By Frederick Blum, Blum Realty Group
If your credit score made a home too expensive, or kept you from qualifying at all, it may be worth asking your lender a new question: can you run my loan using VantageScore 4.0?
This is not a credit-repair pitch. On September 9, 2026, Fannie Mae expanded VantageScore 4.0 from a limited rollout to broad availability for its approved lenders. An eligible borrower may now have another way for a lender to score the credit history behind the application. Fannie Mae’s September 9 announcement
A different credit model may help your application, make little difference, or not be available through your lender or loan program at all. Ask the lender to price both for your situation. That comparison shows whether a different score changes the loan you can get and what it would cost.
What changed—and what did not
Fannie Mae-approved lenders can now use VantageScore 4.0 for eligible loans run through Desktop Underwriter Version 12.1, Fannie Mae’s automated underwriting system. Lenders that are not ready can keep using Classic FICO. It is another permitted option, not an order for every lender to switch right away. Fannie Mae’s lender letter
That difference matters when you call a loan officer. “Fannie Mae allows it” and “we can process your loan that way today” are two different answers. Ask about your specific application, the lender’s systems and the loan program you plan to use.
This article is about Fannie Mae’s eligible conventional loans. Do not assume the announcement automatically changes FHA, VA, jumbo or a bank’s own portfolio loan rules. Each of those needs its own program-specific answer.
Why a different model could matter to you
A credit score is the output of a model reading your credit file. It is not a universal grade that every lender calculates the same way.
Fannie Mae says newer models can take in information such as reported on-time rent payments and how your credit use has trended over time, which may let more people be scored at all. That does not mean every rent payment is automatically on your credit report, or that everyone gets a higher score. Fannie Mae’s explanation of credit-score modernization
For a San Diego buyer, the reason to ask is simple. If the financing answer you got earlier was based partly on your credit, find out whether the options have changed before you treat that answer as permanent.
I would especially ask if you got a poor quote earlier this year, have a thin credit history, or were told your credit was the sticking point. Those are reasons to ask for another look, not predictions that it will come back better.
Ask the lender what held the earlier application back. If it was income, the cash you had available, the property or a total payment that was too high, changing the scoring model may not fix it. Start with the reason, then try the possible fix.
A higher score does not automatically mean a cheaper mortgage
This is the part of the announcement I would not skip.
Fannie Mae’s September 9 pricing matrix uses different score bands for Classic FICO and VantageScore 4.0. For a purchase loan longer than 15 years at exactly 80% loan-to-value, a 730 Classic FICO score and a 750 VantageScore 4.0 score both land in bands with a 1.250% credit-score/loan-to-value adjustment. At a 770 VantageScore, that adjustment is 0.875%. Other adjustments, waivers and the lender’s own pricing can also apply. Fannie Mae’s pricing matrix, page 2
In that example, the first 20-point jump makes no difference to this adjustment. The second comparison differs by 0.375% of the loan balance: $2,625 on a hypothetical $700,000 loan.
That is one piece of the pricing, not a promised credit to you, a lower closing cost or a lower interest rate. A loan-level price adjustment is not the mortgage rate. The lender has to show you how the whole pricing turns into your rate and your costs.
Those scores are separate hypothetical outcomes, not a conversion chart. You cannot add 20 or 40 points to your FICO score and call it your VantageScore.
Ask for numbers you can compare side by side
“Your new score is higher” is interesting. “Here is how your payment, cash to close, and approval options change” is useful.
Ask the lender to compare the two credit models using the same purchase price, down payment, loan amount, term, occupancy and rate-lock period. Holding those steady is the only way to see what the credit model itself changes. Otherwise a lower payment could be coming from a bigger down payment or a different loan setup.
Once you are at the application stage, compare Loan Estimates. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recommends getting estimates from more than one lender; the form is standardized so you can compare the real terms line by line. CFPB’s mortgage-comparison guidance
Look at the interest rate, points or lender credits, lender charges, mortgage insurance if you will have it, the estimated monthly payment and the cash needed at closing. Confirm whether each quoted rate is locked and when the lock runs out. A Loan Estimate is not a final loan approval. CFPB’s Loan Estimate review guide
Cheaper financing and a bigger approved purchase price are also two different things. If a new review makes a more expensive home possible, you still decide whether that payment is comfortable. An approval is not a household budget.
Six questions to send your lender
- Can you use VantageScore 4.0 for my loan today, and is there any reason Classic FICO would still be better or required?
- Would checking the other model mean another credit pull, another report fee or more processing time?
- What is the underwriting result, not just the score, and what conditions would still be open?
- Can you show me the pricing comparison without changing my down payment, loan term, points or rate-lock period?
- If I am applying with another borrower, how does the combined application affect the result?
- If I am already in escrow, can this be done without putting my financing contingency, rate lock or closing date at risk?
Get the answers before you authorize a new credit report or rework a loan that is already in progress. An improvement on paper is worth nothing if it cannot be finished before your deadlines.
If you want to tie that conversation to a realistic purchase plan, start with our San Diego home loan resources. Bring your price range, down payment, current quote and whatever explanation the lender gave you. Do not put account numbers in a general contact form.
Keep the home itself in the financing conversation
A better credit result does not make every property equally affordable or equally easy to finance.
For a condo, the building’s eligibility is a separate question from your approval. Our San Diego condo mortgage project approval guide explains why to ask about both before you lean on a preapproval.
For any home, keep taxes, insurance, HOA dues, special assessments and maintenance in the monthly picture. The San Diego carrying-cost checklist helps you lay that out. Saving on the loan helps; missing a separate recurring cost can wipe out the savings.
And if the home has an existing FHA or VA loan you might be able to assume, that is a different financing path altogether, not something VantageScore does. Our assumable mortgage guide covers the servicer approval, the cash gap and the seller protections that need their own review.
Common questions about the new mortgage credit-score option
Is VantageScore 4.0 required for every new mortgage?
No. Fannie Mae lets eligible lenders use it for eligible loans, but they do not have to. Your lender may still use Classic FICO. Confirm what is available for your application instead of assuming every advertised mortgage has changed.
Can each borrower on a joint application use whichever model gives them the higher score?
Not under this Fannie Mae option. The same model has to be used for every borrower on one loan. When VantageScore 4.0 is chosen, the lender pulls that model from all three credit bureaus. Fannie Mae’s current implementation requirements
What about manually underwritten loans and FICO Score 10T?
Fannie Mae still requires Classic FICO for manually underwritten loans. Its current guidance also says FICO Score 10T is not yet available for loans delivered to Fannie Mae. A model being approved for future use is not the same as it being available for your loan today. Fannie Mae’s current implementation requirements
Should I restart a loan that is already close to closing?
Before you restart an application, ask your loan officer what the change could gain you, what it would cost, which reviews would have to be redone and how it could affect your deadlines. Keep your current plan in place until you understand those answers.
The takeaway: ask the question, then go by the real result
I would not tell a buyer that a new scoring model suddenly makes an unaffordable home affordable. I would tell them not to live forever with an old financing answer when a real new option has opened up.
Ask whether the lender can run it. Find out whether it improves the loan you would get. Then use that answer to pick a home and a payment that work for you.
If you are ready to turn those numbers into a San Diego home search, contact me with your target areas, budget and timing. We can keep the home search and the financing conversation moving together.
Rules checked September 11, 2026. This is general information, not a loan approval, rate quote, or promise of savings. Availability, qualification, and pricing depend on the borrower, property, lender, and loan program. Mortgage services are provided through Home Loan Advantage, Inc.; Frederick Blum NMLS #1914546, company NMLS #2468904.