Which Credit Score Does a Mortgage Lender Use?

Educational information, not legal or financial advice. Mortgage program and lender requirements can change.

Update — October 3, 2026: pricing aligned, model choice remains

Fannie Mae's September 30 revision of LL-2026-06 aligns loan-level pricing adjustments for Classic FICO and VantageScore 4.0. Its September 30 LLPA Matrix uses shared credit-score and loan-to-value tables instead of separate VantageScore 4.0 grids. Other applicable loan features still affect the adjustments.

The Fannie Mae change applies to whole loans purchased in Purchase Ready status on or after October 1, 2026, and loans delivered into mortgage-backed securities with issue dates on or after October 1, 2026. Those are Enterprise purchase and securities dates, not a borrower's application date.

FHFA's Credit Scores page, updated October 2, reports fee alignment at both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The detailed effective-date explanation here is Fannie Mae's; it does not substitute for Freddie Mac's own guidance.

What did not change: eligible Fannie Mae loans still permit model choice subject to the letter's requirements; manual underwriting still requires Classic FICO. A shared pricing table does not make the models identical or establish the rate a lender will quote a particular borrower. This update does not announce a new two-bureau reporting requirement.

Update — September 14, 2026

Fannie Mae's September 9 Lender Letter LL-2026-06 expands VantageScore 4.0 access for eligible loans to all Fannie Mae-approved lenders without prior written approval. Broader availability is permissive, not mandatory: lenders not operationally ready may continue using eligible Classic FICO models. Manually underwritten Fannie Mae loans still require Classic FICO.

Freddie Mac also records broader availability in its September 9 update. Its September 11 entry concerns Freddie Score historical data, not the expansion date. The detailed rules below are Fannie Mae's; they do not describe every mortgage program.

The September 6 observation below is preserved as history. The present-day explanation has been updated for the new letter.

Historical update — September 6, 2026

On September 3, FHFA Director William J. Pulte said in a post on X that he was instructing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to approve all lenders to use VantageScore, effective immediately. In a separate post, he said FHFA was “seriously considering bi-merge.” That describes the Director's announcement, not updated Enterprise implementation guidance.

At the September 6 check, FHFA's Credit Scores page described approved-lender access, and Fannie Mae's implementation page described a limited rollout with Classic FICO continuing for nonparticipating lenders until approval or broad availability. Those were dated observations, not a statement of today's requirements. The September 9 letter now supplies the broader-availability instructions.

Scope first

This article primarily covers conventional loans delivered to Fannie Mae and the current FHFA-directed credit-score rollout for loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises). A separate FHA update below describes that program's announced timeline. It does not describe every mortgage program or every lender's underwriting standards.

Within that scope, this explanation uses Fannie Mae's Selling Guide together with LL-2026-06. The letter states that DU Version 12.1 has been updated to accept VantageScore 4.0 reports and that the Selling Guide will be updated later.

The short answer

For eligible Fannie Mae loans, a lender may select Classic FICO or VantageScore 4.0, subject to the applicable requirements. The expansion does not require a lender that is not operationally ready to switch. Manually underwritten Fannie Mae loans must still use Classic FICO.

Broader availability does not identify which model a particular lender will use for a particular application.

Classic FICO means three specified versions

When Classic FICO is used for Fannie Mae loans, its specified versions are:

| Nationwide consumer reporting agency | Required Classic FICO version | | --- | --- | | Equifax | Beacon® 5.0 | | Experian | Fair Isaac Risk Model V2SM | | TransUnion | FICO® Risk Score, Classic 04 |

A score based on another model version is not one of these specified Classic FICO versions. Fannie Mae lists the required versions in its current guide.

How Fannie Mae selects a score

Fannie Mae recommends obtaining at least two scores for each borrower. Its representative-score procedure is:

1. With two scores for a borrower, select the lower score.
2. With three scores for a borrower, select the middle score.
3. With more than one borrower, select the lowest applicable score from the group as the representative credit score for the loan.

For example, the middle of 700, 680, and 680 is 680. The middle of 700, 700, and 680 is 700.

A joint application does not average the two borrowers' scores

For multiple borrowers, Fannie Mae says to determine the applicable score for each borrower and select the lowest applicable score from the group as the representative score.

If a borrower does not have a credit score, the guide instructs lenders to determine the representative score from the other borrowers' scores.

A separate calculation for certain manually underwritten loans

For certain manually underwritten transactions, Fannie Mae uses an average median credit score to determine whether a minimum-score requirement is met. That is different from the representative score.

In Fannie Mae's example, borrowers with median scores of 605 and 693 have an average median score of 649, while the representative score remains 605. The guide limits this calculation to certain manually underwritten transactions.

Three repositories and one model per loan

When choosing VantageScore 4.0, Fannie Mae requires lenders to request that model from each of the three credit repositories when ordering a new report. Existing rules for unavailable scores, insufficient credit information, and frozen credit continue to apply.

The same model must be used for all borrowers on a single loan. The letter otherwise retains the existing representative-score and loan-level-score requirements unless it specifies a change.

For context on the records behind scores, see How to Read a Credit Report.

What is next

FHA's separate January 2027 timeline — September 15 update

FHA INFO 2026-21, issued September 10, sets January 1, 2027 for adding VantageScore 4.0 and FICO Score 10T alongside Classic FICO. The TOTAL Scorecard change applies to Title II forward mortgage case numbers assigned on or after that date.

The preparedness guide does not change existing policy; lenders must follow Handbook 4000.1 until formal policy updates appear. This is separate from Fannie Mae's requirements below.

Fannie Mae delivery requirements

LL-2026-06 says FICO Score 10T is not currently eligible for delivery to Fannie Mae; additional guidance will follow when it becomes available. This is not a statement about FHA or another mortgage program.

For lender delivery operations, loans originated using VantageScore 4.0 require Special Feature Code 067. That is a lender reporting requirement, not a consumer action.

Sources

• Fannie Mae — LL-2026-06, VantageScore 4.0 Broad Lender Availability (September 9, 2026; revised September 30; checked October 3)

• Fannie Mae — Loan-Level Price Adjustment Matrix (September 30, 2026; checked October 3)

• Freddie Mac — Credit Score Models and Reports Initiative (September 9 expansion entry; checked September 14)

• FHFA — Credit Scores (updated October 2, 2026; checked October 3)

• HUD — FHA INFO 2026-21 (September 10, 2026; checked September 15)

• Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-5.1-01 — General Requirements for Credit Scores (current guide topic dated April 22, 2026)

• Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-5.1-02 — Determining the Credit Score for a Mortgage Loan (current guide topic dated April 22, 2026)

• Fannie Mae — Credit Score Models and Reports Initiative

AI Credit Copilot provides education, not personalized mortgage, credit, legal, or financial advice.