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Kooky
Builder of Shaka, the payment router that pays every agent their commission on closing date.
About Kooky and Shaka →United Wholesale Mortgage, the wholesale lender based in Pontiac, Michigan, announced on Tuesday 6 October that it will obtain both a FICO score and a VantageScore 4.0 on every credit pull, according to HousingWire. Its system will then use whichever of the two is stronger for each borrower, without the mortgage broker having to choose a model.
As a wholesale lender, UWM reaches borrowers through mortgage brokers. Under the new approach, its system compares the two scores automatically and applies the higher one that meets programme requirements, HousingWire reported. The change arrives about a week after Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac moved to a single pricing grid for the two scoring models, a step that ties the choice of score more directly to what a borrower pays.
UWM's announcement and KBW analysts' figures, as reported by HousingWire on 6 October and 1 October 2026.
What UWM announced
UWM said that pulling both scores and keeping the better one should give borrowers the lowest payment, cheaper mortgage insurance and lower all-in fees, HousingWire reported. Those are the lender's own claims. UWM also said its early research suggests that using every available score could save many borrowers thousands of dollars over the life of a loan; HousingWire's report did not give the figures behind that estimate.
Mat Ishbia, UWM's president and chief executive, framed the change as a way of taking the scoring question off the broker's desk. "No one should have to worry about which credit model wins," he said, as quoted by HousingWire.
HousingWire's report gave no start date. UWM said it will now order both scores, but no effective date was stated. The lender tied the change to the new credit models supported by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and said it would embrace competition in credit scoring where that lowers costs for consumers.
Related readWhy Australia fixes so few home loans, and how the US and Korea differHow UWM got here
This is not UWM's first move on VantageScore. On 29 April, HousingWire reported that brokers working with UWM could already access both FICO and VantageScore for conventional loans, and that brokers using UWM's no-cost credit reports received both models automatically. That arrangement came with limits. The maximum loan-to-value ratio was 80 per cent, and the VantageScore was reduced by 20 points for eligibility and pricing purposes. The broker, not the borrower, chose which score to use.
The October change differs on two points. The comparison is now automatic, made by UWM's system rather than by the broker. And it follows the end, at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, of pricing that applied the FICO grid to VantageScore at 20 points higher.
UWM is not alone in rethinking its default. HousingWire reported that Rocket Mortgage said in the preceding week that VantageScore 4.0 would become its default credit model for eligible loans, including conforming loans delivered to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, starting in the fourth quarter of 2026. In a four-month test of 1.4 million credit reports scored with both models, Rocket found that some additional borrowers qualified, and that borrowers who saved by using VantageScore saved an average of US$1,600 at closing, according to the same report. UWM has taken a different route: rather than switch its default from one model to the other, it orders both and keeps the higher.
The policy behind the change
The groundwork was laid in Washington over several years. In 2018, Congress passed the Credit Score Competition Act, which requires the Federal Housing Finance Agency to set up a process for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to validate more advanced credit score models, according to the agency. In October 2022, the agency validated FICO 10T and VantageScore 4.0 for use by the two companies. For decades, mortgages sold to the two companies had required a single model, Classic FICO, the agency says.
Related readSingapore home loans: LTV, TDSR and MSR limits, HDB loan or bank loanThe first four steps below come from the agency's credit score policy page; the last is UWM's announcement.
- 8 July 2025The agency announces an interim policy letting lenders use either VantageScore 4.0 or Classic FICO.
- 22 April 2026VantageScore 4.0 is implemented through a limited rollout to approved lenders.
- 9 September 2026VantageScore 4.0 opens to all approved lenders without prior written approval.
- 30 September 2026Upfront credit fees are aligned across Classic FICO and VantageScore 4.0.
- 6 October 2026UWM says it will order both scores on every pull and use the stronger.
The April step was announced jointly by Scott Turner, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and William J. Pulte, the agency's director. Their release said the Federal Housing Administration would permit VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T as eligible models for insured mortgages, and that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were updating their selling guides to accept loans scored with VantageScore from approved lenders immediately.
Classic FICO has not gone away. The agency's policy page states that it remains an approved model for loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and that it is expected to be retired at a future date, with no retirement date announced. FICO 10T is approved and planned for future use, but is not yet eligible for delivery. The agency has also said the addition of VantageScore 4.0 does not by itself change the companies' credit reporting requirements; its plans for the number of bureau reports are a separate track.
How a score changes the price of a loan
The reason the choice of score matters lies in how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac price the loans they buy. Both charge upfront fees known as loan-level price adjustments, set from a grid. In Fannie Mae's matrix dated 30 September 2026, each row of the grid for purchase loans is a credit score band, from 780 and above down to 639 and below, and each column is a loan-to-value band. The cell where a loan's score and its loan-to-value ratio meet gives the base charge for that loan.
