Pulte Points to Rocket Study: VantageScore 4.0 Saved Some Borrowers an Average $1,600 at Closing

Why this matters: Rocket Mortgage has put a number on what credit score competition did for some of its borrowers. The $1,600 figure is an average among Rocket clients who saved money with VantageScore 4.0. It is not a saving that every borrower, or every VantageScore loan, received.

FHFA Director Bill Pulte posted on X at 7:47 p.m. Eastern on Monday, September 28, sharing a passage he said came from Rocket Mortgage. "Only happens because because of President TRUMP," he wrote [sic] above the quote. Nine minutes later he quoted his own post: "$1,600 per home closing. Yet, the fake news won't write about that."

The passage matches Rocket's announcement released at 6:56 p.m. Eastern the same evening. Rocket said "an extensive study" found VantageScore 4.0 "opens access to some clients who wouldn't be served otherwise, and many are able to secure a mortgage on better pricing terms." It added: "For those who saved money with VantageScore 4.0, the savings was an average of $1,600 at closing." Rocket also said it will make VantageScore 4.0 its preferred score for all eligible loans during the fourth quarter.

That wording is the most important part of the story. Pulte's shorthand, "$1,600 per home closing," reads like a figure for every closing. Rocket's own sentence is narrower. It describes the average among borrowers who saved, and Rocket has not said how many studied borrowers that was.

Bill Pulte on X, 7:56 p.m. ET, September 28, 2026: "$1,600 per home closing," quoting his 7:47 p.m. post of Rocket's statement

Pulte's 7:56 p.m. post quotes his 7:47 p.m. post of the Rocket passage. The political attribution and "fake news" language are Pulte's. Rocket's release does not use them.

What Rocket actually announced

Rocket described the move as a first among home lenders. The company said that after roughly four months of testing, VantageScore "helped more clients qualify and move forward in the mortgage process, while also reducing credit scoring costs." So far this year, it said, it obtained 1.4 million credit reports using both VantageScore and FICO.

"We did the work, compared the models and chose the one that helped more qualified clients," Rocket Mortgage CEO Jay Bray said in the release. He also thanked Pulte "for his leadership in encouraging multiple credit scoring models."

The switch has clear limits. Rocket said it will default to VantageScore 4.0 for direct-to-consumer loans delivered to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, VA loans and other eligible mortgages. Investment property and second-home loans, home equity loans, FHA loans, jumbo loans and some other products will still use FICO for now. Rocket Pro, its broker channel, will give brokers both scores. Rocket also noted that approval still depends on income, debt, assets, the property and other loan requirements.

What $1,600 means, and what it does not

• What Rocket reported: an average of $1,600 at closing among borrowers who saved money with VantageScore 4.0.
• What it is not: a guaranteed $1,600 on every loan, or an average across every Rocket borrower scored with VantageScore.
• Why the difference matters: an average among savers leaves out borrowers who saw no change or a worse result. If only a small share saved, the average across all borrowers would be far lower. If most saved, it would be closer to $1,600. Rocket has not said which.
• Useful math, not Rocket's method: one discount point equals 1% of the loan amount, so $1,600 is about half a point on a $320,000 loan. That is only a scale check. Rocket has not said its savings came from points, rate, fees or some mix.

Rocket's release also does not disclose the study's sample size, the share of borrowers who saved, the spread of savings, the loan types included, the time period, or whether the savings figure counts lower credit report costs, lower loan-level pricing or both. Those details decide how far the result can be carried beyond Rocket's own customers. Until they are public, $1,600 is a company-reported result, not an industry benchmark.

How a different score can change what a borrower pays

A mortgage price is not set by a credit score alone, but the score still matters. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac price loans partly by credit score band. Moving from one band to the next can change loan-level price adjustments, and lenders pass those costs through as a higher rate, more points, or both.

Two scoring models can look at the same credit file and produce different numbers. If VantageScore 4.0 puts a borrower in a better band than the classic FICO model does, the loan can price better. If it puts the borrower in the same band, nothing changes. It can also put some borrowers in a worse band.

