among all borrowers |
| Pennymac DSCR profile (Oct 22, 2026) | The score of the borrower with the highest ownership percentage; if two or more tie for the top share, the lowest score among them |
| Easy Street, Kiavi, Lima One and most program pages | Not published |
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Take an LLC with two members whose middle scores are 745 and 668, buying a rental with a loan under $1 million and a ratio above 1.00:
| Ownership split | Lowest-score rule (ACC Mortgage) | Largest-owner rule (Pennymac) |
|---|---|---|
| 60% at 745, 40% at 668 | 668 counts: 75% of the price | 745 counts: 80% of the price |
| 40% at 745, 60% at 668 | 668 counts: 75% | 668 counts: 70% |
| 50% / 50% | 668 counts: 75% | A tie, so 668 counts: 70% |
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Under a lowest-score rule, adding a partner can only hold the score steady or drag it down, so one weak report sets the terms for everyone. Under a largest-owner rule, the score that matters belongs to whoever holds the biggest stake. Who must sign is a separate question. Easy Street requires every owner above 25% to sign a full guaranty, with up to four guarantors. Pennymac caps a loan at four borrowers and requires each guarantor to be a managing member or majority owner with at least a 25% stake.
Resist the urge to reshuffle ownership just to land a better tier. Lenders read the operating agreement, and changing who owns what carries liability, tax and partnership consequences that belong with your attorney and CPA. What you can do is ask each lender which rule it uses before you decide who signs. Our DSCR loans in an LLC guide covers guarantees and entity paperwork.
What each tier buys: leverage
Clearing the minimum gets you a loan; the tier you land in sets its size. Here are five published matrices side by side, all for loans up to $1 million with a ratio of 1.00 or more:
| Score | LoanStream Core (Oct 8) | ACC Mortgage (Oct 1) | Pennymac (Oct 22) | eLEND (Sept 16) | FundLoans (Aug 1) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 620–639 | 70% | Below minimum | Below minimum | Below minimum | Below minimum |
| 640–659 | 75% | 75% | Below minimum | Below minimum | Below minimum |
| 660–679 | 75% | 75% | 70% | Below minimum | 80% |
| 680–699 | 80% | 75% | 75% | 70% | 80% |
| 700–719 | 80% | 80% | 75% | 80% | 80% |
| 720+ | 85% (needs a 1.20 ratio above 80%) | 80% | 80% | 80% | 80% |
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Read across a row and the spread is wide: a 680 score buys 70% at eLEND and 80% at LoanStream, which on a $400,000 purchase is $120,000 down against $80,000. Read down a column and the steps bunch up at 680, 700 and 720. Leverage also changes with loan size on these matrices. DSCR loan down payment covers the other limits that can cut the loan.
What each tier costs: price
Lenders price credit through loan-level price adjustments: points added to or taken off the loan's price for each band of score and LTV. Few publish them. Spring EQ's wholesale DSCR rate sheet does, and its October 30, 2026 grid shows how steep the bottom tiers are. Negative numbers are costs. The lender's price falls, and you make up the difference in points or a higher rate.
| Score | Over 70–75% LTV | Over 75–80% LTV | Cost at 75% LTV on $300,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 780+ | −0.125 | −0.875 | $375 |
| 760–779 | −0.125 | −0.875 | $375 |
| 740–759 | −0.500 | −1.375 | $1,500 |
| 720–739 | −1.125 | −2.125 | $3,375 |
| 700–719 | −1.625 | −2.625 | $4,875 |
| 680–699 | −2.875 | −4.000 | $8,625 |
| 660–679 | −4.750 | −6.500 | $14,250 |
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Moving from 679 to 680 is worth 1.875 points at this LTV, or $5,625 on the loan. Moving from 699 to 700 is worth another 1.25 points, $3,750. Above 740 the steps flatten out. On the sheet's own rate ladder, the 4.25-point gap between a 660–679 score and a 740–759 score is about the price difference between a 7.25% rate and an 8.125% rate. Other lenders describe the same shape in words. Defy reports a spread of over 200 basis points between its 640 and 680 tiers in parts of its grid (October 23, 2026), and Total Quality Lending says each step at 660, 700, 720 and 740 improves both the rate and the maximum LTV.
