NAR and Partners Urge FHFA be More Flexible on Credit Score Implementation

NAR and a coalition of housing and finance trade associations sent a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) regarding the FHFA's plan to operationalize new credit scores at the GSEs. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac currently only use a version of FICO that was developed in the 1990s. The new credit scores include FICO 10T and Vantage score 3.

The FHFA has released a timeline with vague goals to address and few details. Various groups have indicated that the implementation will take more time as issues continue to arise.

NAR is focused on ensuring the changes happen and that they occur in a safe and sound manner, but has not opined on the mechanics of how the programs are implemented. 

The letter requests:

• A longer, more flexible timeline,
• More engagement between stakeholders and the GSEs/FHFA on problems as they arise, and
• Sharing data on credit score histories to help lenders, servicers, and investors build their understanding of loss probabilities.