Consumers WiIl Have Access to FICO Scores

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2015 

Bank of America and J.P. Morgan Chase, two of the largest lenders in the U.S., have agreed to start showing some of their borrowers their FICO scores for free. FICO scores are a key metric lenders use to decide who to lend to and what interest rate to charge.

President Barack Obama announced the move on Monday at the Federal Trade Commission, emphasizing the importance of making these "once-secretive scores" more transparent to millions of consumers. In February 2014, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau called on large credit-card lenders to make credit scores more available to consumers. CFPB says it received complaints from consumers who couldn't access their credit score.

FICO scores are used in about 90 percent of consumer-lending decisions, according to financial services research firm CEB TowerGroup. Consumers can purchase some of their scores, but everyone has several FICO scores — and they can't necessarily see the one the lender is using.

By knowing their credit score, consumers can take steps to improve it over time, which may result in greater loan savings and making credit more available to them, financial experts note.

Bank of America says that it will begin providing its consumer credit-card users with their FICO score later this year. Ally Financial plans to offer car-loan customers their score in February and roll it out to all customers in the summer. Chase plans to offer FICO credit scores at no charge to the roughly 10 million users of its "Slate" credit card.

FICO, through its growing list of partnerships, told The Wall Street Journal that it expects nearly 60 million consumers in the U.S. to soon have access to their FICO scores.

Source: “Millions More to See Their FICO Scores,” The Wall Street Journal (Jan. 12, 2015)

FICO Scoring Changes May Help More Qualify for Mortgages

 

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | MONDAY, AUGUST 11, 2014

FICO, the nation’s most popular credit-scoring system, announced it is tweaking some of the criteria used in coming up with consumers’ scores, which could help consumers save more money in qualifying for mortgages and other types of loans.

The changes include reducing the toll that overdue medical bills can take on credit scores, as well as removing other past penalties from consumers who have paid off debts that had been assigned to collection agencies. A consumer whose only major delinquency comes from an unpaid medical bill could see their credit score rise by 25 points due to the changes.

The changes come after a recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau study, which found that both paid and unpaid medical debts were unfairly penalizing consumers’ credit ratings. An estimated 64 million Americans have a medical collection item on their credit reports, according to Nick Clements of Magnify Money, a personal finance site.

The FICO changes will go into effect this fall, but borrowers may have to wait a year or more until they see the impact of the changes in their scores, lenders say.

The changes may help consumers with blemished past credit histories or high medical debts qualify for mortgages more easily. Consumers with higher scores also might qualify for a lower rate, housing experts say.

"In recent years the [credit score requirement] has been dialed so tightly that only fairly upper-tier consumers were able to qualify for a loan," says Lawrence Yun, National Association of REALTORS®’ chief economist. "We're looking at people who are currently being denied potentially being offered a mortgage because of this."

In June, the average FICO score for a closed mortgage was 728, a drop from 742 a year prior, according to data from Ellie Mae, a company that processes mortgage applications for lenders. FICO scores range from 300 to 850.

Borrowers with higher FICO scores can usually expect to pay less in interest on a loan. A borrower with a FICO score of 675 may nab a 4.75 percent interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, which would be about  $2,086 a month in payments on a $400,000 loan, according to Informa Research Services. In comparison, a borrower with a 700 FICO score may qualify for a rate of 4.212 percent, which could drop the monthly payment to $1,959 and bring a $127 savings.

The credit scoring changes will not remove any unpaid debts from a credit report, so some lenders may still be able to factor that information into their lending decision.

“This move will ultimately make a real difference in the lives of millions of Americans, who have been shut out of the housing market or forced to pay higher mortgage interest rates because of flawed credit scores,” Steve Brown, NAR’s president, said in a statement. “Since the housing crash, overly restrictive lending has been the greatest obstacle to home ownership. NAR will continue to support efforts to broaden access to credit for qualified homebuyers.”

In other news, two of the big national credit bureaus Experian and TransUnion recently reported they’ve  added verified rental payment data into credit files, which will be used to compute a consumers’ score when applying for a mortgage. A recent TransUnion study showed that the inclusion of rental data could raise some consumers’ scores. For example, nearly 20 percent of renters’ scores rose by 10 points or more after just one month.

Source: “New FICO Criteria Could Help Borrowers,” Los Angeles Times (Aug. 8. 2014) and “Experian, TransUnion Start Adding Rent Payment Data to Credit Profiles,” Los Angeles Times (Aug. 10, 2014)

More Banks Lower FICO Score Requirements

Daily Real Estate News | Tuesday, March 25, 2014

More banks are lowering minimum FICO score requirements in an attempt to shore up lending for underserved borrowers.

Carrington Mortgage Services is the latest company to announce that it has lowered its minimum FICO score to 550. It also has expanded guidelines on several FHA, VA, and USDA loan programs to aid those with FICO scores below 640.

Wells Fargo, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, said in February that it was lowering its minimum FICO score requirements on FHA-backed mortgages from 640 to 600. The move, bank officials said, was aimed at “opening up our credit box more.”

One in three consumers have a FICO score below 650, according to Carrington. The lender is refocusing its business on targeting the underserved segment and eliminating conventional and jumbo loans. It is limiting its acceptance of wholesale submissions with FICO scores above 680 starting April 1, except for VA loans, HousingWire reports.

“Effectively meeting the needs of clients in the underserved market requires the ability to both originate quality loans and appropriately service them after the fact,” says Ray Brousseau, executive vice president of Carrington's mortgage lending division. “Both Carrington’s lending platform and specialty servicing business were created to serve this particular market segment. That uniquely positions us as the lender of choice for this population of borrowers and the mortgage brokers and real estate agents who work with them. Our message is clear: You can count on Carrington to serve the underserved and get the tough loans done right.”

Source: “Carrington Ups Ante on Wells Fargo by Lowering FICO Standard,” HousingWire (March 24, 2014)