What each tier opens up: low ratios, cash-out and interest-only
Score also gates program features, and the gates are often higher than the program minimum:
| Feature | Published score requirement |
|---|---|
| DSCR from 0.75 to just under 1.00 | 640 at LoanStream (70% purchase); 660 at ACC Mortgage (65%), Pennymac and FundLoans (60%); 660 at Total Quality Lending |
| DSCR below 0.75, or no ratio | 660 at ACC Mortgage (purchase only, 65%) and Pennymac (60%); 700 at LoanStream and Griffin |
| Cash-out refinance | Not offered at 640 by ACC Mortgage or Total Quality Lending, or at 680–699 by eLEND. Spring EQ charges 0.875–2.000 points for cash-out under 700, against 0.375–1.250 at 700+ |
| Interest-only | 680 at ACC Mortgage and Total Quality Lending; 700 at Pennymac |
| First-time investors | 700 at Pennymac, with a ratio of 1.00 or more; 720 at eLEND |
| Escrow waiver (you pay taxes and insurance directly) | 720 at eLEND and ACC Mortgage, with 12 months of reserves |
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The upshot: a lower score narrows your choices exactly when you'd want flexibility. If the rent covers only 0.90 of the payment, a 640 score rules out the sub-1.00 tiers at ACC Mortgage, Pennymac and FundLoans and leaves LoanStream's at 70% of the price. Our guide to no-ratio DSCR loans covers what lenders ask for when the rent falls short.
Foreclosure, short sale or bankruptcy: the waiting periods
A past foreclosure, short sale or bankruptcy counts against you apart from the score damage it left. Lenders measure a waiting period from the completion or discharge date to your closing:
| Lender | Published rule |
|---|---|
| Easy Street Capital | No more than one bankruptcy, foreclosure or short sale in the past seven years; delinquencies cured before closing |
| eLEND | 36 months; any significant adverse event in the prior seven years caps LTV at 75% |
| ACC Mortgage | 36 months for full leverage; from 24 months at 75% purchase and 70% refinance |
| Pennymac | 36 months, which also covers default-related loan modifications and 120-day delinquencies; multiple bankruptcies not allowed |
| LoanStream Core DSCR | Foreclosure 36 months; short sale, deed-in-lieu or Chapter 7 24 months; Chapter 13 12 months with a payment history |
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Count the months before you start shopping. At ACC Mortgage, 24 months gets you a loan at lower leverage, and LoanStream's Core program takes some events at 24 months; at eLEND and Pennymac, you wait for 36.
Under 660: seven moves that work
A score under 660 still leaves real options, and a few of them raise the score itself.
- Apply where the floor is lower. LoanStream's Core DSCR and Griffin start at 620; Easy Street, Defy, ACC Mortgage and Total Quality Lending at 640. On the published tiers, expect 25–30% down, a ratio of 1.00 or more and, at some lenders, no cash-out.
- Pay revolving balances down before the report is pulled. Amounts owed make up 30% of a FICO score, and using a high share of your card limits counts against you, according to myFICO (updated October 2026). It's the part of the score you can change with cash instead of time.
- Fix errors, then ask for a rescore. Dispute mistakes in writing with the credit bureau, then with the company that reported the item if that doesn't fix it; the CFPB says that company generally must investigate within 30 days of receiving your dispute (September 2026). Once the correction posts, a lender can order a rescore. Pennymac allows rescores before the rate lock, and after the lock only for a disputed item or a valid error.
- Hold off on new credit. New credit is 10% of a FICO score. A new card or car loan opened between application and closing can drop you a tier.
- Let a credit event season. If a past event is what's holding you back, the waiting periods above are your calendar. Twenty-four months opens ACC Mortgage at reduced leverage, and LoanStream's Core program for short sales, deeds-in-lieu and Chapter 7 bankruptcies; 36 months clears the lines at eLEND, ACC Mortgage, Pennymac and LoanStream.
- Bring in a partner, if the lender's rule rewards it. Under a largest-owner rule like Pennymac's, a majority owner with stronger credit sets the score. Under a lowest-score rule like ACC Mortgage's, adding a partner can't raise it. Settle ownership with your attorney first.
- Buy with short-term money, then refinance. Rehab lenders often take lower scores: Easy Street's fix-and-flip loans start at 600. A DSCR refinance can follow once the score and the property are ready. Short-term loans cost more: a third-party analysis of 2025 federal HMDA data puts their median rate at 10%; hard money loans explains the trade.