A bank saying no is not the same as nobody saying yes. Hard money underwrites the deal rather than your tax returns — but "bad credit" is not one thing, and which product you qualify for depends on which number is actually broken.
Most pages on this subject tell you credit "matters less" and stop there, which is useless if you are sitting at 580 wondering whether to bother calling. Here are the actual thresholds on the programmes we place, so you can see immediately where you stand.
| Product | Minimum credit | What it qualifies on |
|---|---|---|
| DSCR rental loan | No minimum | The property's rent against its payment |
| Fix and flip | 600 | Cost, value and the exit |
| Bridge | 600 | Cost, value and the exit |
| Ground-up construction | 650 | As-completed value and the build |
The line worth reading twice is the first one. The DSCR rental programme has no minimum credit score at all, because it qualifies on whether the property's rent covers its payment rather than on your personal file. Rates start at 5.99 percent, from $75,000 to $2 million, up to 80 percent of value. If your credit is genuinely damaged and you are buying something that rents, that is the door.
For context on where those numbers sit in the market: conventional mortgages generally want 680 or higher. Across hard money lenders, published minimums commonly land between 550 and 650, some have no minimum at all, and one 2026 industry guide puts the typical figure at 640. Below 600 the lender pool narrows noticeably. Above 700 you get the best pricing and the highest leverage.
Which is the honest framing: credit affects your terms more than it affects your approval.
In practice, the score is rarely the thing that kills a deal. These are:
No exit. Every short-term loan is repaid by a sale or a refinance. If you cannot say clearly which one, and show the numbers behind it, the file fails regardless of your FICO. This is the single most common reason a deal does not fund.
No reserves. Lenders want to see liquid funds covering roughly three to six months of holding costs — interest, taxes, insurance, utilities. They are not spent at closing; they sit in your account as proof you can carry the project if it runs long. A borrower with a 720 score and no reserves is a worse file than one at 610 with six months in the bank.
An ARV nobody else believes. The loan is sized against value. If your after-repair figure is not supported by recent comparable sales, the loan shrinks and the shortfall becomes cash you have to bring.
No scope of work. On a rehab, a line-item budget with contractor bids. "About sixty thousand" is not a scope of work.
The wrong kind of credit problem. A thin file, a medical collection or a couple of late payments after a rough year is very different from a recent bankruptcy or an open foreclosure. Be upfront about which one you have — it is far better to have that conversation at the start than to have it surface in underwriting after you have spent money on an appraisal.
This is the strategy most borrowers with damaged credit are actually looking for, and almost nobody writes it down plainly.
Take a six to twelve month bridge or flip loan on a deal that stands on its own merits. Execute it. During that window, work the credit file deliberately — pay down revolving balances, dispute errors, let recent lates age. When the score reaches roughly 620 to 640, refinance into conventional or a longer-term product and retire the hard money.
The loan buys you time that a bank will not. The property, not your file, is what makes it possible.
Two honest cautions. Short-term money is expensive — points at closing and 10.99 percent and up on interest — so the deal has to work with those costs in it, not despite them. And the plan has to be a plan. "I'll refinance eventually" is not an exit; "I'll refinance in month nine at these numbers, and if that fails I'll sell at this price" is.
Borrowers with credit problems attract the worst operators in this industry, so it is worth naming the patterns.
"No credit check." Almost every legitimate hard money lender pulls credit. Not as a pass-fail gate, but to price the loan and see what else is going on. A lender who does not look at all is telling you something about how they intend to make their money.
"Guaranteed approval." Nobody can guarantee an approval before seeing the property, the numbers and the exit. Real lenders take real risk on every loan, and that is exactly why they underwrite.
A large fee before anyone reads your deal. An application fee, an appraisal deposit or a credit check are normal and have invoices behind them. A substantial payment to "secure" or "guarantee" funding does not. Ask, in writing, exactly what service the fee buys — there is a real answer for an appraisal and none for a guarantee.
We wrote a longer version of this, including the seven questions to ask any lender on the first call, on how to vet a lender. If your credit is weak, read it before you send anyone money.
Fix and flip and bridge from 10.99 percent with 1.99 points, up to 100 percent of cost and 70 percent of value, minimum loan $50,000, terms to twelve months, minimum credit score 600. Ground-up construction from 8.5 percent on non-owner-occupied single family, $100,000 to $3 million, minimum 650. DSCR rental loans from 5.99 percent, $75,000 to $2 million, up to 80 percent of value, no minimum credit score, cross-collateral allowed across two or more properties. Commercial to $5 million at up to 75 percent of value, covering multi-family, mixed use, self storage, office, retail and industrial.
All non-owner-occupied, business purpose, held in an entity. There is also a rate match: a fully executed letter of intent from a competing lender, no contingencies, meeting the same underwriting, and the interest rate gets matched. Rate only, and not a commitment to fund.
One thing worth knowing rather than discovering later: the 10.99 percent starting rate on flip and bridge is available after two loans have been paid off in good standing. A first-time borrower with a thin file should expect to start above it and earn the way down. That is how the pricing is designed, and it is why the second deal is easier than the first.
On the DSCR rental programme there is no minimum, because the property's income carries the file. On flip and bridge the floor is 600, and on construction 650. Below 600 on a flip, the honest answer is that we would look at whether the deal works as a rental instead.
Ask any lender that question directly before you authorise anything, and get the answer before you apply, not after.
These are business-purpose loans underwritten on the property. Income verification and debt-to-income ratios are generally not the deciding factors the way they are on a conventional mortgage. What matters is the deal, the reserves and the exit.
Not automatically, but it is a real factor and how recent it is matters a great deal. Say so up front. A lender who learns it in underwriting after an appraisal has been ordered is a lender who has lost time and money, and that never helps your file.
No. These are non-owner-occupied business-purpose loans only. Federal law under Regulation Z bars this kind of lending on a primary residence, and that is not a policy any lender can waive.
Answer these and we will tell you whether it is fundable, on what terms, and how fast it could close. Investment property only — we do not lend on a home you will live in.
We will run the numbers and come back to you. If it is time-sensitive, call 903-636-7511.
Dominion Hard Money arranges private and asset-based real estate financing for business purposes only. Not a commitment to lend. All loans subject to underwriting, property review, and approval. Terms vary by property, borrower experience, and exit strategy.
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