You have three credit scores, and they rarely match. FHA does not use the best one or an average of them. It uses a specific number called the Minimum Decision Credit Score, picked by a fixed rule - and on a loan with two borrowers, that rule can quietly move you into a different tier.
The middle score is your decision score. Scores of 612, 590 and 571 give you 590.
The lower one counts. Scores of 590 and 575 give you 575.
That single score is your decision score.
If every reported score matches, that is the number.
This is why your score on a free credit app may not match what a lender quotes you. The app may show one bureau's number, often from a different scoring model. FHA's decision score comes from the mortgage credit report and the rule above.
Whatever the result, below 500 the borrower is not eligible for FHA-insured financing. Between 500 and 579 you are eligible with a larger down payment, and at 580 and above you can reach maximum financing - what that difference costs in dollars is on 580 versus 579.
When there is more than one borrower, the lender works out a decision score for each person, then uses the lowest of them for the loan.
Borrower A has a decision score of 640. Borrower B has 571. The loan's decision score is 571, which caps it at 90 percent of value. Adding B to help with income has pushed the file down a tier.
If Borrower B has no credit score at all, FHA uses the lowest score among the borrowers who have one. The decision score stays at 640.
The counterintuitive result: on an FHA file, a co-borrower with a thin but low score can hurt you more than a co-borrower with no score. Before adding anyone to an application, work out both decision scores. How a file with no score is built is on FHA with no credit score.
It sets eligibility and your maximum financing. It does not, on its own, approve the loan - income, debts, credit history and the property all still have to work. And lenders may set their own floor above FHA's, which is the most common reason someone at 590 is told "620 minimum". That is an overlay, not an FHA rule.
Source: HUD Handbook 4000.1, II.A.1.b.ii(A)(3) Borrower Minimum Decision Credit Score and II.A.2.b.i Loan-to-Value Limitations Based on Borrower's Credit Score (Update 17, issued 11/26/2025). Read the section in full before relying on it; FHA policy is set by HUD and changes, and individual lenders may require more. Not a commitment to lend.
Five minutes on the phone beats five weeks of guessing. We will compare your situation against actual lender requirements - not advertised ones - and give you a straight answer either way. Already been turned down over your score? See MortgageDeclined.com.