Homebuyers could save a few dollars upfront — only to pay more than $20,000 over the life of their mortgage. That is not affordability. That is a mortgage change that could raise costs for families at the exact moment President Trump is focused on making homeownership more attainable.
Buried inside the mountain of paperwork that comes with buying a home is a small credit-reporting cost most Americans have never heard of. It is called a tri-merge report, and it requires lenders to pull credit data from all three major credit bureaus before approving a mortgage, according to Breitbart, which first reported on the proposed change.
Now, mortgage lenders want to weaken that standard. Instead of pulling all three reports, they want to switch to a bi-merge system that uses only two.
That may sound like a minor paperwork change. It is not. Mortgages are priced on risk. If lenders and investors have a less complete picture of a borrower's credit history, they can demand higher interest rates or fees to account for that uncertainty.
That is the danger of bi-merge. It may shave a few dollars off the upfront cost of a credit report, but it can make the mortgage itself more expensive for the family buying the home.
Research from the American Enterprise Institute shows that even a tiny rate increase can cost borrowers real money. On a $400,000 mortgage, a one-basis-point increase adds roughly $1,000 over 30 years. A quarter-point increase can add more than $20,000 over the life of the loan.
Meanwhile, a traditional tri-merge report typically costs around $80 to $100, while a bi-merge report would reduce direct data costs by roughly one-third. In plain English: borrowers might save about $30 today, only to risk paying thousands more later.
That debate is moving quickly. Bloomberg recently reported that the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) plans to direct Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to move from a tri-merge to a bi-merge requirement.
The change could be announced by FHFA Director Bill Pulte as soon as October 12, when he is scheduled to speak at the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual conference.
As FHFA weighs its next step, it should make sure an effort intended to save borrowers money does not expose them to much higher costs and undermine the very affordability it claims to pursue.
The timing could hardly be worse. Mortgage rates are stuck at the highest level in nearly three years. The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 7.4 percent this week through Wednesday, according to Freddie Mac survey data, up from 7.28 percent a week earlier.
That matches reporting from other outlets, which noted that mortgage rates hit 7.4 percent for the first time since November 2023. The 30-year fixed rate mortgage increased 12 basis points this week, following a 25 basis point gain seven days prior, as Treasury yields stay elevated, according to National Mortgage News.
Mortgage rate predictions for the next five years heavily rely on what the 10-year Treasury yield does, and current projections through 2030 show rates rising.
For everyday Americans, the math is brutal. A family already stretching to afford a home in a market where rates are near multi-year highs could find themselves paying even more if the bi-merge standard takes hold.
The difference is not theoretical. On a $400,000 mortgage, the gap between a tri-merge and bi-merge pricing structure could mean the difference between affording a home and being priced out entirely.
Critics of the bi-merge proposal argue that weakening credit-reporting standards introduces more uncertainty into the mortgage market, and uncertainty is always priced in. When lenders cannot fully assess a borrower's creditworthiness, they protect themselves by charging more.
The FHFA has not yet made a final decision, and it is not yet known whether the agency will proceed with the change as reported. But the fact that it is being considered at all has raised alarms among those who see it as another example of cost-cutting that shifts the burden onto regular Americans.
President Trump has made clear that making homeownership more attainable is a priority. His administration has focused on deregulation and energy dominance as ways to bring down costs across the economy.
But this proposed rule change, if implemented, would run in the opposite direction — raising costs for the very families the administration says it wants to help.
The Mortgage Bankers Association conference on October 12 will be a key moment. Whatever Director Pulte announces — or does not announce — will have real consequences for millions of Americans trying to buy a home.
For now, the debate is not about whether to save borrowers a few dollars upfront. It is about whether those savings are worth the risk of paying tens of thousands more over the life of a loan.
That is a question every homebuyer should be asking — and every policymaker should be answering.
Our Take
Here is the truth the mortgage lenders and their friends in the bureaucracy do not want you to hear: this is not about saving you money. It never was.
The push to drop the tri-merge requirement is a classic bait-and-switch. They dangle $30 in upfront savings in front of you, then quietly raise your interest rate by a quarter-point — a move that costs you more than $20,000 over 30 years. That is not a deal. That is a scam.
And it is happening at the worst possible time. Mortgage rates are already at 7.4 percent, the highest level in nearly three years. Families are struggling. Young couples are being priced out of the American Dream. And now the FHFA is considering a rule change that would make it even harder?
President Trump has been clear: he wants to make homeownership attainable again. He wants to cut red tape, unleash American energy, and bring down costs for working families. This proposal runs directly against that mission.
The American Enterprise Institute has already done the math. A tiny rate increase — just one basis point — adds $1,000 to a $400,000 mortgage. A quarter-point adds more than $20,000. That is not pocket change. That is a down payment on a car. That is a year of college tuition. That is real money for real families.
So why are mortgage lenders pushing this? Because it saves them a few bucks on credit reports. They get to cut costs, and you get to pay more. That is the trade-off they are not telling you about.
Patriots, this is what the Swamp looks like. It is not always a guy in a suit handing out cash. Sometimes it is a quiet rule change buried in paperwork that nobody reads until it is too late.
The FHFA needs to hear from you. Director Bill Pulte needs to know that Americans are watching. We do not want a rule change that saves us $30 today and costs us $20,000 tomorrow.
The American Dream is already under attack from the Left, from globalists, and from an economy that seems rigged against working families. The last thing we need is the federal government making it harder to buy a home.
Stand up. Speak out. Tell the FHFA: keep the tri-merge standard. Do not sell out American homebuyers to save a few dollars for the banks.
Because if we do not fight now, we will be paying for it for the next 30 years.
