Announcement: DU Eligibility Update

Effective with the FNMA Desktop Underwriter® (DU®) update over the weekend of September 18, 2021, DU® will evaluate the eligibility assessment using a median credit score. When there are multiple borrowers, DU® will average middle FICO of all borrowers to determine the average median credit score instead of solely using the lowest of all borrowers’ middle Fico (representative credit score). This means loans with a representative credit score lower than 620 may now score Approve/Eligible, as long as the average median score of all borrowers is 620 or above. While more loans may score Approve/Eligible with this update, DU® scored loans will continue need to meet the minimum representative credit score requirement of 620 as required by PHH for program eligibility.

The representative credit score will continue to be used by DU® for the following:
  • Minimum credit score requirements for
    • DU® loans with one borrower,
    • other policies in DU® that have minimum credit score criteria (such as multiple financed
      properties)
    • manually underwritten loans
  • Pricing on all loans
  • Loan delivery on all loans
If you have any questions, please contact your Regional Sales Executive, or contact us via the support line 1-800-929-4744, Email inquiries can be sent to  PHHCorrSupport@PHHMortgage.com or RateLock@PHHMortgage.com.

Thank you for your continued business.

The announcement is an update to the PHH Mortgage Seller Guide (“Guide”). The requirements contained herein and in previous announcements are incorporated into the Guide, and they are considered a part of and supplement the Guide.