Related readRefinancing or repricing a Singapore home loan: lock-in, fees and testsThe gap between bands is wide. For a purchase loan with a loan-to-value ratio between 75.01 and 80 per cent, the matrix sets the charge at 0.375 per cent for a score of 780 or above, and at 2.25 per cent for a score between 640 and 659. A loan delivered with no credit score is charged at the lowest band. The score that counts is the "representative" credit score for the loan, as defined in Fannie Mae's Selling Guide.
The matrix also shows the shift to a single grid. Its column headers now read Classic FICO or VantageScore 4.0, and its change log records that separate VantageScore grids were added on 9 September and removed on 30 September. William J. Pulte, the agency's director, had announced the move to one pricing grid on Monday 28 September, HousingWire reported, and the agency's policy page dates the published fee alignment to 30 September.
Before that alignment, the grid calibrated for FICO applied to VantageScore at 20 points higher, HousingWire reported on 1 October. In practice, a VantageScore had to be 20 points above a FICO score to land in the same price band. HousingWire gave a worked example of the change, without stating the loan-to-value ratio or other loan details behind it.
| Score used | Before alignment | Single grid |
|---|---|---|
| Classic FICO of 700 | 1.5% | 1.5% |
| VantageScore 4.0 of 720 | 1.5% | 1.25% |
Illustrative example published by HousingWire on 1 October 2026; loan-to-value ratio not stated. Before alignment, a VantageScore of 720 was priced as a FICO score of 700.
Under the single grid, a VantageScore that is higher than the FICO score, by enough to cross a band boundary, places the loan in a cheaper row. Where the FICO score is the higher of the two, UWM's approach would apply the FICO score.
Related readHow a Singapore bank counts your income and debts for a home loanCredit scores also appear in the mortgage insurance section of Fannie Mae's matrix. For loans with a loan-to-value ratio above 80 per cent, the matrix includes a minimum mortgage insurance coverage option whose own charges vary by credit band, from 0.125 to 2 per cent in the 80.01 to 85 per cent loan-to-value band, depending on the score. UWM did not publish figures to support its claim of cheaper mortgage insurance.
Who it concerns
For borrowers, the practical change is that the scoring model is no longer a choice they or their broker need to make at UWM. The lender says it will apply the stronger score that meets programme requirements. Whether that makes a difference depends on the borrower's own two scores and on whether they fall in different bands of the grid.
For mortgage brokers, the change removes a step. Under the April arrangement, a broker comparing the two models had to weigh a VantageScore reduced by 20 points. Under the new approach, UWM's system makes that comparison itself. Ishbia said the goal was to put borrowers in the best possible position while making it easier for brokers to do business.
For real estate agents, the effect is indirect. The figures published so far come from lenders rather than from independent studies: Rocket's test reported savings at closing for some borrowers and additional borrowers qualifying, and UWM has given only its own estimate. How often the stronger score changes a buyer's terms in practice is not yet known from public data.
Related readUAE home loans after signing: rate resets, fees and early settlementOne model applies per loan. The agency's policy page says lenders may choose which credit score model to use on each loan they deliver, but must use the same model for all borrowers on that loan. Picking the stronger of two models therefore means choosing one model for the whole file.
What comes next
The numbers suggest the shift is still at an early stage. KBW analysts found that VantageScore accounted for 5.5 per cent of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac originations in September, flat on August, HousingWire reported on 1 October. Rocket and UWM together made up 95 per cent of that VantageScore volume, with VantageScore penetration of 34 per cent at Rocket and 24.9 per cent at UWM.
The single grid is expected to raise those figures. Bill Killmer, senior vice president for legislative and political affairs at the Mortgage Bankers Association, said there was no question it would increase use of VantageScore, according to HousingWire. HousingWire also reported an analysis by Pivot Financial of about 22.8 million matched Freddie Mac loans, which found that about 68.7 per cent of the historical VantageScore population would get improved pricing under the aligned grid.
Not everyone in the industry is settled on the change. Lenders at the Mortgage Banking Summit raised questions about how investors in mortgage-backed securities will treat loans priced on VantageScore, HousingWire reported, and Killmer said members' first reaction was that it would take time to implement. KBW analysts described the combined grid as a backdoor reduction in loan-level price adjustments, HousingWire reported.
Further steps are already on the agency's list. FICO 10T is approved and awaits a delivery date, and Classic FICO is expected to be retired at a date not yet set.
Kooky, from Shaka
Kooky edits Agents Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for real estate professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.
