Experian is imposing another price increase on credit reports sold to mortgage lenders — an unusual move at this time of year, according to resellers who spoke with HousingWire.
“I have never seen a price increase after a price increase in January,” said one reseller executive, who requested anonymity to avoid potential retaliation. “It comes out to about 3% [of a tri-merge credit report of about $90]— roughly $3 per borrower.”
“We recently received a pricing increase from one of our data partners,” Shelley Leonard, president of Xactus, said in a statement while declining to provide further information. “While the timing may come as a surprise to many in the market, our priority is to carefully assess the impact and determine the most responsible way to move forward.”
Credit report prices for mortgage lenders have already climbed by as much as 50% in 2026, resellers said.
The moves come amid heightened competition among credit scoring providers after the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) allowed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to begin purchasing loans underwritten with VantageScore 4.0, offering an alternative to the long-dominant Classic FICO score.
Another change is a national ban on abusive trigger leads that’s set to take effect this week. Prescreened credit reports are a product sold by the credit bureaus, mainly Experian.
The three major bureaus – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion – did not reply to HousingWire‘s requests for comments. There’s still some confusion on how the legislation will work in practice, these sources added.
An Experian spokesperson told HousingWire that the company recently communicated to mortgage partners “a new strategic pricing structure,” which will provide “additional Experian value added services and maintain current pricing.”
“The pricing structure is designed to bring a broader set of capabilities across the lending lifecycle to our partners, and we are actively working with them to implement. Any external view of impact is not based on this engagement or informed by us,” the spokesperson said.
According to the spokesperson, Experian lowered the price of a standalone VantageScore 4.0 score to one-third the price of a FICO score for 2026 — compared to about 50% previously — while VantageScore 4.0 continues to be free in 2026 when bundled with legacy scores.
These actions were taken to “accelerate score competition through VantageScore adoption,” which is the “best and most responsible way to bring about meaningful savings to the industry,” the spokesperson added.
But the reduction to the VantageScore price came with “pricing adjustments to credit reports,” which can be “offset by strategic partnership commitments,” the company said last week in a letter sent to clients that was reviewed by HousingWire. The changes will take place in April.
In October, Experian announced it would offer VantageScore 4.0 free of charge to mortgage clients. The move followed similar decisions by Equifax and TransUnion, which, along with Experian, jointly own VantageScore.
Resellers argue that the latest increase by Experian disproportionately affects mortgage lenders because they are required to pull credit reports from all three bureaus.
“On the consumer side, you only have to pull one bureau. But in mortgage, we’re required to pull all three. That’s why they’re putting it on the housing side. This increase lies solely at the feet of Experian,” the reseller executive said.
According to resellers, the latest change could force them to renegotiate agreements with lenders just months after annual contracts were signed. In some cases, contracts prohibit additional increases within 12 months, meaning the added costs may be absorbed by resellers and squeeze margins.
“We are working through this thoughtfully and with full awareness of the broader market environment,” Leonard said. “Our commitment remains the same: to support our clients with transparency, stability, and a disciplined approach to managing change.”
The Experian spokesperson added that the company’s “commitment to transparency in mortgage credit reporting pricing remains unchanged, and we remain focused on delivering accurate, secure and reliable data that helps lenders make sound decisions and consumers access credit responsibly.”