VantageScore 4.0 is now a mortgage score any Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac lender can use. On September 9, 2026, the two Enterprises opened it to all approved lenders without prior written approval, and Classic FICO stays approved beside it. For a Michigan agent that means two preapproval letters for the same buyer can rest on two different score models, priced on two different grids. The letter does not usually say which. Ask, because the answer explains differences in rate, fees and the maximum price that otherwise look like one lender being careless.
In short
- September 9, 2026: VantageScore 4.0 opened to all Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac approved lenders, with no prior written approval (FHFA, 2026).
- One model per loan: every borrower on a file is scored on the same model, Classic FICO or VantageScore 4.0 (FHFA, 2026).
- 5.6% of Enterprise volume in August 2026 was scored on VantageScore, and 30% of Rocket Mortgage's own Enterprise production, according to Keefe, Bruyette and Woods as reported by BAM (2026).
- Manual underwrites stay on Classic FICO only, and each model has its own credit fee tiers (BAM, 2026).
Do mortgage lenders use VantageScore 4.0 now?
Some do, and more can. The rollout came in three steps. The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced on April 22, 2026 that the Enterprises were accepting VantageScore-scored loans from approved lenders. The MortgagePoint dates availability to approved lenders from May 1, 2026, and reports FHFA Director Bill Pulte saying the initial rollout had 50 lenders delivering loans. On September 9, 2026, Freddie Mac's own page puts it plainly: all sellers "may now use VantageScore 4.0 when originating and selling eligible mortgages to the GSEs without prior written approval." Fannie Mae's Lender Letter LL-2026-06 and Freddie Mac's Bulletin 2026-H carry the same date, according to BAM.
What did not change matters as much. FHFA says Classic FICO "remains an approved credit score model." FICO 10T is approved for future use but "is not currently eligible for delivery." And the credit report itself is untouched: the new score "will not change the Enterprises' current credit reporting requirements."
Adoption is uneven, which is the practical point. VantageScore says the model accounted for over 9% of loans the Enterprises securitised between May 1 and August 31, 2026; it is the company selling the score, so read that as its own figure. Keefe, Bruyette and Woods, as reported by BAM, put the August share at 5.6% of Enterprise volume, with Rocket Mortgage at 30% of its own Enterprise production, up from 17% in July, and United Wholesale Mortgage at 25.3%. The two figures measure different periods and do not contradict each other.
Why this lands in Michigan first
The two lenders furthest ahead on the new score are both in metro Detroit: Rocket Mortgage in Detroit and United Wholesale Mortgage in Pontiac, which sells through independent brokers. A Michigan buyer is more likely than most to hold one letter from a lender or broker that has moved and another from a local bank or credit union that has not. That is not a problem in itself. It becomes one when an agent compares the two letters as if they measured the same thing.
Five checks on a preapproval from now on
- Ask which score model the lender used. Classic FICO or VantageScore 4.0. It is a one-line question to the loan officer and it belongs in your file notes next to the letter.
- Ask whether the loan will be manually underwritten. BAM reports that manual underwrites remain limited to Classic FICO, with no exceptions. A buyer with thin credit who was scored on VantageScore by one lender may be looked at differently if the file ends up manually underwritten.
- Check that everyone on the loan is on the same model. FHFA requires one model "for all borrowers on a given loan." If a co-borrower is added late, the lender scores them on the model already in use.
- Compare pricing, not just the score. Fannie Mae updated its loan-level price adjustment matrix and Freddie Mac its Exhibit 19, with separate credit fee tiers for each model, according to BAM. HousingWire reported in April 2026 that Director Pulte said the Enterprises must run separate grids for VantageScore and FICO. The same buyer can land in different tiers, so a lower score on one model does not mean a worse price.
- Re-ask when the lender changes. A buyer who moves from one lender to another mid-deal may move models too. Treat it as a new preapproval and read it again.
The mistake most agents make at step 4
They read the credit score on two letters and assume the higher number means the better offer. The scores come from different models with different fee tiers, so the number alone tells you little. The comparison that means something is the rate, the points and the lender fees on the Loan Estimate for the same loan amount. Our Michigan mortgage payment guide shows how far a quarter point moves a monthly payment on the state median, which is the scale of difference a model change can produce.
Who this helps and who it does not
HousingWire reported in April 2026 that FICO needs six months of payment history before it produces a score, while VantageScore works from one month of data. That is the reason the change is presented as a gain for buyers with short credit histories: a first-time buyer who opened their first card this spring may now get a conventional score where they could not before. It does not change the down payment, the debt-to-income limit or the appraisal, and it does not help a buyer whose file goes to manual underwriting.
It also does not change the rate environment. The September 16 decision covered in our Fed rate hike guide for Michigan agents still sets the backdrop for every buyer under contract, whichever model their lender reads.
Where this sits in a transaction
The score model is one more fact about a buyer that nobody writes down until it causes a problem. For a team, the fix is the same as for every other date and document on a file: ask the same questions every time and keep the answers where the next person can see them. That is the kind of checklist and follow-up our real estate operations work is built around. We do not arrange financing, choose lenders or advise buyers on credit; the lender decides the model, and your job is to know which one it chose.
The score changed on September 9. The question to ask a lender changed with it.
