The credit scores mortgage lenders actually pull in 2026

As of October 2026, a lender writing a conventional mortgage can score your file with one of two systems, and starting January 1, 2027, FHA lenders get a third. For decades the answer to “which score do mortgage lenders use?” was one sentence long. Now it depends on the loan type, the lender, and in FHA’s case the date your case number is assigned.

The part that trips people up most hasn’t changed. The lender pulls all three bureaus, gets three scores for you, and picks one. It’s rarely the highest one, and it’s almost never the one in your phone.

The classic trio: FICO 2, 5 and 4

“Classic FICO” means three older FICO versions, one per bureau. myFICO lists them as the scores mortgage lenders typically use:

All three use the 300 to 850 scale, but they’re older than FICO 8, the version most free FICO offers show. They don’t share FICO 9’s leniency on paid collections. FICO says older versions group rate-shopping inquiries within any 14-day span and the newest within 45 days, but its consumer pages don’t say which window each classic version uses, so plan on the shorter one. If you’ve only ever watched a FICO 8 or a VantageScore, expect some difference when a lender pulls these. (For why one person has so many FICO Scores, see FICO 8, 9, 10 and 10T.)

The lender gets all three scores on a single tri-merge credit report. FHFA says tri-merge remains the requirement for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans. A plan to allow two-bureau (“bi-merge”) reports was tied to retiring Classic FICO and then pushed to a date to be determined in January 2025.

How one number gets picked from three

Lenders reduce your three scores to one. myFICO says that with a tri-merge report, lenders “typically” select the middle score. HUD’s FHA rules, restated in Mortgagee Letter 2026-11, spell out the mechanics for each scoring model:

• Three different scores reported: use the middle one.
• Two different scores reported: use the lower one.
• More than one borrower: FHA’s Minimum Decision Credit Score is the lowest borrower-level score among all borrowers.

Conventional loans follow the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac selling guides, which have their own rules for multiple borrowers. Ask your lender how it applies them, or see the middle score rule for the general pattern.

Worked example: two borrowers on an FHA loan

Say two people apply together, and the lender pulls Classic FICO.

Borrower A’s three scores in order are 640, 652, 664, so the middle is 652. Borrower B has only two scores, so the lower one, 688, counts. The loan’s decision score is the lowest of the borrower-level scores: 652. That clears FHA’s 580 line for its maximum-financing option, though the lender can still apply a higher minimum of its own.

Now say that after January 1, 2027, the lender submits both Classic FICO and VantageScore 4.0 for the same pair. ML 2026-11 says the borrower-level score is “the lowest of the selected scores across the submitted models.” If Borrower A’s VantageScore 4.0 scores were 659, 671 and 680, the middle would be 671, but the borrower-level score would still be the lower of 652 and 671, which is 652. As the letter is written, submitting a second model can hold a borrower’s score where it is or pull it down, but not raise it. Our middle score calculator runs this math for any set of scores.

Conventional loans: the lender now chooses the model

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac changed course in stages. These dates come from FHFA’s credit score page and Fannie Mae’s lender letters.

Three rules come with the choice:

• One model per loan. Fannie Mae says “the same credit score model must be used for all borrowers on a single loan.” A lender can’t score you with VantageScore and your co-borrower with FICO.
• Manual underwriting stays on Classic FICO. Fannie Mae’s September 2026 lender letter says manually underwritten loans must keep using only Classic FICO. VantageScore 4.0 applies to loans run through Desktop Underwriter.
• All three bureaus. A lender using VantageScore 4.0 must request it from each of the three bureaus.

FHFA says Classic FICO “is expected to be retired at a future date, but no retirement date has been announced,” and it promises advance notice. Minimum score rules for conventional loans are their own topic, covered in credit score needed for a conventional loan.

FHA loans: new models from January 2027

HUD issued Mortgagee Letter 2026-11 on October 8, 2026. For FHA case numbers assigned on or after January 1, 2027, lenders may use FICO 10T or VantageScore 4.0 alongside Classic FICO, provided the same model types are used for every borrower. Three details matter most:

• The thresholds stay put. HUD says “the existing minimum credit score thresholds remain unchanged regardless of Credit Score Model Type”: 580 or higher for maximum financing, 500 to 579 limited to 90% loan-to-value, and below 500 not eligible.
• Tri-merge stays. “FHA will continue to require a tri-merge credit report.”
• The lowest score wins when more than one model is submitted, as in the example above.

For everything else about FHA qualifying, see credit score needed for an FHA loan.

Where FICO 10T stands

FICO 10T is in an odd spot. FHFA lists it as approved for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but “not currently eligible for delivery,” with guidance to come and no adoption date. In July 2026 the Enterprises published historical 10T data covering loans from April 2013 to September 2025, which lenders can use for testing.

On the FHA side, 10T becomes usable for case numbers assigned from January 1, 2027. FICO said in July 2026 that more than 70 mortgage lenders had joined its 10T free access program, which supplies 10T next to the Classic FICO Score those lenders already pull. For borrowers, that means 10T may already be on some lender screens even where it isn’t the score the loan is approved on.

What to do if you’re applying in the next few months

You can’t pick the model, but you can prepare for whichever one the lender uses.

1. Pull all three reports first. Every model, Classic FICO or VantageScore 4.0, reads the same three files. Get them free at AnnualCreditReport.com and fix real errors before a lender pulls.
2. Ask the loan officer two questions. Which model will you use, and will you submit more than one? The answers tell you which scores to watch.
3. Find your weakest bureau. Your middle score depends on all three files, and on joint loans the lowest borrower often sets the number. A collection or high balance showing on only one report can drag the middle down.
4. Keep rate shopping tight. Classic FICO versions are older formulas, and FICO’s older versions group mortgage inquiries only within a 14-day span, so do your lender comparisons inside two weeks to be safe.
5. Leave the file alone until closing. New accounts and new balances can change the scores a lender re-pulls before closing.