FHFA and HUD officially greenlight VantageScore 4.0 for government-backed loans

🥂 Happy Friday! Let's get into it. Today’s newsletter is 609 words, a 2.5-minute read.

1. FHFA and HUD officially greenlight VantageScore 4.0 for government-backed loans

After years of slow rollout, FHFA and HUD jointly announced that VantageScore 4.0 is now accepted by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, with FHA also moving to adopt the model. Fannie Mae updated its selling guide to allow lenders to start using it immediately.

VantageScore 4.0 uses trended credit data and can factor in rent and utility payment histories — giving creditworthy borrowers who've been invisible under legacy FICO models a path to qualification.

The move also introduces real competition into a credit scoring market that FICO has dominated for decades, which industry groups say could reduce costs for lenders and expand access to mortgage credit. FICO 10T is also being advanced alongside VantageScore 4.0 as part of the broader modernization effort.

2. NAMB and Chenoa Fund are teaming up to expand down payment assistance access for brokers

The National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) has formed a partnership with the Chenoa Fund, a program, to help mortgage brokers better serve first-time and underserved homebuyers who struggle with upfront homebuying costs.

Through the collaboration, NAMB members will gain enhanced access to Chenoa Fund programs, tools and training aimed at expanding affordable homeownership opportunities across the country. NAMB, founded in 1973, is a national volunteer-led trade group representing mortgage brokers and homebuyers.

The Chenoa Fund program is administered by CBC Mortgage Agency (CBCMA) and provides down payment assistance (DPA) in the form of repayable and forgivable second mortgages for qualified borrowers.

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3. More Nuggets

🏡 Buyers gain upper hand in 38 major U.S. housing markets. (Redfin)

💵 74% of buyers hire the first agent they talk to. Here’s how to be that agent. (BAM)

🏘️ Latino homebuyers embrace ‘Familia Mortgages’. (National Mortgage Professional)

📝 NAR releases first progress update on its 2026-2028 strategic plan. (NAR)

4. CFPB drops disparate impact from fair lending enforcement

The CFPB has finalized a rule that eliminates the "effects test" under ECOA — the standard that held lenders liable when neutral policies produced statistically worse outcomes for protected classes, even without any intent to discriminate.

Going forward, enforcement focuses on intentional discrimination only. That shifts the compliance burden from statistical outcomes to documentation — how lenders make, justify, and consistently apply credit decisions.

Banking groups support the change. Consumer advocates say it guts one of the most effective tools for catching systemic discrimination.

5. Wisconsin real estate agent and wife charged with stealing $500K from Masonic lodge

Tyler Kristopeit, a Coldwell Banker agent with an expired license, and his wife Katie are facing charges of conspiracy to commit theft and money laundering after allegedly stealing nearly $500,000 from a Masonic lodge where Tyler was a former officer — for years, according to the complaint.

The money was laundered through accounts in both their names and used on luxury cars, groceries, cable bills, and Amazon orders. The theft only came to light when a new lodge leader took over after the building was sold in late 2025 and found no evidence of the $900,000 in investments Tyler had claimed existed.

Katie reportedly told a detective she was "waiting for something like this to happen." Each faces up to 12 years in prison and a $25,000 fine per count.

☀️ You’re all caught up. See you on Monday!

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