WASHINGTON—The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is being asked to extend the comment period regarding credit score requirements.
Last month, the FHFA published a request for input on whether to change the current credit score requirements for the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Comments are currently due to the FHFA by Feb. 20, noted NAFCU.
In a letter sent to FHFA Director Mel Watt, NAFCU, CUNA, the American Bankers Association and several other trades representing the financial services and housing industries, noted that credit scores are used by various entities, not just the GSEs, NAFCU reported.
"As such, changes to Enterprise credit score requirements could have widely felt implications for borrower access to credit, origination costs in the primary mortgage market, the ability to fully analyze and properly price mortgage credit risk, and liquidity in the secondary mortgage market," the letter states.
Recognizing the challenges of updating credit score requirements, the groups requested an extended comment period on the agency's request "in order to provide more thorough and comprehensive responses."
The letter also asks that the GSEs' empirical evaluations of the credit score models being considered be released so stakeholders can better analyze the proposed options.