“I think many lenders are going to wait and see how Fannie and Freddie roll this out, but adoption across the broader market is likely,” he said. “VantageScore has already been used more than 12 billion times in other industries, including by over 2,200 financial institutions. The infrastructure is already in place, and once mortgage investors become comfortable with performance data from newly scoreable borrowers, we’ll likely see a broader shift.”
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— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) July 2, 2025
While the new score will provide underwriters with additional data to consider when reviewing a file, it is only one part of the equation when approving someone for a mortgage.
“Lenders will need time to analyze performance data and calibrate overlays,” Lewis said. “But once they see consistent results from borrowers who were previously invisible, we’ll start to see new products and fewer manual underwrites in edge cases. The score itself is only part of the equation. Lenders will still apply their own risk models, but the change gives them a larger pool of applicants to assess.”
Timetable still up in the air
While Pulte made the announcement on X yesterday, it remains unclear when lenders and brokers can expect to see VantageScore replacing, or in addition to, the FICO score.
“The announcement from FHFA is a major milestone, but widespread lender adoption will take time,” Lewis said. “Lenders need to update AUS integrations, pricing engines, compliance protocols, and investor guidelines. That doesn’t happen overnight. But VantageScore has already gone through a full multi-phase review process by FHFA, including validation and model governance standards. The foundation is already in place.”