VantageScore issues statement in response to Fannie Mae announcement of changes to Desktop Underwriter

October 19, 2015

VantageScore Solutions, LLC, the company behind the VantageScore® credit scoring model, today issued a statement in response to Fannie Mae’s announcement of planned changes to its automated mortgage-underwriting tool, Desktop Underwriter.

VantageScore Solutions is proud to be the catalyst for innovations occurring in the consumer credit risk management industry, and we are encouraged that Fannie Mae is moving towards upgrading the antiquated systems that have unfairly excluded millions of consumers for many years. Despite few details on their plans, many previously unscoreable borrowers may be positively impacted by Fannie Mae’s decision to facilitate automated underwriting for consumers with limited credit histories, which is an area that VantageScore has pioneered through its model architecture and usage of alternative data.

It is imperative that along with its upgrades, Fannie Mae preserve the competition that has led to these new innovations and ensure that no single branded model developer can monopolize the market. Moreover, it is extremely important that whatever models are used in the future have been validated and are “recession-tested” to ensure safety and soundness.

We will continue to work with the GSEs and FHFA, as well as the broad coalition of those who support competition in the credit scoring marketplace, to achieve these goals.

About VantageScore Solutions

VantageScore Solutions, LLC (www.vantagescore.com) is the independently managed company that owns the intellectual property rights to the VantageScore credit scoring models, including the VantageScore 3.0 model. VantageScore 3.0 has the capacity to score 30 – 35 million consumers who were previously unscoreable. Initially developed by America’s three national credit reporting companies — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — VantageScore Solutions’ highly predictive models use an innovative, patented and patent-pending tri-bureau scoring methodology that provides lenders and consumers with more consistent credit scores across all three CRCs. In 2014, nearly one billion VantageScore credit scores were used by over 2,000 lenders and other industry participants, including six of the ten largest banks.