Bi-Merge Credit Reports Are Not Here: What Allison Learned About VantageScore 4.0
Allison is a Charleston real estate agent, and she is a fictional example, but her situation is one I see come up often. She heard that VantageScore 4.0 meant bi-merge credit reporting had arrived. So she told her buyer the lender would only pull two credit reports, and she started building the buyer's timeline around that idea.
The idea sounded reasonable. It was also wrong. Here is how to keep from making the same mistake.
Where the myth comes from
When news about VantageScore 4.0 and mortgage lending spreads, several different topics get blended into one. People hear "new credit score" and "fewer reports" and "a change in 2022" and stitch them into a single story: lenders now pull two credit reports instead of three.
That story mixes two separate questions. The first is which credit score model can be used. The second is how many credit reports are pulled. They are not the same question, and the answer to one does not decide the answer to the other.
What the agency actually says
The FHFA policy page called "Credit Scores" addresses this directly. It says: "The inclusion of VantageScore 4.0 credit scores will not change the Enterprises' current credit reporting requirements (e.g., tri-merge/bi-merge credit reporting)."
Read that sentence slowly. It does not say bi-merge is replacing tri-merge. It says adding VantageScore 4.0 will not change the current credit reporting requirements. The two terms appear together in the parenthetical because that is the reporting requirement the sentence is talking about, and the sentence says it stays as it is.
Why it matters for agents
As a real estate agent or referral partner, you are often the first person a buyer asks about credit. If you tell them to expect two reports and the file calls for three, the buyer feels blindsided, and the surprise lands on you.
Allison saw this clearly once she looked at the agency wording instead of the headline. She stopped repeating the myth. She told her buyer to plan for three bureaus. Nothing about her buyer's timeline needed to be rebuilt later, because the expectation was set correctly from the start.
The one thing to do today
Here is the tactical piece, and it is simple: expect tri-merge on every conventional file. The bi-merge plan from 2022 is not live.
That is the sentence I want you to carry into your next conversation. If a client says, "I read that lenders only pull two reports now," you can answer calmly: the new score model and the report count are separate questions, and the agency's own wording says the current credit reporting requirements are not changing.
Keep the two questions apart
When a buyer asks about credit, I find it helps to split the conversation in two.
Question one: which score model is in play? That is where VantageScore 4.0 enters the picture.
Question two: how many reports will be pulled? For conventional files, plan on tri-merge.
Allison now does this automatically. When a buyer brings up a headline about credit scores, she asks which of the two questions the headline is really about. Most of the time, it is only the first one, and the second has not changed.
A note on staying accurate
Credit and mortgage topics move quickly, and rumors move even faster. The safest habit is to go back to the source. The FHFA policy page on credit scores is the place to read the exact words rather than a summary of them. When you share guidance with clients, quote the agency, not the rumor.
I also encourage agents to avoid promising timelines based on any single credit change. A buyer's file has many moving parts, and the credit report is only one of them. Setting honest expectations about the reports that will be pulled is a small step that prevents a lot of frustration.
Questions about a buyer's credit?
If you are an agent with a buyer who has questions about credit reporting on a conventional purchase, send them my way, or reach out yourself. I find the path, and I am happy to walk you through what to expect.
Call me, Jason Sharon, at 843-LOW-RATE.
Home Loans Inc - Jason Sharon, Mortgage Broker. Company NMLS #1728740, Jason Sharon NMLS #1281448. Equal Housing Opportunity.
