Key Takeaways

• On April 22, 2026, the FHFA and HUD jointly announced that VantageScore 4.0 is accepted for mortgages sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and for FHA-insured loans, alongside Classic FICO.
• This is the first change to approved GSE credit scoring models in roughly three decades. FICO is not being replaced — FICO 10T is slated for approval next.
• Adoption is phased. Twenty-one large lenders make up the first wave; most originations today still close on a Classic FICO tri-merge report.
• The practical near-term move for lenders is visibility: knowing how a borrower looks across all three bureaus before a hard pull is ever run.

The mortgage industry just got its first new approved credit score in a generation. Here's what changed, what didn't, and what to do about it while the transition is still in its early innings.

What Did the FHFA Announce?

On April 22, 2026, the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced that VantageScore 4.0 is now an accepted credit scoring model for mortgages sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and will also be used by the FHA. FHFA had approved the model back in July 2025; the April announcement put implementation in motion.

The details that matter: 21 large mortgage lenders are participating in the first adoption wave, Freddie Mac has already purchased roughly $10 million in loans approved using VantageScore 4.0, and FICO 10T is planned for approval next. FHFA has indicated historical FICO 10T scores are expected in summer 2026. The change covers conforming loans delivered to the GSEs — the largest slice of the U.S. mortgage market — plus FHA-insured loans, which serve many first-time buyers.

Does This Replace FICO?

No. The announcement creates a two-score market, not a changing of the guard. Classic FICO remains fully accepted and is still the score behind the vast majority of closings today. Any lender not in the initial rollout continues on the tri-merge Classic FICO process it uses now, and no individual loan mixes the two models.

The realistic picture for the next several years: pipelines that may contain Classic FICO loans, VantageScore 4.0 loans, and eventually FICO 10T loans, depending on each lender's rollout status, investor requirements, and bureau configuration. Brokers working with multiple lenders will see this fragmentation first.

Why Would a Lender Use VantageScore 4.0?

The short version: VantageScore 4.0 uses trended data, considers rent, utility, and telecom payments when they're reported, excludes medical collections, and can score borrowers with as little as one month of credit history — so some applicants who are unscorable or marginal under Classic FICO return a usable score. 

The same borrower commonly scores 10–30 points apart on the two models, and the scales aren't interchangeable, so FICO-based cutoffs and rate sheets can't simply be relabeled.

For the full breakdown — how the models are built, why scores diverge, and what the performance research does and doesn't show — see our complete guide: VantageScore vs. FICO: How the Models Differ and Why It Matters for Lenders.

What Lenders and Brokers Should Do Now

Unless you're one of the 21 first-wave lenders, your delivery process hasn't changed yet. But two moves make sense during the transition.

Watch your investors and your bureaus. Adoption timing is driven by GSE guidance and bureau availability, and it's moving — Equifax, for example, has announced discounted VantageScore 4.0 mortgage pricing through 2027. 

Get full visibility before the hard pull. In a two-score market, the case for seeing everything up front gets stronger. A Full File Soft Pull Credit Report from Soft Pull Solutions delivers complete tri-bureau data and a FICO® Score with no impact on the applicant's credit — the same data as a hard pull, without the tradeline consequences or the cost. When the deal moves forward, our hard pull credit reports support a clean soft-to-hard transition without re-entering data.

The scoring models are changing. The discipline of qualifying the right borrowers early, cheaply, and compliantly is not.

Ready to see the full borrower picture before the hard pull? Schedule a demo or call (844) 515-1550 to see how Soft Pull Solutions delivers tri-bureau soft pull credit reports with a FICO® Score — no SSN required, no score impact, and built-in compliance tools.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is VantageScore 4.0 replacing FICO for mortgages? 

No. As of April 2026, VantageScore 4.0 is accepted alongside Classic FICO for loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and for FHA loans. FICO 10T is expected to be approved as well. Lenders choose a model; individual loans don't mix them.

When can my institution use VantageScore 4.0? 

A limited group of approved lenders — 21 in the first wave — can use it now. Broader availability will roll out in phases based on FHFA and GSE guidance. Until then, continue using Classic FICO tri-merge as required.

Will borrowers score higher under VantageScore 4.0? 

Some will, some won't. Borrowers with reported rent or utility payments, thin files, or medical collections often score higher; others may score lower. The two scales aren't directly comparable — VantageScore's own research maps a Classic FICO 620 to roughly a VantageScore 643.