Updated Conventional Agency Loan Credit Score Requirements

Overview

Effective with new loan submissions locked on or after June 23, 2026, Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC (CMS) will no longer require a minimum Representative Credit Score of 620 for all Conventional Agency loan products assessed through Fannie Mae's Desktop Underwriter (DU) or Freddie Mac’s Loan Product Advisor (LPA).  Loans locked prior to June 23, 2026 and loans previously approved as an exception will maintain their existing pricing.

The DU and LPA automated underwriting systems analyze the borrower’s credit data and other risk factors to determine borrower eligibility.  CMS will continue to require a tri-merge credit report with a minimum of one (1) reported credit score for each borrower.  The representative credit score for each loan will continue to be calculated and used for pricing and loan delivery.  With this change, representative scores below 620 are now acceptable for files that receive an 'Approve/Eligible' response from DU or an 'Accept' response from LPA.

Rate sheets, Pricing Engine and CarringtonWholesale.com will be updated to reflect these updated guidelines.

Impact to Non-Agency Loan Qualifying

Non-Agency loans require the underwriter to certify under the Alternative Product Evaluation section of MAUS that the borrower does not qualify for agency or FHA financing.  The option “FICO below Minimum Conforming Standard” must be documented with Refer or Caution AUS findings and may no longer be selected solely because the agency representative credit score is below 620.

Resources

Refer to the Conventional Loans Underwriting Guidelines and Matrices available on CarringtonWholesale.com for additional information.

Contacts

Please contact your Account Executive or Account Manager with any questions.