Foreclosure

U.S. Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) William J. Pulte announced in early July that people may now be eligible to receive a mortgage using just their rental data. “My ORDER today (thanks to my boss, POTUS) will allow for Americans to use their RENT to qualify for a mortgage. Credit history will no longer just include credit cards and loans. This is HUGE,” Pulte wrote on social media. He went onto note that the agency will be “incentivizing lenders, who USE both Vantage 4.0 and FICO, with better pricing – anything to help the consumer,” and that “[i]f you use Vantage and not just FICO, for the betterment of the American people and the consumer, you should get better pricing. It’s just math. Predictive math.” If you’re likely to pay your rent, you’re likely to pay your mortgage. — Pulte (@pulte) July 8, 2025 Will This Actually Change Anything? “VantageScore thanks Director Pulte for his resolute focus on enacting credit score competition as required by the law, and promoting efficiency and affordability for creditworthy Americans,” said Silvio Tavares, President and CEO of VantageScore in a statement shared by PR Newswire. (MORE NEWS: What’s America Gonna Look Like? Shocking Video from Rome Gives Preview) “Under Director Pulte’s leadership, the FHFA’s long-expected decision to accept VantageScore 4.0 will revolutionize the American mortgage market and grant millions of creditworthy Americans the golden opportunity to own their homes.” 2008 2.0? Skeptics immediately pointed out that there will always be concerns that making it easier to get a mortgage will simply lead to another 2008 situation, where millions of homeowners will use the new system to acquire properties they may not actually be able to afford. Without the legal parameters in place for renters, wherein landlords can issue eviction notices for unpaid rent. For those who go through sudden lifestyle changes, meaning they have to break a lease or downsize to a smaller, cheaper property, the rental system allows you to do this without actually harming your long-term credit score or ability to purchase in the future. The national housing market continues to weaken. Single-Family Months of Supply: 4.17 (highest since 2016) Condo Months of Supply: 6.16 (highest since 2012) What’s hidden in the national averages is that certain states (TX, FL) are starting to look a lot like 2008. While other… pic.twitter.com/fPJOXoUSRP — Nick Gerli (@nickgerli1) May 22, 2025 Under this new system, people will potentially be able to simply stop paying their mortgages. They would therefore either have to refinance, meaning their interest rates will likely go up, and their equity payments will go down — i.e.: it will take you even longer to actually own your home. (MORE NEWS: Los Angeles Burns (Again); Is The Golden State Turning Into An Open Air Prison Camp?) Those who cannot refinance will then be forced to default on their mortgage. Their property will be foreclosed upon, and this will make it incredibly difficult for them to own a property again — and in some cases, make it difficult to rent as foreclosures and mortgage defaults hurt your credit for years into the future. Many Homeowners Already Underwater The saddest part of this whole situation is that most people who bought homes between 2022 and today — with an interest rate of 5% or above — do not realize that they don’t own their home. The bank owns their home because the rate at which they are paying into the equity is significantly lower than what they are paying in interest. The improvement in affordability in Austin, TX’s housing market has been miraculous. 3 years ago, homes were 52% overvalued. Today, homes are only 6% overvalued. A severe home price correction, to go along with rising income levels, has now made Austin’s housing market… pic.twitter.com/tdQpokek8G — Nick Gerli (@nickgerli1) June 27, 2025 These same people often bought properties at a hyper-inflated value, with many shoddily-built new homes selling for $400,000 or more. Not only does this mean these people will pay over $1,000,000 for these properties over the course of their mortgage agreement, but most of these properties have decreased in value. Zillow, Realtor, and other such real estate sites do not reflect actual home values, so millions of Americans are estimated to be underwater on their mortgage and they have no idea. This means they’ll be stuck in these overpriced homes, unable to sell, forced to massively overpay because that is the way the system works right now. TMM Analysis If you are ignoring the housing crisis, your head is in the sand. Writing in 2023, The Modern Memo editor in chief Kay Hill (nee Smythe) reported that the ” national median existing home price dropped 1.7 percent in April 2023, the largest year-on-year drop since 2012, according to recent reports.” And these issues are continuing to compound. There is absolutely no telling what will happen next. But the luckiest people right now are the ones who either (a) own their property outright, (b) have a mortgage rate below 2.5%, or (c) are renting. If you fall outside of these categories, you need to speak to a financial planner today, and get the heck out of your home before it is too late — and remember, it is not actually your home if the bank owns most of the equity. Requests for comment and additional information from Pulte went unanswered prior to the time of publishing.