"Not Paid As Agreed" issue

[MattReno64]

Hello to one and all,

I recently applied for a loan with Prosper, but did not follow through due to an odd communication from them, where they told me that I could not be approved the loan amount for several reasons, one of which was "too few accounts paid as agreed".
I assumed this was some sort of mistake, and went to Lending Club, where I got exactly the same thing-- that I had some accounts that were "not paid as agreed".
I tried a third company that was suggested by Credit Karma, and was shot down for that one with a firm rejection, and which also said the same thing about "accounts not paid as agreed".
 I waited for my next Discover Card statement so that I could check the "MyFico" page, and for the very first time, where it reviews the weak points in your credit, it listed this:
    
"2. TOO FEW ACCOUNTS CURRENTLY PAID AS AGREED:

You have very few accounts you are paying as agreed or you've missed payments recently on some of your accounts."

That is four times I have seen the same thing. I have NOT missed any payments at all, ever. There are no late or skipped payments anywhere. I did pay 2 of my 3 credit cards off prior to applying for the loans, I wanted to it to look like I had very little debt, so I paid my CapitalOne down to under 100 dollars, and paid my Amex and Discover off totally.

Is it possible that they are seeing my not making payments on 2 of my 3 cards as missing a payment? It sounds absurd that the software can't tell the difference between missed payments, and people not making payments because they have a zero balance, but I can't think of any other thing that it could be.

Do you know if paying a credit card off to zero could result in this type of negative feedback?  My Fico score on Discover did NOT go down, despite the odd message that I am "not paying as agreed and might have missed payments"... it went up, from a respectable 816, to an amazing 835. How on Earth could I be getting scores like that if I was not paying as agreed?

If anyone might have any idea on what could be going wrong here, I would be desperate to hear it. I have been working hard to build credit and apply for this loan for a long time. The idea that I could have screwed myself over by paying my balances to zero is almost too much to comprehend. I have no idea who to contact, what to think, or what to do.
Any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[user5387]

Welcome to the forums!

If you look here:

   http://www.scoreinfo.org/FICO-Scores/Pages/Score-Factors.aspx

one suggested idea is that "too few accounts paid as agreed" refers to a thin file or inactive accounts.

Is there anything unusual about your report, for example inactive accounts, new accounts, derogatories, and so on?

Do you use all your CCs every month?

[MattReno64]

Thanks for the reply.... nothing too unusual... do have a large gap between old credit accounts from the 90's, and my very new credit cards... I did live without credit of any kind for a long time.... I am a "thin file" person, 2 of 3 credit cards are not yet 1 full year, and 3rd card is only 18 months... no derogs, 100% on time payments.... I do not  use 2 of my 3 cards much.... I put decent balances on them, but paid them down in nice chunks.... then zeroed them out...

Every month at the Fico page at Discover it would tell me that the lack of a non-mortgage installment loan is hurting me, and that is why I went for the loan. It never said anything about "not paid as agreed" till after my two statements cut at zero.... I don't think it can refer to anything old... a vexing issue.... I am going to use them both and keep some type of balance on them permanently now...

[vanillabean]

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@MattReno64 wrote:

I am a "thin file" person, 2 of 3 credit cards are not yet 1 full year, and 3rd card is only 18 months...

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And you have a Discover TU 08 of 835, lol.

[NikoD]

Discover gave me the same "too few accounts currently paid as agreed" line when I had a 828 FICO. It can mean either you have very few accounts or you've missed payments. In my case I only had two open accounts. I have since opened a few more accounts so it no longer says that.

[MattReno64]

My 'thin file" issue is only for recent credit.... my oldest account is 22 years, average age of acct on CK is almost 9 years... I just stopped using credit for about 12 years, so there is a huge gap. The thin file stuff doesn't really justify the use of the "not paid as agreed".... that is very specific language that refers to your credit card agreement. If you have ever read one, it says...."you agree this, you agree to that"....

There is no logical reason why they would use language that suggests that you are in violation of the terms of your credit card agreement when you have complied with all the terms and done everything right. My Discover page that reviews the credit conditions flat out suggested that I have missed payments on multiple accounts... but they are paid to zero. Nothing was late or missed. Why would they use language that suggests violating your agreement when they could just as easily say : "you're a thin file, you have accounts that have not been used much, you have accounts that are less than a year old", etc ?

Also, the language is new. It never said that until after two of my 3 statements were paid off, and posted at zero.

Telling creditors that I am "not paying multiple accounts as agreed", when in fact I have paid them off is not some abstruse way of saying that I have a thin file. Is there a complaint line or email for FICO where customers can get someone to look into situations like this?

[NikoD]

 I believe they only give the  top two or three reasons. So this may be why it says it now when it didn't before. Whatever it said before is no longer valid so they have to come up with a new reason to give you. BTW my 2 open accounts were both around 17 years old at the time (my closed account about 9 years old). I have been using credit this entire time without ever having a late payment. I agree that the wording is confusing to the consumer. If you only have very few accounts than only very few accounts can be paid as agreed. It does't necessarily mean that you have not honored the agreements and I don't think lenders are assuming this. I've had no problem opening up new accounts with this as a reason why my score is not higher. Amex gave me their best terms and a highish CL. However, Barclays gave me less than the best terms because I don't have enough open accounts. How many open accounts do you have and how long have they been open ( i.e. how long have you been paing as agreed)?

[NikoD]

Also, lenders would see your actual CR and score so they can see that you (and I) have no lates. I believe those "factors affecting your score" are supposed to be for the consumers benefit so they understand their score and/or why they aren't getting the best terms. Sometimes the reasons can be confusing/misleading/inaccurate since they are likely chosen by a computer from a limited number of possible choices.

[MidnightJester]

Barclays will give you cards with thin files if they internally score you well. I only had a discover card at 7000(really was 9000 but wasnt updated yet). Barclays was my first of app spree and they gave me 8.0%apr and a 7500 limit. higest as far as they could tell. I even called in to get them to match the unlisted discover and they said we are already giving you the higest limit you have. so it is def YMMV.

The not paying enough cards as agreed language is werid. I AGREE : ) but the banks know when they look at scores and payments if you payed or not. I REALLY HOPE THEY DO. WIll see if going from 1 card to 4 cards removes that comment