You need to have a firm understanding of the minimum credit score for auto loan — applying for a car loan without such basic knowledge will hurt your chances.

Minimum FICO credit score requirements for store credit cards are different for approval from store to store. While credit card companies do not disclose their credit requirements, we can estimate credit requirements for a particular card based upon surveys of previous applicants’ experiences applying for the particular credit card.

Understand that a 600 credit score will not bring you reasonable mortgage offers. While you may have an option or two, you will not find a choice that mirrors the home loan rates you read about. You might find a lender willing to offer you a mortgage if you can strongly defend the circumstances that caused your depressed credit score. Your best option, in these circumstances, is an FHA loan.

A move by Wells Fargo Bank to lower the bar for certain government-backed mortgages is stirring hopes of home-ownership among people with credit scores battered by the recession. The San Francisco-based bank, which is the country’s biggest mortgage lender, said recently that it would begin accepting scores of 600, down from 640, for FHA and VA loans, which require as little as a 3.5 percent down payment.