Advocacy Update: MBA Calls on FHFA to Replace Tri-Merge with Single Report for Lower Risk Borrowers
MBA Calls on FHFA to Replace Tri-Merge with Single Report for Lower Risk Borrowers
On Friday evening, MBA sent a letter to Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William Pulte asking his agency to direct Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) to allow lenders the option to use a single credit report from one national credit repository for borrowers if the initial report shows a credit score of at least 700, rather than requiring a tri-merge report from every borrower.
• The letter emphasizes that this change would preserve sound risk management while reducing borrower costs, restoring competition among credit bureaus, and importantly, addressing the steep, recurring increases in tri-merge credit report pricing over the past four years. Lenders could still be required to request a credit score from all three major credit repositories for all other loans.
Why it matters: The letter comes on the heels of MBA’s Residential Board of Governors (RESBOG) endorsing this policy proposal last Thursday.
MBA and its members believe strongly that the GSEs’ current requirement that lenders purchase and provide credit reports from all three major credit repositories increases costs for borrowers. In addition, it creates a situation where there is no true competition between the bureaus, thus providing no meaningful incentive for them to improve the accuracy of their data or the quality of their products.
What they’re saying: MBA’s President and CEO Bob Broeksmit, CMB, said in a press statement last month, “Single-file reports are used safely in nearly every other consumer finance market, and extending them into the mortgage market would provide price relief for American homebuyers by injecting real competition, lowering closing costs, and streamlining the mortgage process, all without compromising sound risk management.”
By the numbers: Despite recent updates in offerings and altered pricing frameworks from both FICO and the bureaus, mortgage industry firms are reporting 2026 “tri-merge” credit report and credit score pricing increases of 40-50%, the fourth consecutive year of steep increases in the cost of tri-merge reports and credit scores.
What’s next: MBA will formally present this proposal to the leadership of FHFA and the GSEs as soon as possible.
For more information, please contact Brendan Kelleher at 202-557-2779 or Sasha Hewlett at 202-557-2805.
