B3-5.1-01, General Requirements for Credit Scores (09/01/2021)

Credit Score Versions

Credit scores are required for most mortgage loans purchased or securitized by Fannie Mae. The classic FICO credit score is produced from software developed by Fair Isaac Corporation and is available from the three major credit repositories. Fannie Mae requires the following versions of the classic FICO score for both DU and manually underwritten mortgage loans:

• Equifax Beacon® 5.0;

• Experian®/Fair Isaac Risk Model V2SM; and

• TransUnion FICO® Risk Score, Classic 04.

The lender must request these FICO credit scores for each borrower from each of the three major credit repositories when they order the three in-file merged credit report. If the borrower’s credit file includes complete and accurate information to ensure the validity of the credit score, the lender does not need to further evaluate the borrower’s creditworthiness.

Minimum Credit Score Requirements

The following table describes the minimum credit score requirements:

See  B3-5.1-02, Determining the Representative Credit Score for a Mortgage Loan for additional information.

Exceptions to the Minimum Credit Score Requirement

Certain transactions are not subject to the minimum credit score requirement, including:

• loans where no borrower has a credit score (see Section B3–5.4, Nontraditional Credit History);

• manually underwritten HomeReady mortgage loans that include a borrower with a low credit score (see B5-6-02, HomeReady Mortgage Underwriting Methods and Requirements); and

• high LTV refinance loans, except for those loans underwritten using the Alternative Qualification Path.

DU Credit Score Requirements

Credit scores are not an integral part of DU's risk assessment because DU performs its own analysis of the credit report data. However, lenders must request credit scores for each borrower from each of the three credit repositories when they order the three in-file merged credit report, described in B3-5.2-01, Requirements for Credit Reports. If one or two of the credit repositories do not contain any credit information for the borrowers who have traditional credit, the credit report is still acceptable as long as

• credit data is available from one repository,

• a credit score is obtained from that repository, and

• the lender requested a three in-file merged report.

If the transaction does not meet the above requirements, refer to Section B3–5.4, Nontraditional Credit History, for underwriting and eligibility requirements for DU loans in which one or more borrowers do not have a credit score.

Calculating the Average Median Credit Score 

For certain casefiles, DU will use an average median credit score in place of the representative credit score to determine whether the minimum credit score requirement is met.

The following examples demonstrate how DU will calculate the average median credit score that applies to the minimum credit score requirement above.

Frozen Credit Requirements

If the borrower’s credit information is frozen at one of the credit repositories for borrowers who have traditional credit, the credit report is still acceptable as long as

• credit data is available from two repositories,

• a credit score is obtained from at least one of those two repositories, and

• the lender requested a three in-file merged report.

Loans for borrowers with credit data frozen at two or more of the credit repositories will not be eligible whether underwritten manually or in DU.

Loan-Level Price Adjustments Based on Credit Score

Loan-level price adjustments (LLPAs) are assessed based on the “representative” credit score for the loan, in addition to other eligibility and loan features. See the Loan-Level Price Adjustment (LLPA) Matrix for additional information about LLPAs, including information about how LLPAs are assessed for loans that include borrowers without a credit score.