USMI joined a coalition of industry trade associations and consumer advocate groups in sending a joint trade letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) in response to the agency’s March 23 announcement regarding the implementation plan for the adoption of the FICO 10T and VantageScore 4.0 credit score models, as well as the bi-merge credit reporting policy, by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The coalition recommends that the credit score policy implementation plan should be adjusted to include a comprehensive, transparent, and iterative stakeholder engagement process, as well as robust data transparency, specifically including the release of long-term historical datasets for Classic FICO, FICO 10T, and VantageScore 4.0. The organizations also call for the FHFA to provide a recalibrated timeline that accommodates data analysis and modeling, as well as stakeholder feedback on the costs, complexity, consumer impact, and policy implications of the transition. Click here to read the letter.

The letter’s signatories include:
American Bankers Association, Center for Responsible Lending, Community Home Lenders of America, Consumer Bankers Association, Credit Union National Association, Housing Policy Council, Independent Community Bankers of America, Leading Builders of America, Mortgage Bankers Association, National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions, National Association of Home Builders of the United States, National Association of REALTORS®, National Housing Conference, Reinsurance Association of America, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, and Structured Finance Association.