After decades of discussion, progress is finally being made in incorporating alternative data—particularly rental payment history—into credit scoring and mortgage underwriting.

Join the Urban Institute for an event showcasing new findings on the impact of rent reporting on credit scores, exploring the changes needed to enhance the effective use of alternative data in the mortgage industry, and highlighting recent innovations that can help consumers build credit beyond traditional methods.

Agenda

Welcome

• Janneke Ratcliffe, Vice President, Housing Finance Policy, Urban Institute 

Presentation: The Potential of Alternative Data 

• Jung Hyun Choi, Principal Research Associate, Housing Finance Policy Center, Urban Institute

Panel 1: How does Reporting of Rent Payments Impact Credit Scores? 

• Ethan Dornhelm, Vice President, Scores and Predictive Analytics, FICO
• Yvette Ross Kane, Director of Asset Management, Washington Housing Conservancy
• Jonathan Lawless, Vice President of Homeownership, Bilt Rewards
• Brett Theodos, Senior Fellow, Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center, Urban Institute
• Jung Hyun Choi, Principal Research Associate, Housing Finance Policy Center, Urban Institute (moderator) 

Panel 2: What Innovations Can Help Consumers Build Credit? 

• Manish Garg, Senior Vice President, Product and Technology, EarnUp 
• Kristian Lund, Senior Vice President of Rent and Bills Reporting, Self 
• Lamine Zarrad, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, StellarFi
• Chrissi Johnson, Vice President of External Affairs, Prosperity Now (moderator) 

Panel 3: How Can Using Alternative Data Improve Mortgage Underwriting? 

• Brent Chandler, Chief Executive Officer, FormFree 
• Srijana Giri, Senior Director of Products, Credit and Capacity, Freddie Mac
• Jonathan Gurwitz, Credit Lead, Plaid 
• Wenzhen Lin, Economist, Office of Policy Development and Research, US Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Laurie Goodman, Institute Fellow, Urban Institute (moderator)
   

The Housing Finance Policy Center’s 10th Anniversary Series

The Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center (HFPC) was founded 10 years ago with a mission to educate policymakers, system actors, and the public about how the housing finance system could better serve families, households, and communities, particularly those historically disadvantaged by that system. Today’s challenges demand even more from HFPC’s unique capacities. Therefore, HFPC has launched NEXT10: The Future of Home, which is an effort to develop a North Star research agenda with supplemental events aimed at assessing the housing finance system in the coming decade and address how best to solve these critical issues. 

This event series brings together experts from a wide array of sectors to explore promising ideas and bold solutions for the US housing finance system, to build important partnerships, and to inspire transformative action. These events supplement the Future of Home research agenda—comprising new research on today’s urgent challenges, alongside foundational HFPC work that is needed for future impact. 

This event is available for in-person or virtual participation. Please be sure to register correctly. In-person check-in and lunch will begin at 12:30 p.m. and a networking reception will follow from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.

We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals to engage fully. Please email [email protected] if you require any accommodations or have any questions about this event.

Support for this event is provided by Bilt Rewards. For more on Urban’s funding policies, go to urban.org/about/organizational-principles.