Your Lender Can Now Choose VantageScore 4.0

All Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac approved lenders may now use VantageScore 4.0 when originating and selling eligible loans to the Enterprises. The Federal Housing Finance Agency confirmed that on 9 September 2026, “removing the requirement for prior written approval.”

That is the whole change in one sentence. The second sentence that matters almost as much: the choice is made loan by loan. FHFA states that “the Enterprises will allow lenders to determine which credit score model (Classic FICO or VantageScore 4.0) to use on each loan they deliver.”

Last reviewed: 11 September 2026.

What changed on 9 September 2026

This is a story that has moved four times in fifteen months, so here is the dated sequence straight from the FHFA credit scores policy page, which itself carries a “Last updated: September 9, 2026” stamp.

Date	What happened
24 October 2022	FHFA announced the validation and approval of two new models, FICO 10T and VantageScore 4.0
8 July 2025	FHFA announced an interim policy letting lenders use VantageScore 4.0 or Classic FICO through the tri-merge requirement
22 April 2026	Implementation began through a limited rollout with approved lenders only
1 July 2026	The Enterprises published historical FICO 10T scores for loans acquired April 2013 through September 2025
9 September 2026	Availability expanded to all approved lenders, prior written approval removed

Freddie Mac’s own credit score models page carries the same 9 September 2026 entry in plainer language: “Effective immediately, all Sellers may now use VantageScore 4.0 when originating and selling eligible mortgages to the GSEs without prior written approval.”

So the gate that existed from 22 April to 8 September 2026, where only lenders in the rollout could offer VantageScore 4.0, is gone.

Can my lender use VantageScore 4.0 for my mortgage?

Yes, any Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac approved lender may now use it. Whether your specific lender has actually turned it on is a separate question, and the only reliable way to find out is to ask the loan officer directly which model they will pull.

Two rules govern how the choice works, and both come from FHFA:

1. Loan by loan is allowed. A lender may run Classic FICO on one file and VantageScore 4.0 on the next.
2. Borrower by borrower is not. FHFA is explicit: “Lenders will be required to use the same credit score model (Classic FICO or VantageScore 4.0) for all borrowers on a given loan.”

That second rule matters for couples buying together. If one borrower scores better under VantageScore 4.0 and the other scores better under Classic FICO, no lender can mix and match. One model applies to the whole application.

Ask the question early, because the answer determines which number you should be watching. Our guide to what credit score mortgage lenders use covers how the pulled scores get turned into a qualifying number.

What did not change on 9 September 2026

Four things stayed exactly where they were, and each one is a checkable fact rather than an opinion.

Tri-merge is still in effect. FHFA states that “the inclusion of VantageScore 4.0 credit scores will not change the Enterprises’ current credit reporting requirements (e.g., tri-merge/bi-merge credit reporting).” A lender electing VantageScore 4.0 requests that score from all three nationwide credit bureaus, exactly as it does with Classic FICO. If you want the history of why the third bureau nearly went away, read bi-merge versus tri-merge credit reports.

Classic FICO is still approved, with no retirement date. In FHFA’s words: “Classic FICO is expected to be retired at a future date, but no retirement date has been announced.” FHFA also commits to giving advance notice before any change to Classic FICO eligibility takes effect.

FICO 10T still cannot be delivered. More on that below.

Nothing about your underwriting guidelines moved. Minimum score thresholds, loan level price adjustments and program eligibility are set by the Enterprises and by individual lenders, and the 9 September announcement did not touch them.

How is VantageScore 4.0 different from Classic FICO?

The two models both run on a 300 to 850 range and both read the same credit file. They disagree on what counts.

	VantageScore 4.0	Classic FICO	FICO 10T
Minimum file age to produce a score	As little as 1 month of credit history	Typically 6 months with an active account	Not applicable, cannot be delivered
Data window	24 months of trended data	Static, point in time snapshot	Trended data
Rent, utility and telecom payments	Used as alternative data when reported	Not used unless reported as a normal tradeline	Not applicable, cannot be delivered
Paid collections	Does not factor them in	May ignore them; also disregards collections with an original balance under $100	Not applicable, cannot be delivered
Unpaid medical collections	Ignored	Scored as collections, subject to the $100 rule	Not applicable, cannot be delivered
Hard inquiry grace window	14 days, applied to more credit types including cards	A rate shopping window for auto, student and mortgage inquiries only, see the caveat below	Not applicable, cannot be delivered
Mortgage eligibility as of 11 September 2026	Eligible at all approved lenders	Eligible, no retirement date announced	Not currently eligible for delivery

Sources for the model rows: Equifax, “What is the Difference between VantageScore 4.0 and Classic FICO Scores?” (retrieved 11 September 2026), and VantageScore Solutions, “Trended Credit Data Attributes in VantageScore 4.0”, October 2017. The eligibility row comes from FHFA’s credit scores page as updated 9 September 2026.

