>Shiloh Garcia was notified by her bank this month that her credit score had dropped from 720 to 620. She discovered she was more than 90 days delinquent on payments for her $16,000 in student loans, which she had thought were still suspended. Her mortgage broker estimated the lower score would add $400 to the monthly payment for the new home she wanted to buy.

So much doesn't make sense.

If you're trying to buy a house, you really should be on top of all your payments. Student loans in particular are extremely forgiving, you can probably get away with only paying once every 60 days just to make sure it doesn't default .

Why are you buying a house if you're not trying to handle your $16,000 in outstanding student loan debt. She probably has to make a larger down payment to move in ?!