James Uthmeier Opens Investigation Into FICO's Business Practices
This month, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier took a
notable step in the broader debate over credit market pricing and consumer protection, subpoenaing Fair Isaac Corporation, or FICO, and opening an investigation into the company's alleged anticompetitive practices.
The move puts one of the country's most influential financial gatekeepers on notice that its pricing decisions will face scrutiny, and it signals that holding powerful market players accountable remains a priority in Tallahassee.
FICO controls roughly 90 percent of the credit scoring market, a position that was, for years, reinforced by federal policy requiring its use in mortgage lending.
Since 2022, FICO's per-credit score price has increased by more than 1,500 percent. Factor in fee hikes from the three major credit bureaus, and the average total credit cost to close a home mortgage has gone from roughly $50 to $540 in just four years.
This level of market dominance raises legitimate questions about accountability, particularly when prices rise sharply and consumers have little ability to seek alternatives. Every Floridian who aspires to own a home, buy a car, or build financial stability has an interest in how this market functions. When access to credit becomes more expensive without meaningful justification, it is families and working households that absorb the cost.
By using the investigative and lawful tools available to his office, Uthmeier is asking whether FICO's practices cross the line into anticompetitive conduct. That is a reasonable question for a state attorney general to pursue.
Florida is not alone in this conversation. At the federal level, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte has pressed for more affordable credit score pricing and opened the door to alternative credit scoring models. When state and federal officials are focused on the same problem, it is a sign that affordability concerns are being taken seriously at multiple levels of government.
Attorney General Uthmeier's action positions Florida as an active participant in that broader effort. His willingness to ask hard questions of a company that has operated largely without them is a substantive use of his office and a meaningful development for Florida consumers.
Uthmeier
continues to open investigation into question business practices that impact Floridians.