One row needs a caveat, because the sources disagree. Equifax describes Classic FICO as using a 45 day rate shopping window. FICO is narrower: the 45 day window belongs to “the newest versions of the scoring formula,” while older versions use “any 14-day span.” The Classic FICO scores used in mortgage lending are older versions, so treat 14 days as the working assumption. The breadth is not in dispute: VantageScore 4.0 applies its window to more credit types, including cards.

Two of those rows are doing most of the work for real borrowers.

The one month versus six months line is the difference between having a mortgage score and having none at all. Equifax states that VantageScore 4.0 can generate a score with as little as one month of credit history, where Classic FICO typically requires at least six months with an active account, and that VantageScore 4.0 lets lenders “accurately assess approximately 33 million more consumers than other commercially available credit score models.”

The medical collections line is the quiet one. VantageScore 4.0 ignores unpaid medical collections. Classic FICO scores them, with only the under $100 original balance carve out. For a buyer whose hospital bill is large enough that it still shows as a collection on the report, that single difference can change which model presents them better.

Is FICO 10T allowed for mortgages?

No. FHFA’s position as of 9 September 2026 is direct: “FICO Score 10T is not currently eligible for delivery, and the Enterprises will provide additional guidance when FICO Score 10T becomes available for loan deliveries.”

FICO 10T is not rejected, it is queued. It was validated and approved alongside VantageScore 4.0 on 24 October 2022, it remains an approved credit score model, and FHFA describes it as “planned for future use by the Enterprises.” The Enterprises published historical FICO 10T scores on 1 July 2026 covering loans acquired from April 2013 through September 2025, which is the kind of groundwork that precedes adoption rather than follows it.

If a lender or a headline tells you FICO 10T is available for your mortgage today, that is wrong. Here is what FICO 10T and trended data actually are if you want the model detail.

Does VantageScore 4.0 count my rent?

Only if your rent is being reported to the credit bureaus. The model can use it. The data has to exist first.

Equifax describes VantageScore 4.0 as using “trended data” and “alternative data,” such as rent, utility, and telecom payments, and states that Classic FICO typically does not. That is the whole of the model side. Nothing in the 9 September change adds rent to your file.

The practical gap is that most landlords do not furnish rent data to the bureaus on their own. Twelve months of perfect rent payments are invisible to every scoring model unless a reporting service puts them on your file. If you are twelve to eighteen months out from applying, rent reporting for mortgage approval is worth reading before you pay for a service, because coverage differs by bureau and a score only moves where the data actually lands.

Does this cut both ways?

Yes, and anyone telling you VantageScore 4.0 is simply a higher score is selling something.

Trended data means VantageScore 4.0 reads direction, not just position. VantageScore Solutions describes its trended attributes as “measuring the magnitude and direction of a consumer’s credit health in the last three to 24 months of time,” built from patterns such as “the number of balance decreases or the increase in a borrower’s utilization.” A file where balances have crept up every month for two years carries that fact into the score. Classic FICO does not see the trend at all, only today’s number.

So the honest framing is a set of trade-offs, not an upgrade:

• May help you: thin file, credit history under six months, paid collections on record, unpaid medical collections, reported rent or utility history
• May hurt you: balances trending upward over 24 months, rising utilization, a recent run up in balances that a single point in time snapshot would not show
• No effect either way: the underwriting rules, your debt to income ratio, your down payment, your reserves

There is no automatic score increase attached to 9 September 2026, and nobody can guarantee you one. What changed is which yardstick may be used, not the measurement of your file.

What does this cost, and who pays for it?

Credit scores are a wholesale input that lenders buy and then pass through to you as part of the credit report fee at closing, so pricing fights upstream do reach the closing table.

FICO’s own Mortgage Direct License Program page sets out two structures. A performance based model charges a $4.95 royalty per score plus a $33 per borrower per score funded loan fee when a FICO scored loan closes. Alternatively, in FICO’s words, “lenders may opt to continue using the current per score only pricing model, which maintains a $10 per score fee into the tri-merge resellers.” FICO does not label either structure with a year.

