How much bad credit can I have and still get a mortgage?

It depends how poor your credit happens to be. Normally people can get a mortgage, but most of them have to take what is referred to as a "Sub Prime" mortgage loan. A Sub Prime mortgage is best put as a mortgage that requires that you have a higher interest rate because you are considered a greater risk by the investor because of your less than perfect credit history. Some of the types of negative listings that will put you into the Sub Prime category are late payments on credit cards, late payments on car loans, collection accounts, charge offs, repossessions, tax liens, bankruptcies, judgments. Each persons credit situation needs to be evaluated by your mortgage lender to see what can and can't be done to get you into a home. For example, if you have a judgment that is over a year old, you may not need to pay it off in order to get a mortgage. Judgments under $1000.00 do not always need to be paid off before getting into a home.