Arlington, VA—A new report by American Consumer Institute highlights the critical role the tri-merge credit report plays in safeguarding consumer access to mortgage lending. By compiling credit data and scores from all three major bureaus—Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion—the tri-merge model provides the most comprehensive and accurate assessment of borrower risk, serving as the long-standing industry standard for loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under the oversight of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
The paper warns that shifting to a bi-merge model would reduce available information, potentially disqualifying millions of creditworthy borrowers—particularly those with fair or thin credit profiles—without meaningfully addressing affordability or competition concerns. Instead, recent approval of expanded scoring models such as VantageScore 4.0 demonstrates that innovation and competition can be achieved without limiting data. The report concludes that maintaining the tri-merge framework is essential to preserving accuracy, promoting access to homeownership, and protecting consumers in an already complex mortgage market.
Read the full report below.
Leah Locke is a policy analyst with the American Consumer Institute, a nonprofit education and research organization. Follow Leah on X @leahmlocke.