Hard money underwrites the deal rather than your tax returns, but "bad credit" is not one thing, and which loan you can get depends on which number is actually broken.
The real floors, by loan type
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 minimums on our lending partners' programs, so you can see immediately where you stand.
| Loan | Minimum credit | What it qualifies on |
|---|---|---|
| DSCR rental loan | No minimum | The property's rent against its payment |
| Fix and flip or rehab | 600 | Cost, after-repair value and the exit |
| Bridge | 600 | Value and the exit |
The line worth reading twice is the first one. Our lending partners' DSCR rental loan has no minimum credit score, because it qualifies on whether the property's rent covers its payment rather than on your personal file. It lends from $75,000 to $2 million, up to 80 percent of value on a purchase or rate-and-term refinance. If your credit is genuinely damaged and you are buying something that rents, that is the door.
For context on where those numbers sit: Fannie Mae dropped its fixed 620 minimum for loans run through its Desktop Underwriter system in November 2025 (manually underwritten loans still need 620), but many conventional lenders still hold a floor around 620, and Fannie Mae's pricing grid charges more at every step down the score bands. Hard money lenders each set their own floors. A score under 600 narrows the field noticeably, and a strong score still earns better leverage and pricing.
Which is the honest framing: credit shapes your terms, and on a short-term loan it sets a floor, but it is rarely the whole story.
What actually gets a file declined
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 struggles regardless of your score.
No reserves. Lenders want to see liquid funds that could carry several 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 cash cushion can be a weaker file than one at 610 with months of costs in the bank.
An after-repair value nobody else believes. The loan is sized against value. If your 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 paid for an appraisal.
Have a deal on the table?
Send the address, the numbers and your exit. Our lending partner's team reviews it and tells you whether it fits and on what terms. The lender makes every credit decision.
Using the loan to get back to conventional
This is the strategy most borrowers with damaged credit are actually looking for, and almost nobody writes it down plainly.
Take a short-term bridge or flip loan on a deal that stands on its own merits. Execute it. During that window, work the credit file deliberately: pull your free reports, dispute errors, pay down revolving balances, let recent late payments age. When the score clears the conventional lender's floor, commonly around 620, with room to spare for better pricing, refinance into conventional or a DSCR loan and retire the short-term 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: our lending partners' standard pricing on fix and flip and bridge is 12.99 percent plus 2.99 points, 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.
Things you should be suspicious of
Borrowers with credit problems attract the worst operators in this industry, so it is worth naming the patterns.
"No credit check." Legitimate hard money lenders look at your credit. Not always as a pass or 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.
Approval promised before anyone has seen the deal. Nobody can commit to a loan before seeing the property, the numbers and the exit. Real lenders take real risk on every loan, and that is exactly why they underwrite. The Federal Trade Commission lists a promised loan regardless of credit history as a classic sign of an advance-fee scam.
A large fee before anyone reads your deal. An appraisal or a credit report is a real cost with an invoice behind it. A substantial payment to "secure" or "lock in" funding before you have written terms is not. Ask, in writing, exactly what service the fee buys: there is a real answer for an appraisal and none for a commitment you have not been given.
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.
What our lending partners offer
Dominion Hard Money does not lend its own funds; it arranges financing through third-party lending partners. Their fix and flip, rehab and bridge loans start at $50,000, with a 600 minimum credit score, up to 100 percent of cost and up to 70 percent of after-repair value, whichever limit is reached first. Standard pricing starts at 12.99 percent plus 2.99 points. Borrowers who have paid off two loans with the lending partner in good standing can qualify for loyalty pricing of 10.99 percent plus 1.99 points, which is why the second and third deals are easier than the first.
Their DSCR rental loans have no minimum credit score, as covered above. Every program is for non-owner-occupied investment property held in an LLC or corporation, and the lender decides every file on its own review.
Keep reading
What lenders require · DSCR loans · Loan calculator · How to vet a lender
Get your deal reviewed
Answer these and your deal goes to our lending partner's team, who will contact you about whether it is fundable and on what terms. By sending it you agree to your details being shared with them. Investment property only: our lending partners do not finance a home you will live in.
Got it.
Thank you. Your details are on their way to our lending partner's team, who will contact you shortly.
Credit questions investors ask
What is the lowest credit score for a hard money loan?
Through our lending partners, fix and flip, rehab and bridge loans need a 600 minimum score. Their DSCR rental loans have no minimum, because the property's rent carries the file. Other lenders set their own floors.
Can I get a hard money loan with a 550 credit score?
Not on our lending partners' flip or bridge loans, which require 600. If the property will rent, a DSCR loan with no minimum score is the route to look at, and the lender reviews the rent, the value and your cash rather than the score alone.
Will applying for a hard money loan hurt my credit?
Ask whether the lender uses a soft or a hard pull before you authorize it. A hard inquiry can have a small, temporary effect on your score, and you should know which one you are agreeing to before you apply, not after.
Do hard money lenders verify my income or employment?
These are business-purpose loans underwritten on the property. Pay stubs, tax returns and debt-to-income ratios are generally not the deciding factors the way they are on a conventional mortgage. What matters is the deal, your cash reserves and the exit.
Can I get a hard money loan after a bankruptcy or foreclosure?
It is not automatically a no, but it is a real factor and how recent it is matters a great deal. Say so up front. A lender who learns about it in underwriting after an appraisal has been ordered has lost time and money, and that never helps your file.
Can I use a hard money loan to buy a house I will live in?
Not through our lending partners. Their programs are for non-owner-occupied investment property only. A loan on a home you live in is consumer credit, which comes with federal ability-to-repay and disclosure rules that these business-purpose programs are not built for.
Sources
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-5.1-01, general requirements for credit scores, the 620 minimum that still applies to manually underwritten loans (accessed Oct 2026)
- Fannie Mae, Loan-Level Price Adjustment Matrix, price adjustments that rise as credit score bands fall (accessed Oct 2026)
- AnnualCreditReport.com, free credit reports from the three national bureaus (accessed Oct 2026)
- CFPB, What is a credit inquiry?, the difference between hard and soft inquiries and their effect on scores (accessed Oct 2026)
- Federal Trade Commission, advance-fee loan scams, loans promised regardless of credit and upfront fees as warning signs (accessed Oct 2026)
- CFPB, Regulation Z 12 CFR 1026.43, ability-to-repay rules for consumer loans secured by a dwelling (accessed Oct 2026)
- Orrick InfoBytes, Fannie Mae removes minimum credit score for loans using Desktop Underwriter (Nov 2025), the 620 floor dropped for DU loan casefiles created on or after November 16, 2025 (accessed Oct 2026)
Dominion Hard Money does not lend its own funds; it arranges financing through third-party lending partners. All financing is arranged for business purposes only and secured by non-owner-occupied investment property. Not a commitment to lend. All loans subject to underwriting, property review, and approval by the lender. Terms vary by property, borrower experience, and exit strategy.