Fannie Mae rolls out new scores

Fannie Mae has started letting some lenders use a new mortgage credit score, VantageScore 4.0, and says FICO 10T will follow later. (fanniemae.com) The change was announced April 22, 2026, in a Selling Guide update that adds VantageScore 4.0 and FICO Score 10T as approved models for loans delivered to Fannie Mae. VantageScore 4.0 is available now through a limited rollout to approved lenders; FICO 10T is slated for a later phase. (fanniemae.com) Mortgage lenders usually buy a three-bureau credit report and use the score to help decide whether a borrower qualifies and what terms they get. Fannie Mae said the new options will be used within that existing three-in-file merged credit report workflow, not through a separate process. (fanniemae.com) This shift has been building for years. The Federal Housing Finance Agency approved both VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in October 2022, after decades in which older Classic FICO models dominated the conventional mortgage market. (fhfa.gov) The regulator says the newer models use more recent data and can incorporate additional information, including rent payment history, to predict mortgage risk more accurately. FHFA said in its April 22 update that lenders will eventually be required to deliver both FICO 10T and VantageScore 4.0, when available, on single-family loans sold to the enterprises. (fhfa.gov) Fannie Mae also said historical loan acquisition data for both VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T will be published this summer. The agency and lenders use that kind of back data to test how a new score would have performed before a broader rollout. (fanniemae.com) Federal officials paired Fannie Mae’s move with a broader push across government-backed housing finance. FHFA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development said April 22 that the Federal Housing Administration will also permit VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T for FHA-insured underwriting. (fhfa.gov) The mortgage industry’s response was supportive but guarded. HousingWire reported that trade groups and lenders want firm timelines, pricing details, and operating instructions before they retool systems that touch underwriting, compliance, and loan sales. (housingwire.com) That caution reflects how technical the switch is. Fannie Mae’s own credit-score initiative page says more implementation details will be released through updated playbooks, and the company is still working with Freddie Mac and FHFA on next steps. (fanniemae.com) For borrowers, the immediate effect is limited because only approved lenders are in the first wave. The bigger test comes this summer, when historical data and fuller operating guidance are expected to show how fast these new scores move from pilot to standard practice. (fanniemae.com)