Rep. Boebert Calls for Mortgage Underwriting and Credit Score Reform and Lowering the Barrier to Homeownership

September 23, 2026 Press Release Lone Tree, CO — Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (CO-04) sent a letter to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins calling for underwriting and credit-score reform so qualified Americans can buy a home without being locked out by outdated down-payment and credit rules. “Affordability is what families talk about around the kitchen table in the heartland,” Rep. Boebert wrote. “Republicans in Congress cut taxes. Next, we need to reform the home-buying process." Rep. Boebert is seeking to work with the departments to develop new policy that changes who qualifies for credit, cuts process costs, and modernizes mortgage rules without weakening the loan itself. She argued that a rigid 20 percent down payment knocks working families out of homeownership, and that on-time rent history and real-world income patterns should count. “Asking a buyer to put down hundreds of thousands of dollars knocks many out of the chance to buy and grow their wealth,” she wrote. "I intend to work in a bipartisan manner with my colleagues to eventually introduce legislation." Rep. Boebert said the federal mortgage system still judges borrowers through a narrow lens: a traditional credit score built on revolving debt and a steady W-2 paycheck. That approach shuts out renters with years of on-time payments but thin credit files; farmers and ranchers whose income arrives at harvest; tradesmen, contractors, seasonal workers, and small-business owners whose earnings vary by design; and commission earners punished for volatility instead of credited for income. On an $833,000 jumbo loan, she noted, 20 percent down is about $167,000, while 5 percent is about $42,000. In many parts of the country, a jumbo loan is the only path to a primary residence. "Keeping the bar at 20 percent does not automatically make the loan safer,” she wrote. “It just delays homeownership and keeps people renting longer." Rep. Boebert asked for a more flexible down-payment standard for jumbo or conventional loans, including a 5 percent option or a percentage tied to true income and credit history, paired with sound underwriting. Debt-to-income limits, credit scores, employment history, cash reserves, and appraisals should stay rigorous. The change, she said, is about the cash-to-close barrier, not ignoring risk. “Families need our help to reduce arbitrary barriers in lending,” Rep. Boebert wrote.