U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has opened an investigation into Fair Isaac Corp. (FICO)’s pricing practices in the mortgage industry and is urging Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Andrew Ferguson to do the same.
FICO dominates the credit scoring market for mortgage lenders, largely due to decades of exclusive acceptance for loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Although the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced last year that competitor VantageScore 4.0 would be accepted as an alternative to Classic FICO, industry sources say the option is not yet operational.
“Rather than competing on price, FICO has leveraged this market position to impose a pattern of extraordinary price increases,” Hawley said in a statement.
FICO defends its fees, arguing that royalty costs represent only a small portion of overall mortgage closing costs. A spokesperson for the company did not immediately respond to HousingWire’s request for comment.
“The relevant question is not whether the charge is small relative to other fees. Instead, we investigate whether the charge is justified by competitive market forces or is instead an exercise of monopoly pricing power,” Hawley said. “An 88% operating margin and a compound annual growth rate of 100% in per-score pricing over five years are not hallmarks of a competitive market.”
In October 2025, FICO introduced a new pricing structure. The traditional per-score model charged a $10 fee to tri-merge resellers, reflecting the average price previously set by credit bureaus. Under the new “performance model,” lenders pay a $4.95 royalty fee per score plus a $33 fee per borrower, per score on funded loans — a structure designed for lenders with high fallout rates.
According to Hawley’s letter, the wholesale price of FICO’s mortgage credit score rose from $0.60 to $10 per score over the past five years. Its planned increase from $4.95 to $10 per score in 2026 could raise mortgage credit score costs across the industry by roughly $500 million, he added.
Resellers previously told HousingWire that credit report costs will rise by as much as 50% in 2026 when combined with margins charged by credit reporting agencies.
Hawley said he has twice called on the Department of Justice‘s antitrust division to investigate FICO’s pricing practices.
“These costs are ultimately borne by borrowers,” he said. “They are especially damaging to first-time homebuyers, who often pay for multiple credit checks across several loan applications before successfully purchasing a home.”
Hawley serves as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and is a member of the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights.
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