National affordable housing innovator Arrive Home has partnered with FormFree, a leader in financial technology since 2007, to offer lender partners an alternative method to effectively measure a borrower’s credit risk and ability to pay. The partnership will expand homeownership opportunities for borrowers with limited credit history.
Arrive Home’s lender partners will now have access to Financial Identity Reports generated by FormFree that rely on its Residual Income Knowledge Index, or RIKI. RIKI is an intelligent system that assesses borrowers’ ability to pay based on monthly income and spending. When paired with traditional credit scoring models, RIKI offers lenders a more complete understanding of consumers’ creditworthiness.
“Nontraditional sources of automated underwriting increase opportunities for borrowers in marginalized communities who don’t have a FICO score or who have limited credit histories,” said Arrive Home President Tai Christensen. “This partnership with FormFree enables lenders to obtain a comprehensive assessment of their credit risk and help a large demographic of qualified borrowers achieve homeownership.”
“Traditional credit scoring systems leave behind a large segment of Americans, including minorities and first-time homebuyers,” added FormFree Founder and CEO Brent Chandler. “RIKI is paving a new path forward by providing a comprehensive analysis of creditworthiness for these borrowers, giving lenders a strong insight into a consumer’s ability to pay and providing an extra layer of certainty when extending credit.”