Fannie Mae announced changes that will allow lenders to opt to use VantageScore 4.0 this year, as reported by National Mortgage News. This shift is a crucial step forward in allowing Fannie Mae to reach and approve an expanded group of borrowers through trended repayment data.
Fannie Mae is preparing its web-based PoolTalk technology to service the VantageScore 4.0 option announced by the FHFA in July. The government-sponsored enterprise will update its disclosure files with new or renamed fields, letting sellers and servicers opt for the more modernized VantageScore 4.0 or the pre-existing Classic FICO metric. These updates are expected to become effective on November 17, 2025.
Director Bill Pulte has rebranded the FHFA as U.S. Federal Housing and has emphasized VantageScore 4.0’s ability to evaluate borrowers based on their rent payment histories. In contrast, legacy consumer credit scores focus more narrowly on borrower debt obligations.
Scores like VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T also aim to improve traditional credit scoring by considering trended data that shows how consumers pay over time rather than just looking at a snapshot of how they handle their obligations at a specific point.
Differences between the two models include VantageScore’s greater comfort with scoring borrowers for the first time more immediately than FICO 10T. Consumers get higher scores for having a history of managing their obligations, as tracked reliably by three credit bureaus.
For more information on VantageScore 4.0 implementation, please visit VantageScore’s Mortgage landing page.
