FICO 10T Lender Adoption Tops 70 in 2026: What It Means for Mortgage Applicants

FICO says more than 70 mortgage lenders have now signed on to FICO Score 10T, but that number counts lenders who enrolled in a FICO program, not loans scored with 10T. If you are buying a home, the practical question is which score your lender will pull on your file, and that is still your lender's call.

What FICO actually announced about FICO 10T lender adoption

On July 28, 2026, FICO put out a press release saying that (https://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/articles/fico-score-10t-adoption-momentum-120000456.html), and that May and June were the strongest enrollment months since the program began.

The headline numbers

The release names eight recent participants: Fairway Home Mortgage, InterLinc Mortgage Services, Lower Mortgage, NFM Lending, Novus Home Mortgage, Plaza Home Mortgage and Village Capital & Investment. The other lenders are not listed. FICO also says the participating lenders together account for $586 billion in annual originations and $1.865 trillion in servicing portfolios. Those totals describe the lenders' overall business. They do not show how much of it involves 10T.

How the Free Access Program works

Lenders in the FICO Score 10T Free Access Program receive 10T alongside the Classic FICO score they already use. FICO calls this dual processing and says it charges no additional fee. The release does not address what a lender might spend on its own side, such as system integration or staff training.

Treat the performance claims as FICO's claims

FICO says 10T can support up to 5% more approvals at the same level of risk, or up to 17% fewer delinquencies at the same approval rate. The release does not explain the methodology, the sample or the time period, and it is a paid press release, so these are the company's figures. FICO also says 10T uses trended credit data, which shows how your balances and payments move over time, plus rental payment records. Julie May, who leads B2B Scores at FICO, put it this way: "We're at an inflection point in mortgage credit decisioning, and FICO Score 10T is at the center of it."

Where Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stand

Most conventional mortgages are sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), so their rules matter more than any single lender's enrollment. The Mortgage Bankers Association's July 2026 update lays out the timeline. In April 2026, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) (https://newslink.mba.org/mba-newslinks/2026/july/mba-advocacy-update-gses-release-historical-data-for-vantagescore-4-0-fico-10t-adoption-more/) to allow current use of VantageScore 4.0 and future use of FICO 10T. After that announcement the GSEs began accepting loans assessed with VantageScore 4.0 through a limited rollout to approved lenders.

In early July 2026, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac each published historical credit score data. The release covers FICO 10T scores for loans acquired from April 2013 through September 2025, plus more VantageScore 4.0 data. Lenders, investors and technology vendors can use it to prepare for the new scoring framework.

The MBA's president and CEO, Bob Broeksmit, encouraged "continued collaboration to complete the remaining reviews" needed to make both models widely available. In the sources we reviewed, 10T is described as a model for future GSE use, and we did not find a confirmed date when lenders can deliver 10T-scored loans to the GSEs. So "adopted" today mostly means a lender is getting ready, not that 10T is deciding conventional loans. For the longer background, see our explainer on (/mortgage-fico-2-4-5-vs-fico-10t-gse-transition/).

FHA and VA timelines

In April 2026, HUD Secretary Scott Turner said the Federal Housing Administration would, "in the next few months," allow VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T for FHA-insured mortgage underwriting. TransUnion, which sells VantageScore 4.0, says FHA's (https://newsroom.transunion.com/transunion-extends-99-cent-mortgage-pricing-for-vantagescore-40-through-the-end-of-2028-to-support-competition-and-price-stability-in-mortgage-credit-scoring/). That date comes from a vendor, so confirm it with your lender if you are applying for an FHA loan.

Loans held in a lender's own portfolio, jumbo loans and non-qualified mortgages follow whatever the lender or investor sets. That is one reason a lender can enroll in the 10T program well before the GSEs open delivery. If you want to see how score thresholds differ by program, our guide to (/credit-score-minimums-by-loan-type-fha-va-conventional/) covers FHA, VA and conventional loans.

FICO 10T vs VantageScore 4.0: why lenders are watching both

The two models are rivals, and both use more information than the Classic FICO scores most lenders pull today. Under the policy FHFA announced in 2025, lenders can choose one model rather than deliver both on every loan. Equifax says VantageScore 4.0 has been (https://www.equifax.com/business/product/vantagescore-for-mortgage/), which puts it ahead of 10T on the GSE timeline. Equifax sells that score, so read the claim as a vendor statement.

Both models read the same credit reports. Neither erases an accurate late payment or invents history you do not have. For a side-by-side of how they differ, see (/fico-10-vs-vantagescore-4-what-lenders-actually-use-2026/).

What it means if you are applying for a mortgage

So what do you do with all of this? Start here:

• Ask which score model your lender pulls. Bankrate's advice is simple: ask your lender which scores it uses and whether it has adopted VantageScore 4.0. Add FICO 10T to that question, and ask which investor is likely to buy your loan.
• Expect your number to vary by model. A different model can return a different score from the same files, so a score you see in an app may not match what the lender pulls.
• Check your reports for errors. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you can dispute inaccurate information. Fixing a real error helps under any scoring model. Do not pay anyone who promises to "optimize" your file for 10T.
• Know what a mortgage pull looks like. Lenders still commonly pull reports from all three bureaus, as we explain in our (/mortgage-tri-merge-credit-pull-explained-2026/) guide.
• Keep the cost in perspective. Bankrate notes that credit-score fees are a small slice of closing costs, which FICO puts at about $6,000 on average, so competition among scoring models is unlikely to change your bill much.

Conclusion

More than 70 lenders is a meaningful signal that the mortgage industry is preparing for a world beyond Classic FICO. It's also a company-reported enrollment count, and the GSE delivery question is still open. The number to watch is not how many lenders enrolled but when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac confirm that 10T-scored loans can be delivered. Until then, your best move is to ask your lender which score it will use, and to make sure your reports are accurate.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many mortgage lenders have adopted FICO Score 10T?

FICO said on July 28, 2026 that more than 70 mortgage lenders have signed on. That is a company-reported figure, and only eight of the lenders were named in the release.

Does adopting FICO 10T mean my lender will use it on my loan?

Not necessarily. Participating lenders receive 10T alongside the Classic FICO score they already use. Whether 10T is used on a specific loan depends on the lender and the investor buying the loan, so ask your loan officer.

Can Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans use FICO 10T yet?

We did not find a confirmed delivery date. FHFA's April 2026 revisions allow future use of FICO 10T, and the GSEs released historical 10T data in July 2026, but the Mortgage Bankers Association says remaining reviews are still needed.

Will FICO 10T change my credit score?

It can produce a different number than the score you see elsewhere, because it uses trended data and rental payment records. It does not change your credit report; it reads the same bureau files.