Bill Pulte, the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), has instructed Fannie Mae (OTC:FNMA) and Freddie Mac (OTC:FMCC) to permit all lenders to utilize the VantageScore credit scoring system.

Pulte took to X on Thursday to highlight the successful initial implementation of VantageScore by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which led to 50 lenders delivering loans.

“Effective immediately, I’m instructing Fannie and Freddie to approve all lenders to use VantageScore,” Pulte stated, effectively ending the long-standing monopoly of Fair Isaac Corp. (NYSE:FICO) in the credit scoring sector.

Pulte also accused FICO of raising the per-person cost of obtaining a credit score by 1,800% since 2020.

During the Friday pre-market trading session, FICO stock declined 2.14%

Despite endorsing VantageScore, Pulte, in a separate post, criticized its owning credit reporting agencies, Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX), Experian (OTC:EXPGF), and TransUnion (NYSE:TRU), accusing them of operating like cartels and overcharging Americans for a significant period.

He vowed to put an end to this practice, warning, “We are seriously considering bi-merge and stronger solutions (SAFER and SOUNDER). We will not allow companies to take advantage of American consumers.”

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Housing Market Faces Fresh Pressure

This directive comes in the wake of an investigation launched by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) into FICO’s pricing of credit scoring in the mortgage market back in March. Hawley argued that the rising cost of credit scores was placing an undue burden on homebuyers in an already inflated market.

The U.S. housing market has been experiencing a significant shift, with sellers outnumbering buyers by 51.3% in July 2026. This has led to a record-low number of active homebuyers, further exacerbating the pressure on home prices.

Meanwhile, high mortgage rates are keeping Americans from moving, with the probability of changing homes falling to a record-low 13.5%. Nearly two-thirds of mortgages carry rates below 5%, making homeowners reluctant to trade cheap loans for rates near 7%. The housing freeze is weighing on  Home Depot Inc. (NYSE:HD), which sees no clear recovery yet.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Read Also: Buyers Are Backing Away, and Homebuilder ETFs Are Next in Line

Photo courtesy: USA Today via Reuters Connect