Rocket adopts VantageScore 4.0

Rocket Mortgage has started using VantageScore 4.0 in mortgage underwriting, a change that follows an April federal policy shift allowing newer credit-score models into agency-backed home lending. VantageScore said on June 1 that the model is now available to borrowers applying directly through Rocket Mortgage and through brokers working with Rocket Pro. The company and VantageScore said the model can incorporate rental, utility and other alternative payment data that older mortgage scoring systems often miss. The move puts one of the country’s largest lenders into the first wave of mortgage companies using the newer score in production. ### Why is Rocket able to use this score now? The Federal Housing Finance Agency said on April 22 that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were updating their selling guides to accept VantageScore 4.0 from approved lenders, while the Federal Housing Administration said it would also permit VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T for FHA-insured underwriting. FHFA Director William J. Pulte and HUD Secretary Scott Turner described the move as the first adoption of new mortgage credit-score models in decades. (vantagescore.com) Fannie Mae said approved lenders can immediately use Equifax, Experian and TransUnion versions of VantageScore 4.0, while Freddie Mac issued parallel guidance with the same effective date. Both agencies said lenders that are not approved must continue using classic FICO for now, and both said FICO Score 10T will come later. ### What changes in the actual credit decision? (fhfa.gov) VantageScore said its 4.0 model uses alternative and trended data, including rent payments, utility bills and longer payment-history patterns, alongside traditional credit information. Rocket Mortgage’s own consumer education materials say the newer models look back over as much as 24 months rather than relying only on a single snapshot when credit is pulled. (singlefamily.fanniemae.com) Bill Banfield, chief business officer of Rocket Companies, said the lender was “opening the door to millions of aspiring homeowners” by adding VantageScore 4.0 to both its direct-to-consumer and Rocket Pro channels. Tony Hutchinson, VantageScore’s head of public affairs, said the model reflects “the full picture” of consumer financial behavior through rental and trended data. (vantagescore.com) ### How many more borrowers could this affect? VantageScore said its model can generate scores for about 94% of U.S. adults, or as many as 33 million more Americans than competing models. The company has argued in prior research that consumers with thin credit files, including renters whose on-time housing payments are reported, are among the groups most likely to become newly scoreable or more competitive under the model. (vantagescore.com) VantageScore said in a November 2025 analysis with Esusu that adding positive rental-payment data improved predictive performance by 11% and that renters who reached a 620 score with rental data performed similarly to borrowers who reached 620 without it. That research came from VantageScore, not from Rocket or the federal agencies. (vantagescore.com) ### Does this replace FICO for mortgages? Rocket Mortgage said in a May 20 consumer explainer that it was participating in a limited pilot of VantageScore 4.0 for conforming conventional and VA loans, while classic FICO remained the standard model used across much of the market. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also said classic FICO remains in place for lenders that have not yet been approved to deliver VantageScore-assessed loans. (vantagescore.com) FHFA said the broader federal rollout also includes FICO Score 10T, but the agencies’ current guidance says that model will be implemented later. In practice, that means the mortgage market is entering a period where multiple approved score models can coexist, depending on lender approval and loan channel. ### What should borrowers and brokers watch next? (rocketmortgage.com) Rocket Mortgage said VantageScore 4.0 is already available through its retail channel and through Rocket Pro’s broker network. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said additional guidance will continue as lenders seek approval to deliver loans using the new model, and both agencies said FICO Score 10T implementation is still ahead. (fhfa.gov) The next concrete milestone is lender rollout, not another policy vote. Borrowers who think rent or utility history could help them may need to ask whether their lender, broker and loan program are already set up to use VantageScore 4.0. (vantagescore.com)