It can. Fannie Mae's automated system can take a history of rent payments into account when it is visible in your credit report or in twelve months of bank data, provided the payments are regular and at least $300 a month. Fannie Mae describes this as a change that can only help. Paying US rent from a US account for a year before you buy creates exactly that record.

US Mortgage Without a US Credit Score: Your Options

Q: Why does my European credit history not count?

Because a US credit score is calculated from a US credit file, and a US file only contains accounts reported by US lenders. Experian states plainly that credit from other countries does not transfer, and Equifax says you need credit with a US company that reports to it before a US file exists. The bureaus share brand names with their European arms, but the files are separate.

Q: How quickly can I build a US score?

A FICO score, the kind mortgage lenders use, needs at least one account that has been open for six months and has been reported in the last six. So the clock starts when your first US credit account opens. Open one in your first weeks, use it lightly and pay it in full every month. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau suggests keeping use below 30% of your limit.

Q: Can I get a mortgage before I have a score?

It is possible. Fannie Mae's automated system has no minimum score, and can assess a borrower with no score at all, in some cases using twelve months of bank account data to look at cash flow and rent payments. If a loan is underwritten by hand using non-traditional credit, it must be for a one-unit main home, your total debt payments may not exceed 36% of income, and you need twelve months of reserves unless you can document a housing payment history. Whether to offer these routes is the lender's decision.

Q: Will a lender look at my credit report from home?

Fannie Mae's guide says that where a non-US citizen lacks enough US credit references, the lender must use credit references from foreign countries to reach the required number, and that borrowers with foreign credit reports must be manually underwritten. In practice that means more work for the lender and tighter limits for you, so some lenders decline. Bring your national credit report and ask the question at the start.

At a glance

Figures last checked: 3 October 2026

Does European credit transfer?: No. US credit files hold only what US lenders report.
Time to a first score: A FICO score needs one account open for at least six months and reported within the last six.
Minimum score: Fannie Mae no longer sets a minimum score for loans assessed by its automated system. Manually underwritten loans need 620 for a fixed rate.
No score at all: Possible, with conditions. The manual route is limited to a one-unit main home, with a lower debt limit and reserves.
Foreign credit: Fannie Mae's guide tells lenders to use credit references from other countries where US ones are missing. Such files are underwritten manually.
What scores measure: Payment history 35%, amounts owed 30%, length of history 15%, credit mix 10%, new credit 10% (FICO).

How a US credit score works

A credit score is a prediction of how likely you are to repay, calculated from the information in your credit reports. Most scores run from 300 to 850. The FICO model, which mortgage lenders rely on, weighs five things: your payment history (35%), how much you owe (30%), how long you have had credit (15%), the mix of credit types (10%) and recent applications (10%).

Nothing in that list is about income or savings, and nothing reaches across the Atlantic. The three US bureaus hold only what US lenders report to them. A newcomer is therefore what the industry calls credit invisible: there is no file, so there is no score.

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Three ways a lender can deal with it

1. The automated route, without a minimum score

Most loans are assessed by Fannie Mae's Desktop Underwriter. It no longer requires a minimum credit score: it weighs the whole file. Where no borrower has a score, it can still assess the loan. If your credit report shows at least one account, there is no restriction on the purpose of the loan or how you will occupy the home. If it shows none, the loan must be a purchase of a main home that all borrowers will live in. With twelve months of verified bank account data, the system can also look at your cash flow and at rent payments.

2. The manual route, with non-traditional credit

A human underwriter can build a credit profile from other payment records, such as rent, utilities and insurance, and Fannie Mae's guide tells lenders to use credit references from foreign countries where a non-US citizen does not have enough US ones. The price is tighter limits: a one-unit main home only, no loans above the standard limit for the area, total debt payments of no more than 36% of income, and twelve months of reserves unless you can document a history of housing payments.

3. A loan outside the standard rules

Lenders that keep loans on their own books can set their own credit policy. Some accept a credit report from your home country or references from your bank. These loans tend to cost more and ask for a larger down payment. They are also the route for buyers who do not live in the United States at all: see foreign national loans.

Which of these a lender offers is its own choice, and plenty of lenders only do the first. Ask before you apply, because an application that is declined helps nobody.

Building a US score from the first week

Open a US bank account as soon as you have an address, and have your salary paid into it.
Get one credit card. If you are refused an ordinary card, a secured card works: you deposit a sum, for example $500, and that becomes your limit.
Use it lightly and pay in full. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau advises staying below 30% of the limit. Payment history is the largest part of the score.
Consider a credit-builder loan, a small loan designed to create a payment record while you save.
Pay rent from your US account every month, so there is a clean twelve-month record.
Avoid a burst of applications. New credit is part of the score.

After six months with one open, reported account you will have a FICO score. It will be thin, with only one account behind it, but it moves you from the routes above into ordinary lending.

What to bring from Europe

Your home-country credit report will not be scored, but it is evidence, and under the manual route it is evidence a lender is told to use. Request it before you leave: every country has a register or bureau that gives individuals their own data, often free. Our country guides name the right body for the Netherlands, Germany, France, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Poland, Sweden, Portugal and the United Kingdom. Add twelve months of bank statements showing rent or mortgage payments, and have everything translated into English.

Buy now or wait?

There is a real choice here. Buying in your first months means using a no-score route, with a narrower set of lenders and, on the manual route, a cap of 36% on debt payments against income. Renting for a year gives you a score, twelve months of documented US rent and a US tax return, which between them remove most of the obstacles on this page. In fast-moving markets the wait has a cost. A mortgage scan can show which side of that trade-off you are on.

Your first six months

Request your credit report from home before you leave.
Open a US bank account and one credit card in your first weeks.
Pay the card in full each month and stay under 30% of the limit.
Pay rent from your US account and keep the statements.
Ask lenders which route they offer: automated without a score, manual with non-traditional credit, or their own programme.
Keep savings aside for reserves, since some routes require up to twelve months of payments.
Check your first score after six months.

Questions people moving from Europe ask

Why does my European credit history not count?

How quickly can I build a US score?

Can I get a mortgage before I have a score?

Will a lender look at my credit report from home?

Does rent count?

Continue your research

Sources (13)

Figures and rules on this page were checked against these sources on 3 October 2026. Rates, prices and local rules change, so confirm anything you rely on before you commit.

Made, reviewed and approved by Bas Terpstra, AFM- and PGN-certified
Basterpstra B.V., Drachten, the Netherlands (AFM 12050993)

Who made this guide. Bas Terpstra makes, reviews and approves every guide, using AI tools and public sources as a starting point. Rules and figures change, so treat this as general information and confirm the details for your own situation.

This page is general information, not personal financial, legal, tax or immigration advice. Nothing here is an offer, and no rate, loan amount, approval or visa outcome is promised. Mortgage availability is subject to immigration status, income, credit, appraisal and lender criteria, and lending, tax and local rules change. Consult a licensed US lender, an immigration attorney and a cross-border tax adviser. Any property securing a loan may be at risk if payments are not made.