Until recently, lenders that sell mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored enterprises that guarantee about half of U.S. mortgage debt, could review credit scores only from FICO to help determine whether an applicant qualifies for a loan. But now those lenders also have the option of using VantageScore, a competing score owned by the three major credit-reporting companies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion).
FICO and VantageScore evaluate many of the same criteria to create scores, including an applicant’s record of on-time loan and credit card payments, but their formulas differ.
