What brokers need to know about potential changes to credit pull requirements
The cost of mortgages has been at the forefront of everyone’s mind, especially this year. As affordability challenges persist in the industry, leaders are seeking ways to save customers money.
One of the areas under the most scrutiny this year has been the cost of credit reporting. It has led to GSEs accepting VantageScore 4.0 and to FICO changing its pricing model. But those in the industry want to take this a step further, even if one credit bureau warns it might keep people from qualifying for mortgage loans.
Bob Broeksmit, president and CEO of Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), discussed the idea of getting rid of the tri-merge credit pull in the mortgage industry at the organization’s annual event in Las Vegas.
“We're also working closely with FHFA on credit scores and reporting,” Broeksmit said. “The good news is that FHFA has already unleashed new competition by opening the door for lenders to soon begin using VantageScore. Now we're pushing to fix credit reporting, which matters even more. To put it bluntly, we want to end the mandate that a tri-merge report be provided on every loan, regardless of the risk profile.”
Meanwhile, Satyan Merchant, senior vice president, mortgage and automotive at TransUnion, warned it might keep people from getting approved.
“The data consistently shows that more information means more opportunity for homebuyers,” Merchant said. “A ‘single-pull’ environment creates significant risk that strong borrowers will lose access to credit, while additional at-risk borrowers find themselves in a mortgage they can’t afford.”
Pros: Reducing credit costs
Broeksmit said the hope was that making the move would reduce credit costs for mortgage customers and lenders.
“This single move will increase choice and lower costs for lenders and for millions of borrowers,” he said. “You'll be happy to hear that administration officials are hearing us out. They want to make home buying more affordable for more Americans, and we share that noble and urgent goal.”
He said they have been working on the issue for more than two years. The MBA argues that requiring all three credit scores creates a situation in which those bureaus could charge whatever they wanted. Lenders and brokers would have no other option.
“It is not right that the government grants an oligopoly and requires you all to get three reports from the only three companies that provide such reports,” Broeksmit said. “Costs keep going up, and as far as I can tell, the value is kind of the same as it was when it wasn't so costly.”
In addition to the cost savings, Broeksmit cited a Fannie Mae report stating that the majority of the loans purchased were from well-qualified borrowers, and that pulling three credit reports would not be necessary.
“A recent Fannie Mae report said that the loans they purchased that quarter had a weighted average credit score of 757, 75% of them had a score over 740, and only 6% had a score of 680 or below,” he said. “You can't tell me that all those loans need three different credit reports and three different scores.”
Cons: Borrower qualification errors
TransUnion recently released its own report stating that consumers and taxpayers would lose billions under a single-bureau reporting model.
It said that over four million creditworthy borrowers could lose mortgage eligibility under a single-pull model, while others could face higher interest costs due to incomplete credit data.
The report also said single-pull proposals introduce risk, stating that “credit score volatility and cherry-picking of reports could lead to mispriced loans, increased default risk, and threats to the safety and soundness of the mortgage market.”
“In the long run, that creates fresh risks for investors and threatens the safety and soundness of a mortgage market with tremendous taxpayer exposure,” Merchant said.
TransUnion’s report stated that 31% of customers experienced a shift of more than 10 points in a single-pull environment. And not only could four million customers now fail to qualify in the single-pull situation, but 300,000 may now qualify for a mortgage who wouldn’t under a tri-merge, raising the risk of defaults.
Peter Idziak of Polunsky Beitel Green warns that reduced CFPB enforcement has opened the door for varied state actions. He advises lenders to engage proactively with state AGs who may lack mortgage expertise but wield broad enforcement power.https://t.co/uHyF0IMSBh
— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) October 28, 2025
Both sides are interested in seeing where future advances in credit reporting go. They will keep an eye on Fannie and Freddie for any regulatory changes, even if they don’t necessarily agree on what those should be.
“Instead of limiting the information available to assess a borrower, the mortgage industry should continue to seek out new and innovative ways to leverage the data insights that help identify more creditworthy borrowers,” said Merchant. “That’s consistent with regulatory guidance and a desire to help more Americans safely achieve the goal of homeownership.”
Stay updated with the freshest mortgage news. Get exclusive interviews, breaking news, and industry events in your inbox, and always be the first to know by subscribing to our FREE daily newsletter.
