You should have put that in quotes since you copied and pasted it from a website.
Yes, I know this but have fun finding a lender that will give you a loan with a score under 620. I may not know every single in and out of mortgages but I have two of them and I just asked a mortgage lender this exact question a few months ago. He said 620 for FHA, anything else, he shops as subprime or doesn't even bother with at all. To get an FHA with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, you need a 620. And as was said above and which I totally agree with, the FHA itself may not have a minimum but if the lenders do, that's what matters. You aren't applying to the FHA for a loan but when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest FHA lenders, have something as a minimum, you're going to have a hard time getting around it.
http://www.housingwire.com/2009/12/0...-score-to-620/
http://www.azmortgageguru.com/min-cr...-fha-va-loans/
If you don't have a 620, you shouldn't be buying a house. You should be saving money and fixing your credit.
Also, FHA loans are not just used for people who cannot qualify for conventional mortgages, they are mostly used for people who do not have a large down payment. The FHA minimum down payment is 3.5% while banks and other lenders may require 20%. FHA loans are also heavily used by first time buyers who do not have equity in a home to use as a down payment on their new home.
I worked in auto finance over a decade ago and since then I've had two mortgages and one refi. Over ten years of home ownership, I've learned a lot. I may not know it all, but I know enough and I try to learn more as the rules and regulations change. Being an accountant, anything that involves money gets my attention. I'm actually quite happy about the recent changes in the loan industry. I think people need to start seeing home ownership as something to work for and not something they can just walk away from when they can't take it anymore. I'm certainy happy about it because I just closed on my second house last month and paid $80,000 less than the original listing. Brand new home inside the perimeter... yay housing crunch! lol