The Mortgage Bankers Association, American Bankers Association, Housing Policy Council, and Structured Finance Association released the following joint statement on the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) recent announcement on credit scores:

"FHFA Director Pulte’s July 8 directive to the GSEs to adopt a modernized credit score, VantageScore 4.0, was a promising first step to our shared goal of a more efficient, more transparent, and more competitive credit scoring system that serves as many creditworthy Americans as possible.

"The transition to a competitive market for credit scores raises a number of implementation questions and concerns that the GSEs will need to address before they can take delivery of loans that rely on new scores – including Vantage Score 4.0 and/or FICO 10T – for pricing or eligibility. Credit score standards are embedded throughout the mortgage ecosystem and the incorporation of Vantage into that ecosystem will require the GSEs to provide lenders, investors, and other market participants critical implementation guidance.

"Our organizations stand ready to partner with the GSEs to resolve these questions quickly. Strong and fast collaboration between GSEs and industry stakeholders will be necessary to realize the vision of true competition for credit scores and lower costs for consumers. We look forward to working together."