Things have changed a bit on the mortgage front. Lenders now use a computer analysis of a Borrower's credit record and other factors, such as the Borrower's work history. This allows a Lender to assign a "credit score" to each Loan Applicant. 

Lenders reason, a Consumer who has demonstrated competency in paying bills should know better than anyone how much mortgage debt he or she can handle. 

When you apply for a mortgage, your personal financial history is put to the test. Specifically, a Lender wants to know how promptly you pay your bills, how long you have used credit, what type of debt you have, and what your earnings history has been. Lenders used to pore over credit reports and other documents to size you up. Now most Lenders rely on a sophisticated computer-driven statistical analysis that assigns a relative weight to all kinds of factors, like whether you were once late on your Visa bill, then generates a "credit score" on your status as a potential Borrower. 

A respectable score is more than 620, say Lenders. A really top-notch score is in the 700's. A low score can be over-looked (says Steve Gatermann/Norwest Mortgage in Cincinnati) if a Borrower's credit history has been pristine for the past 12-24 months. AND, if there is a reasonable explanation for why your credit score is marred: providing your Lender the explanation and any supporting documentation.