Washington, D.C. — The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) today released the following statement in response to FHFA Director Pulte’s announcement that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would open up VantageScore to all lenders.
“CHLA commends FHFA Director Pulte for his announcement today that VantageScore will be available for all lenders,” said Rob Zimmer, CHLA’s Director of External Affairs. “This is a decisive action to increase competition and save mortgage borrowers money, in the face of a credit score market in which FICO has too long had a monoply.”
CHLA has long made reform in this market a top priority. It published a White Paper in April of 2024 asking for lenders to have a choice between FICO and VantageScore.
CHLA also published credit score market price updates in April 2024 and April 2026 showcasing how FICO price increases created stresses in mortgage markets.
CHLA sent a letter to Director Pulte in July 2025 commending progress in this area but warning of large FICO price hike in Fall of 2025, which in fact did occur.
In April of this year, CHLA sent a letter to Director Pulte commending the first steps of VantageScore adoption and urging FHFA to expand VantageScore to a wider marketplace, while also asking the Director to:
- Direct Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to establish their own subsidiaries to evaluate borrower creditworthiness using their internal data and analytics
- Remove references to “Fair Isaac” from GSE guidelines and replace them with generic credit score requirements
This April 2026 letter also warned that “CHLA is predicting another major round of FICO price hikes this Fall for 2027, perhaps by as much as 50% from today’s prices.”
| About the Community Home Lenders of America |
| The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) is the only national non-profit association that exclusively focuses on small and mid-sized community-based mortgage lenders. The mission of the CHLA is to promote federal mortgage programs, rules, and regulations which treat community mortgage lenders fairly, and which reflect the critical importance that community mortgage lenders play in providing broad access to credit for borrowers, in increasing competition in mortgage markets, and in providing borrowers with quality mortgage services and access to loans at a local level. Learn more at communitylender.org and follow CHLA on LinkedIn and X. |