VantageScore 4.0 uses trended credit data, which looks at how balances and payments change over time instead of a single snapshot. Rocket said the model also uses rent and utility payment information when it appears in a consumer's credit file. That can help produce a score for some people with thin credit histories who might otherwise have none. Fannie Mae said in April that newer models include data such as on-time rent history and trended credit data, "with the potential to accurately score more consumers."

A score is still only one input. Qualification and pricing depend on the whole file: loan-to-value ratio, debt-to-income ratio, property and occupancy type, the automated underwriting finding, investor rules and the lender's own overlays. Borrowers should not assume VantageScore will produce a higher score or a lower price. The fair question for a loan officer is whether both scores are available on a given file, and whether either one changes the quote.

VantageScore's June 2026 post marked Rocket's earlier acceptance of the model. Monday's announcement goes further: Rocket will make VantageScore its default where a loan allows it.

What VantageScore and FICO each claim

Both scoring companies have a commercial stake, and each points to research that favors its model.

VantageScore says its model is more predictive. In a September 4 release, the company said VantageScore 4.0 uses "400% more data" than legacy scores and that implementation "unlocks nearly $1 billion in annual cost savings across the mortgage market." It also said that as of August 31, VantageScore 4.0 had been the sole score on more than 9% of mortgages securitized by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since May 1. Those are VantageScore's figures.

FICO points to research by the actuarial firm Milliman. In a May 4 release, FICO said a Milliman white paper found FICO Score 10T predicted mortgage defaults more accurately than VantageScore 4.0 across all mortgage types, with the widest gap in FHA lending. Milliman repeated the comparison in July using the loan-level data Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac released on July 1. Milliman notes that FICO commissioned the research.

Rocket's study does not settle that debate. It measured who qualified and who saved at one lender, not how the loans will perform over time. FICO Score 10T also cannot yet be used for Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac deliveries, so Rocket compared VantageScore 4.0 against the classic FICO model lenders have long used.

How the rollout got here

Pulte credited President Trump. The policy record runs across several years and two administrations.

Date	What happened
May 24, 2018	President Trump signed the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act. Section 310 required FHFA to set up a process for validating and approving credit score models.
Oct. 24, 2022	Under Director Sandra Thompson, FHFA validated and approved FICO 10T and VantageScore 4.0, calling implementation "a multiyear effort."
Apr. 22, 2026	Pulte and HUD Secretary Scott Turner announced implementation. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac began accepting VantageScore 4.0 loans through a limited lender rollout.
Sept. 9, 2026	The Enterprises opened VantageScore 4.0 to all approved lenders, removing the prior written approval requirement.
Sept. 28, 2026	Rocket said it will default to VantageScore 4.0 on eligible loans, and Pulte highlighted its $1,600 result on X.

So the law dates to Trump's first term and the model approvals to the Biden administration. The step from a limited pilot to open lender access happened in 2026 under Pulte, and Rocket explicitly credited his push for multiple scoring models. Freddie Mac described the September expansion as following "the successful initial implementation of VantageScore 4.0 through a limited lender rollout" in its September 8 announcement. The Enterprises' joint partner playbook covers delivery, pricing and disclosure details for lenders.

We covered the September 9 expansion when it happened: FHFA Orders Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac to Open VantageScore 4.0 to All Lenders. The new part is Rocket's decision to adopt it as its default and the first real-world savings number from a major lender.

What this means for borrowers and loan officers

For borrowers: ask your lender which credit score model it uses on your loan, and whether it can compare results under both. If a different score moves you into a better pricing band, the saving should show up on your Loan Estimate as a lower rate, fewer points or lower lender costs. If it does not, you have not lost anything by asking.

For loan officers: the Rocket number will reach clients, often as "$1,600 per closing." The accurate version is simpler to defend: some borrowers saved, and those who did saved $1,600 on average at one lender. The value is file-specific. Lenders that offer both scores can show a client the difference instead of promising one.

What to watch: whether Rocket publishes its methodology, including the share of borrowers who saved; whether other large lenders make VantageScore their default; and when FICO Score 10T becomes eligible for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac delivery. Until then, a lender's quote on your own file is still the number that decides what you pay.

Cover: mortgage.news editorial graphic. Figure from Rocket Mortgage's September 28, 2026 announcement.