For as long as most people have been buying homes, a mortgage meant a FICO score. That stopped being the whole story this month.
On September 9, 2026, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac opened VantageScore 4.0 to every lender they work with, and FHA has set its own start date for January 2027. If you live in El Paso and hope to buy sometime next year, a few practical things about how you prepare have shifted. Most of the fundamentals have not.
Can you get a mortgage with VantageScore instead of FICO?
Yes. Since September 9, 2026, every lender approved by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac may use VantageScore 4.0 instead of classic FICO on the conventional loans it sells to them, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The lender chooses the model, not the borrower, so whether your application is scored with VantageScore depends on who you apply with.
That word "may" matters. Classic FICO is still an approved model, so a lender is allowed to use either one and is not required to switch. You cannot walk in and ask to be scored on the newer model. What you can do is ask each lender which model it uses, and factor the answer into where you apply.
Lenders can also set their own minimum scores on top of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rules. Whichever model a lender pulls, its own requirements still apply.
What changed on September 9, 2026?
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac opened VantageScore 4.0 to all of their approved lenders on September 9, 2026 and removed the requirement for prior written approval. Before that, VantageScore 4.0 was available only through a limited rollout that began when the FHFA announced it on April 22, 2026.
Freddie Mac's own credit score page for lenders says it directly: all sellers may now use VantageScore 4.0 when originating and selling eligible mortgages. So the change is about access. A small group of early lenders used to have the option, and now every approved lender does.
Is FICO 10T accepted for mortgages yet?
Not for Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loans, as of September 2026. The FHFA says FICO 10T is approved but not currently eligible for delivery, and the two companies will issue guidance when it becomes available, with no date attached.
Headlines tend to mention the two newer models in the same breath, which makes it sound like both arrived together. They were approved together. Only one of them is usable on a Fannie or Freddie loan right now. Anyone quoting you a firm FICO 10T date for a conventional loan is ahead of the agencies that set the rules.
When will FHA loans accept VantageScore 4.0?
FHA will accept VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T for loans whose FHA case numbers are assigned on or after January 1, 2027, according to FHA INFO 2026-21, which HUD issued on September 10, 2026. Classic FICO stays eligible alongside the two newer models.
If FHA is your likely path, notice which date counts. It is the day the case number is assigned, not the day you close, so a loan file opened in December 2026 still runs under the current rules. The change also applies to forward mortgages, meaning regular purchase and refinance loans, not reverse mortgages.
Do mortgage lenders still pull all three credit reports?
Yes. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA still require a tri-merge credit report, which combines your files from all three bureaus, and a move to two reports has no set date as of September 2026.
This is the part of the news that changes nothing about the work. A newer score model reads the same three files the old one did. A collection reported wrong at one bureau still shows up on a tri-merge pull, no matter which score the lender runs on top of it. If you want the cost side of those pulls, why mortgage credit pulls cost more in 2026 walks through it.
Does VantageScore 4.0 count rent and utility payments?
Yes, when those payments are reported to the credit bureaus. VantageScore says all of its models use rent and utility payment information once it has been reported to the three nationwide bureaus, and it also lists telecom data such as phone bills among what its models can use.
The condition is where people get tripped up. Rent paid on time for six years does nothing for a score if it never lands on a credit report. Before you count on it, pull your reports and see whether your rent is there at all. Why on-time rent payments may finally help your next mortgage covers the ways rent gets reported.
VantageScore also says its model can score about 33 million more people than conventional models, including more than 10 million with scores of 620 or higher. That is VantageScore's own figure about its own product. It describes people who were hard to score before. It is not a prediction about your file.
Does VantageScore 4.0 look at your balance history?
Yes. VantageScore says its 4.0 model uses trended credit data, which means it looks at how your balances have moved over time instead of only the balance on the day your report is pulled.
That is the reason the list further down says to bring balances down steadily over months. A model that reads the trend sees a run of monthly balances, not a single snapshot taken the week you apply.
Will VantageScore give you a higher score than FICO?
Nobody can tell you ahead of time, because the two models are built differently and weigh the same file in their own ways. VantageScore's claim is that it can score more people, not that it scores every person higher.
For a thin file with reported rent, the newer model may see more than the older one did. For a file with a recent late payment, the gap could run in either direction. Treat any prediction with that in mind, including the score in a banking app, which may not be the same model or version a mortgage lender pulls.
What should an El Paso buyer planning for 2027 do now?
Start with the three reports, not the score model: pull all three, dispute anything inaccurate, and check whether your rent and utilities appear, because every lender still reads all three files. Then ask each lender you talk to which score model it uses and, if you are going FHA, when your case number will be assigned.
Rates give this some extra weight. Freddie Mac's survey for the week of September 24, 2026 put the average 30-year fixed rate at 7.03 percent, up from 6.95 percent the week before and 6.30 percent a year earlier. Your credit is one of the things that shapes the rate you are offered, so the work done on the file this fall and winter affects the price of the loan as well as the approval.
A practical list for the months ahead:
- Pull all three reports. Free weekly reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion are available at AnnualCreditReport.com.
- Mark anything inaccurate, outdated, or unverifiable, and dispute it with each bureau that shows it.
- Check whether rent and utility payments appear, and on which bureaus.
- Bring revolving balances down steadily over months instead of in one push the week before you apply.
- Ask lenders which score model they use and whether they set their own minimum score.
A newer model does not change what a dispute is for. Disputes correct items that are wrong, outdated, or cannot be verified. They do not touch accurate history, and no one can promise otherwise.
What is the right first step?
The right first step is knowing what all three of your reports say today, before any lender pulls them. The score model is the lender's choice, but the files underneath it are yours to get in order.
If you are already working with Daisy, call her at (915) 603-0785 before you let a lender pull your credit, so the timing fits where your file is. If you are new here and a 2027 purchase is on your calendar, book your free credit strategy review and Daisy will go through all three reports with you and sort out what makes sense before your target date.