Pennymac TPO offers temporary relief on credit report fees

Pennymac TPO is waiving a $99 credit report fee charged at closing for loans submitted through its POWER+ portal in December, the lender announced Wednesday.

“Qualified credit report fee waivers will be paid by Pennymac at closing—no action required by the partner,” the company said in a notice to brokers.

The move comes as credit report costs are expected to rise by about 50% in 2026, marking the fourth consecutive year of increases, according to resellers who spoke with HousingWire. The rising costs are tied to reports that originate with FICO data and flow through the three major credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.  

Pennymac said the fee waiver applies only to credit reports issued by the lender on new loans with application dates between Dec. 1 and Dec. 31. To qualify, loans must be submitted to Pennymac by Jan. 15.

Rapid rescore credit report requests are excluded.  The loans will still be disclosed with reasonable and customary credit report fees, the company added.

Pennymac ranked as the second-largest U.S. mortgage lender from January through March, with $101 billion in production, up nearly 28% year over year, according to Inside Mortgage Finance. United Wholesale Mortgage held the top spot. 

In the wholesale channel, Pennymac was the third-largest lender in the first half of the year, behind UWM and Rocket Mortgage. Company executives, including CEO and chairman David Spector, have said their goal is to double market share in the broker-direct channel to 10% by the end of 2026.

More broadly, lenders have been rolling out initiatives to manage rising credit report costs after multiple years of increases. One approach gaining traction — especially among brokers — is charging borrowers upfront. Other lenders are starting with a single-bureau report and ordering additional bureaus later in the underwriting process, once there is greater certainty the loan will close.