FICO and CoreLogic Debut New Mortgage-centric Credit Score

FICO and Core Logic unveiled a new score designed to help lenders better determine who should be awarded a mortgage. The score could help consumers, who would have otherwise had difficulty getting a home loan, secure financing since it incorporates new data with non-traditional trade lines.

The data — furnished by CoreLogic, which unveiled an alternate version of the traditional credit report back in December — includes rental history, property records and public record tax lien information and data on short-term lending, such as payday loans. FICO is providing the analytics.

“We felt [the score] was important because of where we are in the economic cycle and how tight credit has gotten,” Joanne Gaskin, FICO’s Senior Director Scores Product Management and Mortgage Practice Leader, says. She explains the score is intended to address unknown risk and could prevent consumers from getting turned down simply because there is not enough information available regarding their credit history.

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In addition to simply seeing the new score, lenders will also have the option of pulling a composite score that incorporates information from CoreLogic’s database with information provided by major credit reporting agencies Equifax and Trans Union.

Gaskin says Experian has yet to agree to furnish data. (Their lack of participation is probably related to the bureau’s recently unveiled Extended View score, which incorporates similar data in an attempt to help consumers with thin files secure loans. FICO competitor Vantage Score provides the analytics.)

FICO says the score was developed following conversations with lenders and is optimistic it will be embraced by the lending community.

“We do have a number of clients who are getting ready to go into a testing or validation phase,” Gaskin says.

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Image: mike.wilson, via Flickr