Until this year, a buyer applying for a conventional mortgage could assume the lender would judge the application on a Classic FICO score. The agencies that oversee the market call the new options the first new credit score models for mortgages in decades, and the choice can affect what a loan costs.
What changed this year
In April, the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would accept VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T, and that the Federal Housing Administration would permit both models for FHA loans. Fannie and Freddie began accepting loans scored with VantageScore immediately, the agencies said.
At the start of September, Fannie- and Freddie-approved lenders were told they could use either Classic FICO or VantageScore 4.0 for eligible conventional loans, HousingWire reported. Lenders must use the same scoring model for all borrowers on a loan.
At first, VantageScore 4.0 scores were priced as if they were 20 points lower, to account for differences between the models. In late September, FHFA Director Bill Pulte said Fannie and Freddie would move to one pricing grid for both scores, which removed that adjustment, according to HousingWire.
Why the model can matter
Fannie and Freddie charge loan-level price adjustments, fees that rise as a borrower’s credit score falls, and lenders pass them on in the rate or the closing costs. With one grid, the same number means the same price whichever model produced it. HousingWire noted that historical data has shown VantageScore 4.0 can produce higher scores than Classic FICO for the same borrowers.
Lenders are already acting on that. Rocket Mortgage said in September that it would use VantageScore 4.0 as its preferred model for all eligible loans. After testing both models on 1.4 million credit reports, it said, VantageScore helped some additional borrowers qualify, and borrowers who saved money through it saved an average of $1,600 at closing. Those are the company’s own figures. United Wholesale Mortgage reported that about 25 percent of its borrowers were getting a more favorable result with VantageScore 4.0.
Pennymac said on Oct. 5 that it had rolled out VantageScore 4.0 across its consumer, broker and correspondent channels. The model uses trended credit data, looking at how a borrower has managed credit over as much as 24 months rather than a single snapshot, HousingWire reported.
See what a private, off-market sale of your home would look like →
Two credit bureaus instead of three
Conventional lenders now combine reports from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, the so-called tri-merge. FHFA plans to direct Fannie and Freddie to accept reports from two bureaus within weeks, a person familiar with the plans told Bloomberg, as reported by HousingWire on Oct. 1. Pulte could announce it at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual convention in Chicago on Oct. 12, and the change would take effect one to three months later, according to the same report.
As of Oct. 5 the agency had not announced it. The Mortgage Bankers Association has pressed for the change, and its chief executive, Bob Broeksmit, wrote in January that the three-bureau requirement “has become a license for price gouging,” Mortgage Professional America reported.
If your loan is a jumbo
These rules govern loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey treats loans of $832,750 or less as conforming. Above that line, a jumbo lender sets its own credit standards and may keep using FICO and three bureaus. At Westport prices, a buyer putting 20 percent down will usually need a jumbo loan, as our rate math shows.
What to do before you apply
- Check all three of your credit reports. Equifax, Experian and TransUnion let anyone check their reports free once a week at AnnualCreditReport.com, the Federal Trade Commission says.
- Ask each lender which score model it will use, which bureaus it will pull and whether it will run both models.
- Compare Loan Estimates from more than one lender on the same day, since a different score can mean a different price.
- If you apply with a co-borrower, remember that the same model must be used for both of you.
Our closing guide covers what comes after the loan is approved.
Sources
- Federal Housing Finance Agency, Homebuying advances into new era of credit score competition, April 22, 2026
- HousingWire, FHFA says Fannie, Freddie will use one LLPA grid for FICO and VantageScore, Sept. 29, 2026
- HousingWire, FHFA set to order Fannie, Freddie to accept two-bureau credit reports, Oct. 1, 2026
- Mortgage Professional America, FHFA’s Pulte expected to announce move to bi-merge credit checks at MBA event, Oct. 2, 2026
- HousingWire, Pennymac deploys VantageScore 4.0 across all production channels, Oct. 5, 2026
- HousingWire, Mortgage applications fall 6% as rates hit highest level in three years, Sept. 30, 2026
- Federal Trade Commission, Free credit reports, accessed Oct. 2026
