Overview
- Desktop Underwriter will replace the hard cutoff with a comprehensive assessment of credit and non‑credit factors, ending automatic denials for sub‑620 scores.
- For applicants with limited or no reported credit, DU will flag lenders to document nontraditional credit histories and may require homebuyer education, with updated rules applying to loans submitted or resubmitted the weekend of Nov. 15–16.
- FHFA Director Bill Pulte cast the move as added lender flexibility and a consumer benefit, calling it a big deal for consumers and a small or nothing deal for underwriting.
- Economists expect only a modest expansion in eligibility, concentrated among borrowers just below 620, with high prices and mortgage rates still the bigger barriers to homeownership.
- Some analysts warn the shift could socialize risk and add price pressure at the lower end of the market, a concern amplified by the GSEs’ large footprint that The New York Times puts at around 70 percent of U.S. mortgages.