The mortgage giant has introduced new valuation options as it moves away from the policy that “appraisal is a default requirement.”

Deciding whether the GSEs should use FICO or VantageScore or both turned out to be the easy part. The hard part is going to be the multiyear process of figuring out how to use the scores together.

Fannie Mae put money away for a rainy day; Freddie Mac postponed its fourth-quarter earnings report.

Critics argue that, by targeting deep-pocket institutional buyers, the enterprises’ sale of non-performing and reperforming loans removes homes from the buyers’ market and makes it impossible for nonprofit organizations to participate meaningfully.

In January, lenders delivered 73.1% fewer mortgages to the GSEs than a year ago, but the month-over-month drop was just 4.5% from December. (Includes two data charts.)

Uncertainty caused by regulations and the complexity of calculating income and debt make DTI a poor metric to use in pricing a loan without the risk of lenders having to eat a new fee.

NCLC attorneys claim the bulk sale of seasoned loans allows buyers to circumvent the GSEs’ loss-mitigation programs. That adds up to more borrowers unable to stay in their home.

Despite FHFA’s decision to require that lenders provide both a VantageScore 4.0 and a FICO 10T credit score, it may be years before the market can implement the new scores.

Because the ERCF dictates that Fannie and Freddie base their underwriting on FICO scores, loans to borrowers with positive rent payment history are still subject to capital charges for less creditworthy homebuyers.

Only two major mortgage lenders — PennyMac and CitiMortgage — managed to deliver more loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the fourth quarter than in the third. (Includes two data charts.)