Equifax reads that as a price increase, and the characterization is Equifax’s, not ours. In a statement dated 2 October 2025, Equifax wrote: “FICO has more than doubled its previously disclosed pricing for 2026, raising prices from $4.95 to $10. This monopoly-like 2x price increase has the potential to raise mortgage score costs across the industry by approximately $100 million.”

Equifax priced its own response in a separate October 2025 announcement: VantageScore 4.0 mortgage credit scores at $4.50 through the end of 2027. Chief executive Mark Begor put that at “over 50% below FICO’s aggressive 2026 $10 pricing” and said Equifax is “committed to holding the $4.50 score pricing for two years to give lenders the confidence they need to convert.”

Two caveats before you do arithmetic on your own closing costs. First, these are per score wholesale figures, and a tri-merge file involves three bureaus and every borrower on the loan. Second, whether a lender passes a saving through, absorbs it, or leaves the credit report fee unchanged is a lender by lender decision that no announcement controls.

What should I do before applying?

The model choice is your lender’s. The file both models read is yours.

1. Ask which model your lender will pull. One question, asked before the hard pull, and it tells you which number to track.
2. Pull all three reports at AnnualCreditReport.com. Both models read bureau data, and an error sitting on one bureau drags whichever model gets run.
3. Check your medical collections specifically. They are the single largest scoring difference between the two models for ordinary borrowers.
4. Watch the direction of your balances, not just the level. Under VantageScore 4.0 a 24 month climb is visible even if today’s balance looks fine.
5. Do not open new accounts inside the run up. The VantageScore 4.0 inquiry grace window is 14 days and applies to more credit types, including cards.
6. If your file is thin, get rent reported early. Reported data takes months to accumulate before it is worth anything to a model.

For how the pulled scores become the number underwriting actually uses, see the middle mortgage score explained.

The short version

• 9 September 2026: all Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac approved lenders may now use VantageScore 4.0, and prior written approval is gone
• The lender picks the model loan by loan, but must use one model for all borrowers on the same loan
• Tri-merge did not change. Classic FICO is still approved with no retirement date announced
• FICO 10T is still not eligible for delivery, despite being validated on 24 October 2022
• VantageScore 4.0 scores a file as young as 1 month, uses 24 months of trended data, can count reported rent, and ignores paid collections and unpaid medical collections
• It cuts both ways: rising balances score worse under trended data, and there is no automatic increase
• FICO’s Mortgage Direct License pricing is $4.95 plus a $33 funded loan fee, or $10 per score on the per score only model; Equifax prices VantageScore 4.0 at $4.50 through the end of 2027

Credit Booster AI reads all three of your credit reports, flags the errors that drag your file under either model, and tracks what actually changes month to month. Plans start at $9.99 with a 7-day free trial on Plus.

Sources

1. Federal Housing Finance Agency, Credit Scores policy page, last updated 9 September 2026. fhfa.gov/policy/credit-scores
2. Freddie Mac Single-Family, Credit Score Models, entries dated 9 September 2026, 1 July 2026 and 22 April 2026. sf.freddiemac.com/general/credit-score-models
3. Fannie Mae, Credit Score Models and Reports Initiative and Lender Letter LL-2026-06, effective 9 September 2026. singlefamily.fanniemae.com/originating-underwriting/credit-score-models
4. Equifax, What is the Difference between VantageScore 4.0 and Classic FICO Scores?, retrieved 11 September 2026. equifax.com newsroom
5. Equifax, Statement on FICO 2X Price Increase for 2026 and Mortgage Direct License Program, 2 October 2025. equifax.com newsroom
6. FICO, FICO Mortgage Direct License Program pricing page. ficoscore.com/mortgagedirectlicense
7. VantageScore Solutions, Trended Credit Data Attributes in VantageScore 4.0, October 2017. Hosted copy, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
8. FICO, Credit Checks and Inquiries, consumer education page, for the 14 day and 45 day rate shopping windows. myfico.com
9. Equifax, Equifax Announces VantageScore 4.0 Mortgage Credit Score Pricing, October 2025, with the Mark Begor quotations as reported by Scotsman Guide, Equifax counters FICO direct license program with bold pricing plan. equifax.com newsroom, scotsmanguide.com

Every source listed above was opened and checked on 11 September 2026. This page will be re-reviewed when FHFA or the Enterprises publish the next change, including any FICO 10T delivery date or any Classic FICO retirement notice.