Editorial Board

This Monopoly Is Holding Back the Mortgage Market

Credit scores aren't working the way they should.

But not for everyone.

Photographer: Ty Wright/Bloomberg

If you apply for a mortgage in the U.S., chances are your credit score will be generated by an algorithm better suited to the economy of the 1990s -- part of an ossified system that could be denying millions of otherwise qualified Americans the opportunity to buy a home.

Regulators are considering an update. What’s really needed is a rethink.