This post comes to us from the Market Leader blog:

Agents! Brokers! Have you been working with someone who wants to buy a home, but has some credit issues? Anyone who was a borderline case and got denied for the credit terms they needed to make the deal work? Have any clients who backed out of buying when they saw their FICO score?

The good news is that the rules are changing to the benefit of consumers. This gives you the all-important opportunity to call them back – this time as someone who is clearly in their court and has information that can help them!

Shifts in the FICO Score System

Last week, Fair Isaac Corp., the company that administers FICO, the most important measure of consumer creditworthiness in commerce today, announced that it is cutting people who have experienced past hardships a little slack when it comes to calculating credit scores.

The new algorithm, called FICO Score 9, includes some key updates:

1. If a consumer has had a debt that went to collection – and later paid it off or settled it – then that former debt will no longer count against them in their FICO score calculation.
2. Debts related to medical bills will not be weighted so heavily against the consumer.
3. The company is also rolling out some new methodologies to better assess the credit worthiness of people who don't have an extensive credit history.