Washington, D.C. — In response to recent actions from Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte to introduce competition in the title insurance market and reduce FICO’s dominance over credit scoring in the mortgage industry, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.

“The title insurance industry is one of the most opaque and anti-competitive corners of the housing market, so opening it up to more vendors is a welcome and long-overdue step,” said Nidhi Hegde, Executive Director of the American Economic Liberties Project. “Adding a second provider to Fannie Mae’s pilot could help bring down inflated closing costs and introduce basic price competition.”

“At the same time, FICO has long benefited from a government-backed monopoly that drives up borrowing costs,” added Hegde. “Giving lenders the option to use a competing score is a strong step toward a fairer system.”

Learn more about FICO and the Credit Bureau Cartel here.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.