AArgh! (Loan troubles)

[professionalhenchman]

So, we got a message from our lender today, and there's a bit of a problem.  Since we're only able to get a 10% down payment, we need PMI (mortgage insurance for the bank) to get a loan.  However, as of *this week* the companies that provide said PMI have changed their standards so that Sarah's credit score is too low and we can't get the insurance.  Without that, we're stuck trying to come up with an additional $37,500 - not so doable.  One possible ray of hope - our lender is passing our info on to her contact at FHA to see if we qualify for one of their loans, since they don't require PMI.  We won't know until tomorrow at the soonest since she only found this out this afternoon and we only got to talk about it this evening.  So, keep your fingers crossed for us.
    Also, is there any way to get an aboslutely binding commitment for a loan before fidning a house one wants to buy?  Because if this falls through, I'm going to get very cranky about the whole idea of "prequalification".  I mean, if this had been the case from the outset, we'd simply have waited, but as it was, we took the prequalification in good faith that it meant we'd be able to get a loan if we met the terms as far as money we'd have to come up with on our part.  However this turns out, some congresscritters are getting an annoyed note from me in the near future.