CHLA backs Pulte plan for GSE credit score disclosures

The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) is backing the decision of Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte to have Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac publicly disclose their own credit score numbers for mortgages and mortgage-backed securities. In a letter sent to Pulte on Tuesday, the trade group said that making additional credit performance data available could improve transparency in the mortgage market, thereby helping investors assess prepayment speeds and the credit performance of underlying loans. The group also commended Pulte for his recent action to “require conventional mortgages and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) to have a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac credit score to go along with a FICO Classic or VantageScore number.” “CHLA believes your efforts to have more data available to assess prepayment speeds and credit performance of the underlying mortgages will improve market efficiency and ultimately the safety and soundness of the overall U.S. mortgage market,” the group wrote. CHLA also said additional market data and comparative metrics could help curb increases in the cost of mortgage credit scores, which the group said have become an annual occurrence. ...