source:
  type: guide
  id: fnma-sel-b3-5.1-02
  authority: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-5.1-02 — Determining the Credit Score for
    a Mortgage Loan
  description: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-5.1-02 — Determining the Credit Score for
    a Mortgage Loan.
  coverage_tier: operative
obligations:
- id: fnma-sel-b3-5.1-02-full
  canonical_id: fnma-sel-b3-5.1-02-full
  section: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-5.1-02 — Determining the Credit Score for a
    Mortgage Loan
  type: do
  tags:
  - regulator-direct
  - fnma
  - selling-guide
  - corpus-expansion
  - tier-operative
  primary_source:
    tier: 1
    authority: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-5.1-02 — Determining the Credit Score for
      a Mortgage Loan
    source_class: fnma-guide
    source_url: https://singlefamily.fanniemae.com/media/document/pdf/selling-guide
    snapshot_id: 5f7b8b79da595d76
    fetched_at: '2026-05-25T14:09:57Z'
    content_hash: sha256:98cf85a02861bbe84914a0e339b327c8fc131869a8a573882007bbeea60c5701
    paragraph_quote: 'B3-5.1-02, Determining the Credit Score for a Mortgage Loan
      (04/22/2026) Introduction This topic contains requirements for determining the
      loan-level credit score, including: Representative Credit Score Average Median
      Credit Score - Manual Underwriting Foreign Credit Reports and Credit Scores
      Representative Credit Score The representative credit score for the loan is
      determined based on the credit scores of each borrower and is used to determine
      loan eligibility for manually underwritten loans with only one borrower and
      for pricing purposes (i.e., assessing LLPAs) on all loans. Follow these steps
      to calculate the representative credit score for a loan: Step Description 1
      Fannie Mae recommends obtaining at least two credit scores for each borrower.
      Published May 6, 2026 457 Step Description 2 Select a single score for each
      borrower. • When two credit scores are obtained, choose the lower score. • When
      three credit scores are obtained, choose the middle score. (If two of the three
      scores are the same, choose the middle of the three scores. For example: 700,
      680, 680 = 680; 700, 700, 680 = 700) 3 If there is only one borrower, the single
      score for the borrower is the representative credit score for the loan. If there
      are multiple borrowers, determine the applicable credit score for each individual
      borrower and select the lowest applicable score from the group as the representative
      credit score for the loan. If there is a borrower who does not have a credit
      score, determine the representative credit score for the loan based on the credit
      scores of the other borrowers on the loan. Average Median Credit Score - Manual
      Underwriting For certain manually underwritten transactions, the average median
      credit score is used in place of the representative credit score to determine
      whether the minimum credit score requirement is met. The following examples
      demonstrate how to calculate the average median credit score for eligibility
      purposes. Borrowers on the Loan Application Step 1: Determine each borrower''s
      median score Step 2: Average the median scores to determine the score for the
      loan Borrower Scores: 590, 605, 648 Average: Not applicable Representative credit
      score = 605 Borrower 1 Borrower 2 Scores: 590, 605, 648 Median = 605 Scores:
      661, 693, 693 Median = 693 Average: (605+693)/2 = 649 Representative credit
      score = 605 Borrower 1 Borrower 2 Scores: 590, 605 Median = 590 Scores: 661,
      693, 693 Median = 693 Average: (590+693)/2 = 642 Representative credit score
      = 590 Foreign Credit Reports and Credit Scores With the exception of loan caseﬁles
      underwritten through DU, Fannie Mae permits the lender to use a credit report
      from a foreign country to document a borrower''s credit history. (See B3-5.2-01,
      Requirements for Credit Published May 6, 2026 458 Reports.) If a credit score
      is provided with the foreign credit report it cannot be used to establish eligibility,
      or be delivered to Fannie Mae unless the credit score is an approved credit
      score model, as required by B3-5.1-01, General Requirements for Credit Scores.
      If the lender relies on credit reports from foreign countries to document borrower
      credit histories, the credit report must meet the requirements and standards
      for domestic reports and must be completed in English or include an English
      translation. See Section B3–5.4, Nontraditional Credit History, for requirements
      that apply when a loan includes a borrower without an acceptable credit history.
      Recent Related Announcements The table below provides references to recently
      issued Announcements that are related to this topic. Announcements Issue Date
      Announcement SEL-2026-04 April 22, 2026 Announcement SEL-2025-09 November 05,
      2025 Announcement SEL-2022-09 October 05, 2022 Announcement SEL-2021-08 September
      01, 2021 Section B3-5.2, Credit Reports'
  judgment: false
