The National Association of Realtors applauded FICO’s new FICO Score 9 as a way to assess consumer collection information, bypassing paid collection agency accounts and differentiating between medical and non-medical collection agency accounts.

The latest product ensures that medical collections have a lower impact on the score, commensurate with the credit risk they represent.

“This move will ultimately make a real difference in the lives of millions of Americans, who have been shut out of the housing market or forced to pay higher mortgage interest rates because of flawed credit scores. Since the housing crash, overly restrictive lending has been the greatest obstacle to homeownership,” NAR President Steve Brown said.

“NAR will continue to support efforts to broaden access to credit for qualified homebuyers,” he added.