A
new
report
by

IDIQ®,
a
financial
intelligence
company,
details
top
consumer
credit
concerns
provided
by

mortgage,
real
estate,
and
lending
professionals
as
well
as
borrowers 
themselves.
The
research
included
surveys
of
more
than
100
mortgage
and

real
estate
professionals,
more
than
200
prospective
borrowers,
and
a
study
of
proprietary
data
of
more
than
20,000
IDIQ
consumers
with
credit
scores
less
than
700.

The
report,
titled
“The
Modern
Credit
Challenge:
Mortgage
&
Real
Estate
Professional
&
Consumer
Research,”
highlights
credit
health
needs
from 
IDIQ
partners
and
consumer
insights.
The
report
also
introduces
a
solution
with
IDIQ’s
newly
launched
credit-building
tool,
CreditBuilderIQ®,
based
on
the
feedback
provided.

Identifying
the
gap:

Non-prime

credit
files
comprise
more
than
100
million
consumers
in
the
United
States.
This
is
a
substantial
market
share
of 
borrowers,
and
regardless
of 
their
credit
profiles,
their
dreams
of
homeownership
and
favorable
interest

rates
are
obtainable
–
although
increasingly
challenging
due
to
the
interest
rate
environment,
pinched
consumer
finances,
and
credit
profile
pressures.
During
the
last
decade
there
has
seen
a
crop
of

fintech
and
analytics
tools
released
to
help
consumers
optimize
rates
and
take
control
of
their
credit,
but
what
are
consumers
saying?

The
top-three
identified
concerns
consumers
have
when
it
comes
to
their
credit:

1. Not
   knowing
   how
   to
   strengthen
   their
   credit
   profile
2. Catching
   up
   on
   late
   payments
3. Having
   inaccuracies
   on
   their
   credit
   report

Eighty-two
percent
of
those
surveyed
noted
they
want
to
learn
more
about
how
to
improve
their
credit
scores, 
and
59%
said
they
plan
to
purchase
a
car
or
home
in
the
next
year.
Despite
an
ever-increasing
number
of
online
tools,
consumers
still
express
a
desire
for
more
guidance.

Next,
IDIQ
analyzed
proprietary
data
of
more
than
20,000
IDIQ
consumers
with
credit
scores
less
than
700.
Some
highlights:

• 76%
  have
  at
  least
  two
  derogatory
  marks
  on
  their
  credit
  report
• 74%
  have
  non-optimal
  credit
  utilization
• 67%
  have
  a
  debt
  collection
  on
  their
  report
• 41%
  have
  less
  than
  five
  tradelines
  in
  their
  profile

Consumers
have
various
types
of
reasons
that
are
hindering
their
ability
to
qualify
for
a
mortgage
or
a
favorable
rate,
including
lack
of
information
and
guidance,
poor
habits,
poor
credit
utilization,
derogatory
and
collection
accounts,
and
more. 
Each
borrower’s
situation
is
unique
and
tackling
each
one
optimally
requires
a
personalized
touch. 

As
the
third
area
in
our
investigative
journey,
IDIQ
surveyed
industry
partners,
given
their
alignment
in
solving
consumer
credit
challenges.

As
IDIQ
surveyed
industry
partners,
ranging
from
mortgage
professionals,
real
estate
agents,
and
lenders,
we
found
the
following:

• 75%
  want
  to
  refer
  clients
  to
  DIY
  credit-building
  solutions
• 70%
  want
  the
  ability
  to
  track
  clients’
  credit
  progress
• 50%
  wish
  current
  credit-building
  tools
  offered
  a
  consumer
  score
  plan
  and
  goals
  to
  improve
  scores

Tying
it
together:

A
large
percentage
of
borrowers
are
not
qualifying
for
mortgages
or
optimal
rates
due
to
credit
challenges.
In
today’s
economy,
these
credit
challenge
are
reaching
historic
highs.
Despite
new
advances
in
analytics
and
credit
offerings,
consumers
have
not
found
a
tool
that
effectively
ties
together
various
credit
optimizing
tools.
At
the
same
time,
mortgage
professionals
and
lenders
are
interested
in
transparent,
effective,
plan-based
tools
to
help
borrowers
achieve
the
dream
of
home
ownership. 

IDIQ
commissioned
this
report
because
our
mortgage,
real
estate,
and
lending
partners
asked
for
a
credit
management
tool
to
educate
their
own
clients
about
establishing,
building,
and
growing
their
credit.
At
the
same
time,
we
also
identified
trends
among
our
consumers
that
indicated
those
who
were
educated
about
their
credit
profiles
were
able
to
take
proactive
steps
to
improve
their
credit
scores.

Because
mortgage,
real
estate,
and
lending
professionals
as
well
as
consumers
requested
a
platform
that
offers
personalized
credit-building
tools,
we
created
CreditBuilderIQ.
The
platform
offers
AI-driven
interactive
credit
analysis;
personalized
score
factors;
credit
reports
and
scores
from
all
three
major
credit
bureaus;
tools
to
resolve
credit
report
inaccuracies;
utility
reporting;
rental
reporting
(coming
soon);
secured
card
and
builder
loan
guidance;
and
for
business
partners,
the
ability
to
set
score
thresholds
and
receive
score
trigger
alerts.

For
more
information
or
to
download
“The
Modern
Credit
Challenge:
Mortgage
&
Real
Estate
Professional
&
Consumer
Research,”
visit

www.creditbuilderiq.com/new-report-modern-credit-challenge-consumers.

Bryan
Sullivan
is
the
Chief
Operating
and
Financial
Officer
at
IDIQ.

Surya
Pochareddy
is
the
Executive
Vice
President,
Strategy
at
IDIQ.

This
column
does
not
necessarily
reflect
the
opinion
of
HousingWire’s
editorial
department
and
its
owners.

To
contact
the
editor
responsible
for
this
piece:



[email protected]

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