Mortgage lenders continued to ease underwriting standards in April, but only for borrowers who were refinancing. For both homebuyers and homeowners seeking to refinance, credit still remains tighter than before the pandemic, which helped pushed average FICO scores on closed loans up by nearly 20 points last year. Inman Connect Mortgage lenders continued to ease underwriting standards in April, but only for borrowers who were refinancing. For both homebuyers and homeowners seeking to refinance, credit remains tighter than before the pandemic, which helped pushed average FICO scores on closed loans up by nearly 20 points last year. That’s according to ICE Mortgage Technology’s latest Origination Insight Report, which shows the average FICO score on closed mortgage loans dropped for the second month in a row during April, falling to 747. The four-point drop in average FICO scores from March to April was the biggest monthly easing in mortgage credit recorded by the ICE report since 2013.