THIS WILL END WELL: Fannie Mae removes minimum credit score requirements from DU.

Fannie Mae‘s November 2025 Selling Guide, released on Wednesday, detailed several updates, including expanding Fannie’s Day 1 Certainty offerings to include representation and warranty relief for undisclosed non-mortgage liabilities, expanding the eligibility for the age of credit document exception for single-closing construction loans and removing minimum credit score requirements from Desktop Underwriter (DU).

As a result of the latter update, Fannie Mae will remove minimum credit score requirements for loans submitted through its DU system starting Nov. 16. This means that the current 620 minimum representative or average median credit score will be removed for new loan case files created on or after that date.

Other related updates will apply to files submitted or resubmitted beginning the weekend of Nov. 15, 2025, an announcement from Fannie Mae said. Instead of applying a minimum score, DU will use its own analysis of borrower risk factors to determine loan eligibility.

Fannie Mae also updated requirements for documenting nontraditional credit and homebuyer education. The DU system will notify lenders when they need to establish a nontraditional credit history or require homebuyer education in cases where a borrower has no traditional credit or installment account on record.

Don’t worry, I’m sure this time around it will work just fine.