A rise in mortgage interest rates has led to a decline in people applying for home loans and homeowners refinancing.

Adding this competitor created by the big three credit bureaus likely means credit score prices will go up, not down.

With Trump’s tax overhaul now in the rearview mirror, a potential Freddie and Fannie conservatorship release could move up the docket.

A top housing finance regulator announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would allow lenders to use the traditional FICO score or one from a rival, VantageScore.

The mortgage market is stronger than ever before, and that includes Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Both businesses, and both management teams, get stronger by the day,” Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William J.

Since 2012, almost all Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s profits have gone to the Treasury, more than repaying the cost of the bailout. Under conservatorship Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have contributed slightly more than $ 300 billion to the Treasury.

The regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac wants to allow mortgage lenders to use an alternative credit score to FICO for borrower applications.

Seventeen years after the 2008 bailout, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac remain under federal conservatorship, with a future that’s yet to be defined. And that limbo helps shape how every conforming loan is priced,

Private mortgage insurers must accept the FICO alternative as valid collateral before it can be widely adopted by the mortgage industry.