Keeping score in FICO-fair lending controversy 
Commentary: Answers on the horizon?
By Ken Harney, Tuesday, January 4, 2011.
Flickr photo courtesy of @mikepick.There's a housing issue bubbling away at U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department headquarters in Washington that bears watching by any real estate professional whose clients might be helped by getting an FHA-insured mortgage in 2011.
It drew some press attention late last year, but I think the big news is yet to come. The controversy concerns credit scores and how lenders use them to screen out homebuyers seeking FHA financing -- now the dominant source of mortgage money for purchasers in many markets across the country.
Last year, the Federal Housing Administration set the minimum FICO (Fair Isaac Corp.) score for its lowest-down-payment mortgages (3.5 percent) at 580. Yet dozens of large banks and mortgage companies have insisted on posting their own higher minimum scores -- typically anywhere from 620-640 FICO.
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