Challenge
Approximately 50 million adults in the U.S. are credit invisible or credit unscorable. Because mortgage lenders use credit histories and scores to qualify applicants, it’s difficult for these borrowers to qualify for a loan and, when they do qualify, they may be offered a higher interest rate or lower credit limit. These credit inequities impact minority and younger homebuyers especially, since they often are just starting out with credit, may prefer cash transactions, or can have several jobs with hard-to-document income.
Solution
San Diego-based Guild Mortgage Company (NYSE: GHLD) is one of America’s largest mortgage lenders, having originated more than $19 billion in 2022 and employing more than 4,000 employees across 270 branches. As part of a companywide commitment to shrinking the nation’s considerable racial homeownership gaps, in July 2022 Guild Mortgage introduced its Complete Rate program, powered by FormFree’s Residual Income Knowledge Index® (RIKI®). Complete Rate allows Guild to evaluate applicants who don’t have a credit score based on their complete financial picture — including their rent and utility payment histories and residual income. The evaluation can enable applicants to receive more favorable interest rates or loan fees than they would qualify for based on traditional credit scoring alone.
Benefits
• Fairer Evaluation of First-Time Homebuyers
• A Fast, Accurate Alternative to Manual Underwriting
• An Untapped Source of Pipeline Opportunity