How UWM got VantageScore to brokers quickly, and why there are still questions about risk
For years, a borrower's FICO score determined whether they got a mortgage and what they paid for it. That is starting to change.
Some borrowers who previously could not qualify now can, thanks to the rollout of VantageScore 4.0. Others are landing in better pricing buckets. Executives at United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), which was the first company to roll out the option to use VantageScore, say the early data shows real savings for consumers.
But some researchers are raising questions about whether higher VantageScore readings actually reflect lower credit risk, or whether the lender choice framework is just making some borrowers look better on paper than they are.
Nevertheless, there could be a major advantage to using VantageScore 4.0. Benefits could range from reduced loan-level price adjustments (LLPAs) to even qualifying borrowers who might have been rejected with just a classic FICO score.
Alex Elezaj (pictured top), EVP and chief strategy officer at UWM, said the numbers he is seeing make a real difference for borrowers.
"If somebody was here with FICO and now they're here with VantageScore and that gets them in a different LLPA bucket and all of a sudden they save half a point," Elezaj told Mortgage Professional America, "on a $300,000 loan, you're talking a couple thousand bucks. So all of a sudden it really changes the game in terms of helping the consumer."
UWM president and CEO Mat Ishbia walked through a specific example at UWM Live 2026. A borrower with a 701 FICO and a 760 VantageScore, priced at 740 after the required 20-point reduction, saved 75 basis points in LLPAs on a $600,000 loan.
"That's $4,500 bucks," Ishbia said. "That's winning."
A new tool for brokers
VantageScore 4.0 factors in rent and utility payment history, which is why some long-time renters are seeing significant score bumps.
Ishbia shared one example at UWM Live: a conventional cash-out loan where the borrower came in at a 573 FICO and a 652 VantageScore.
"That's called no loan to a loan," Ishbia said. "You know what other lender can do this loan? Nobody in America. Because they're still using FICO."
Elezaj said that is exactly the kind of borrower brokers should be going back to look at.
"It gives brokers the ability to make the phone call," Elezaj said. "They're selling something that nobody else has. Somebody who might have, it might be a yes versus a no now in terms of their credit. So for me, I just look at it as another option for them."
The FHFA gave UWM the green light on a Thursday, and the team had it live the following Wednesday, according to Elezaj. He said other lenders were still in meetings while UWM was already out with it.
"When our competition is sitting back and having meetings, saying, ‘How are we going to implement this?’" Elezaj said. "We're making the announcement that it's done."
Still questions about VantageScore 4.0
The pushback from researchers centers on adverse selection. Under lender choice, lenders can run both FICO and VantageScore on a given borrower and submit whichever produces a better outcome.
Milliman analyzed more than 45 million mortgages and found that default rates within the same credit score cohort ran about 30% higher on average under lender choice than under classic FICO alone. The borrower looks better on paper, but the underlying risk has not changed.
The American Enterprise Institute's Housing Center found similar issues when it re-examined VantageScore's own predictive claims using publicly available Fannie Mae data. When the researchers corrected for methodological problems, VantageScore's claimed advantage over classic FICO largely disappeared. AEI also estimated the two-score system would reduce LLPA revenues at the GSEs by $1.3 to $1.7 billion per year, leaving open the question of where that shortfall ends up.
While many of those questions will be answered in the days and weeks to come, Elezaj said it’s clear what brokers should be doing to take advantage of the VantageScore option.
"If we're going to put the effort into it, whether it's Vantage or whether it's virtual closings, you've got to use it," he said. "And if you're not using it, then you're going to fall behind. The more brokers and loan officers that use this stuff, those are the ones that are going to be more successful. That's just the bottom line."
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