This article examines whether deteriorating credit scores may have posed a barrier to mortgage refinancing during the Great Recession of 2008–09 and its immediate aftermath. The authors find that in general, as long as borrowers kept up with their mortgage payments, their credit scores did not fall significantly over this period. Hence, credit scores are not likely to explain why certain borrowers with sufficient home equity did not refinance their mortgages.
Chicago Fed Letter,
No. 355,
2016
Mortgage Refinancing during the Great Recession: The Role of Credit Scores