Mortgage (and other loan) qualification is increasingly being done by means of "credit scoring." This is a mathematical analysis which considers many different aspects of your credit history -- late payments, delinquencies, tax liens, etc -- and expresses it as a single number, or "grade."

This system will "score" your credit using the number of late payments you have on various credit accounts. This isn't a true score, but will give you a pretty good idea of how you'd fare. Different lenders count late payments older than 12 months against you; And different lenders may assign you a higher or lower score, depending on their internal underwriting requirements.

* This is an approximate rating. Different lenders may grade you somewhat higher or lower, depending on their internal underwriting requirements. Also, the elements which influence your credit rating are often subject to interpretation. There may be mitigating factors, such as a layoff for example, which are not likely to reoccur.