Improving a credit score could save homebuyers tens of thousands of dollars in mortgage interest, according to a new nationwide study from AD Mortgage, released on Thursday. The analysis, Credit Score vs. Mortgage Cost: How Long It Takes to Improve and How Much It Can Save, State by State, shows that even modest gains in […]
Minor FICO score improvements can ease homebuying costs Read More »
Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors.Want unlimited access to top ideas and insights? Subscribe Now In a December 2025 letter to Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, the Mortgage Bankers Association noted that “the current GSE requirement to obtain a report from each of the three credit
Why the tri-merge credit mandate is hard to defend Read More »
At a time when lack of affordability is a major issue for prospective homebuyers, eliminating minimum credit score requirements in GSE automated underwriting may sound like a great idea to expand credit access. However, there’s a reason the GSEs had such requirements in place for decades. They acted as an important override against errors in the analytical
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Kevin Bell, a mortgage broker at Oakmont Lending, had to adjust to a different approach to handling credit report costs when he joined the company from a retail lender earlier this year. Oakmont charges borrowers upfront, while Stockton Mortgage Corp., where Bell worked for about three years as a branch manager, follows the industry standard
Rising credit report costs may push mortgage industry toward upfront fees Read More »
Credit report prices for mortgage lenders will increase by up to 50% in 2026, despite regulatory efforts to boost competition and recent pricing shifts by some players, resellers told HousingWire. It will mark the fourth consecutive year of higher costs. The increase is tied to credit reports that originate with FICO information and flow through
Mortgage credit report costs could jump 50% in 2026 Read More »
Credit bureau TransUnion has followed its peers in slashing prices for mortgage lenders that purchase VantageScore 4.0, responding to Fair Isaac Corp. (FICO)’s newly implemented pricing model. Starting in 2026, TransUnion will offer VantageScore 4.0 for $4 per score and provide it at no cost to lenders that purchase a FICO score through the end
TransUnion cuts VantageScore 4.0 pricing for mortgage lenders Read More »
Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors. The political conversation in Washington about credit scores has reached a new level of absurdity. This is hardly a surprise, however, since the Trump Administration has targeted housing affordability as a national priority. But the conversation about housing in the nation’s capital
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Equifax announced changes to its pricing strategy following Fair Isaac Corp. (FICO)’s rollout of a new program that allows tri-merge resellers to calculate and distribute its scores directly to mortgage lenders. The credit bureau said it will offer VantageScore 4.0 – a direct competitor to FICO — at $4.50 per score through the end of
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Fair Isaac Corp.’s (FICO) decision to let resellers calculate and distribute its scores directly to lenders drew a mixed response from the mortgage industry — viewed by some as a step toward more competition, but by others as a potential driver of higher credit score costs in the short term. On Wednesday, FICO unveiled the
FICO’s new program draws mixed reviews from mortgage market Read More »
Fair Isaac Corp. is rolling out a new program that lets mortgage resellers bypass the three major credit bureaus Equifax, Experian and Transunion and deliver its FICO credit scores directly to lenders, a shift the company says will bring down costs. The announcement drew cautious optimism from industry trade groups. The move avoids any additional
FICO’s new pricing program met with cautious optimism Read More »