Tag Archives: Credit Score

The percentage of home loans going unpaid is steadily declining for the nation's second largest mortgage company. Freddie Mac reported Tuesday that its single-family seriously delinquent rate decreased to 3.63 percent in March. That's down 15 basis points from 3.78 percent in February, and the fourth consecutive month that the rate has headed south. With only a few intermittent blips upward over the last year, Freddie has recorded a drop in its seriously delinquent rate in nine of the past 12 months.

Freddie Mac reported Thursday that it lost $113 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. The loss, compounded by the company's $1.6 billion quarterly dividend payment to Treasury for bailout money, left the GSE with a net worth deficit again. Freddie's regulator is requesting another draw from Treasury, this time to the tune of $500 million. The company's fourth-quarter shortfall was actually the smallest of 2010 and brings the GSE's losses for the full year to $14 billion.

The housing crisis and the financial downturn that followed, without question, have profoundly altered the consumer lending landscape. According to the financial advisory firm Deloitte, one change that may be underappreciated is the rapid emergence of an important customer segment that could have powerful implications for lenders - the first-time defaulter. A survey conducted by the firm found that 11 percent of banking customers have experienced a negative credit event for the first time in their lives within the last two years.

VantageScore 2.0, the latest credit scoring model from VantageScore Solutions, is now fully implemented at all three major credit reporting agencies - Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. VantageScore 2.0 was created in response to significant changes in consumer credit repayment behavior, and the company says it enables lenders to better mitigate risks and make more informed lending decisions.

Experian announced this week that it will incorporate positive rental data into the traditional credit file in an effort to help underbanked consumers build credit. According to the FDIC Web site, an estimated 17.9 percent of U.S. households, roughly 21 million, are underbanked. Experian says having positive rental history reflected in their credit scores will help consumers who may have faced financial hardships such as foreclosure or bankruptcy rebuild their credit.

California mortgage applicants have the highest average credit scores in the nation, according to a state-by-state study conducted by the online mortgage-shopping service Mortgage Marvel. The average credit score in California is 755, a full 20 points higher than the national average. With California's well-publicized issues surrounding declining property values and foreclosures, the firm described the results of its study as ""interesting."" One exec commented, ""Many Californians have clearly figured out how to weather the financial storms.""

The overall financial health of consumers showed incremental improvements in the first half of 2010, but that progress was wiped out during a span of three months due to weaker household budgets, renewed strains on housing costs, and high levels of unemployment, according to the nonprofit credit counseling agency CredAbility. The average U.S. consumer has been in financial ""distress"" for nine consecutive quarters, with consumers in some parts of the country headed for financial ""crisis.""

Mortgage originators can now authorize a credit report to be processed through the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry (NMLS). Beginning November 1, all licensed residential mortgage loan originators participating in NMLS were required to complete the credit authorization process regardless of any prior state requirements. Providing credit history processing through NMLS fulfills one of the mandates of the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act (SAFE Act).

FICO announced this week that its newest credit scoring product, the FICO 8 Mortgage Score, is now available from all three major U.S. credit reporting agencies. The FICO 8 Mortgage Score was built specifically to help mortgage lenders better predict mortgage performance and improve credit decisions for both current and prospective homeowners. The company says it will allow lenders to employ a more precise risk assessment tailored for today's real estate market in order to reduce the likelihood of default.

VantageScore Solutions, an independently managed business created by the three major credit reporting agencies, has unveiled its new credit score model, VantageScore 2.0. The update was brought about by the significant change in consumer credit repayment behavior, said company officials, who added that all credit models should be updated regularly to ensure they remain accurate.