WASHINGTON — The Federal Housing Finance Agency said Friday it will give commenters more time to weigh in on a potential update to the credit scoring requirements for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The deadline was extended by a little over a month, from Feb. 20 to March 30, for stakeholders to respond to the agency’s request for input on updating the credit scoring model.
Since 2003, the government-sponsored enterprises Fannie and Freddie have used the Classic FICO score, also known as FICO 5. The FHFA has sought industry feedback on whether an updated model should use the new Fair Isaac Corp. score — FICO 9 — or VantageScore 3.0, or both. VantageScore is a joint venture owned by the three credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
Industry sources had indicated that the GSE regulator was likely to extend the comment period. Among the questions the FHFA asked in its Dec. 20 request for input was what scoring options it should adopt.
“FHFA will consider all information that is provided in response to the RFI, along with supporting analysis and outreach, before reaching any conclusion,” the agency said in its Dec. 20 request. “After FHFA has reached a decision, the Enterprises will work with stakeholders on an implementation plan that will take into account the potentially substantial effort needed to make necessary changes.”
