topic Re: Removing CFA's in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Removing CFA's

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Sep 2021 12:47:12 GMT

Is the damage from having a CFA more than the benefit of having a loan that was paid on time? In my case I had a CFA through Affirm that was always paid on time and paid off months ahead of schedule. I've considered asking them to remove it and wanted to get peoples thoughts on doing so.

Re: Removing CFA's

SouthJamaica — Sun, 05 Sep 2021 19:57:42 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Is the damage from having a CFA more than the benefit of having a loan that was paid on time? In my case I had a CFA through Affirm that was always paid on time and paid off months ahead of schedule. I've considered asking them to remove it and wanted to get peoples thoughts on doing so.

Good question. I don't know the answer.

1. I have no idea what it means pointwise to have an account in your report that's always been paid on time. I have 70 such accounts. It doesn't seem to mean anything at all. If I had only 10 such accounts, it would probably be even better.

2. I don't think anyone really knows about the CFA thing. The consensus in this forum seems to be that there is a ding, it's very small, and it's present only in the older scoring models.

So, if the positive account means nothing, and there's possibly a small ding on certain scoring models for its CFA character, one might as well try to get rid of it. Although I don't know if the bureaus would agree to do that.

Re: Removing CFA's

FireMedic1 — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 07:52:35 GMT

I researched this last month for the same question. Wish I could find it. Its about 10-12 pts on avg for a CFA on a file until it falls off. But all the catagories FICO takes into account on a file is in your favor.

Re: Removing CFA's

AzCreditGuy — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 05:38:44 GMT

@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Is the damage from having a CFA more than the benefit of having a loan that was paid on time? In my case I had a CFA t
dinged for having a CFA and get pts for having a CFA loan..The reason why I say its not a small ding, as this "CFA" BS follows you for 10 years after its been paid off, regardless of positive marks from Fico.

hrough Affirm that was always paid on time and paid off months ahead of schedule. I've considered asking them to remove it and wanted to get peoples thoughts on doing so.
Good question. I don't know the answer.
1. I have no idea what it means pointwise to have an account in your report that's always been paid on time. I have 70 such accounts. It doesn't seem to mean anything at all. If I had only 10 such accounts, it would probably be even better.
2. I don't think anyone really knows about the CFA thing. The consensus in this forum seems to be that there is a ding, it's very small, and it's present only in the older scoring models.

So, if the positive account means nothing, and there's possibly a small ding on certain scoring models for its CFA character, one might as well try to get rid of it. Although I don't know if the bureaus would agree to do that.

Really? Do the members that state this have a CFA on file? It is a ding, I dont think its a small ding. It feels like a wash, since you are dinged for having a CFA and get pts for having a CFA loan..The reason why I say its not a small ding, as this "CFA" BS follows you for 10 years after its been paid off, regardless of positive marks from Fico

Re: Removing CFA's

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 17:39:07 GMT

Unfortunately, the actual effect a CFA has on a score has yet to be determined. Many people believe that the impact is 10-12 points on average, possibly less. There is no way to know for sure what accounts are reported as CFAs and what aren't. There are reports of several manufacturer backed auto loans reporting as CFAs. We know, from data reported, that Affirm codes as a CFA. There are a number of other loans that may or may not be a CFA. Then the impact of the CFA lasts for 10 years after it is paid off. All of those factors make it difficult to determine the true weight of the CFA.

Based on info reported by others, you are likely not going to get a CFA removed from your bureaus.

Many people with CFAs still have 800+ scores; I personally consider CFAs to be a small ding. They are certainly a long lasting ding, but the magnitude is not that great.

Re: Removing CFA's

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 17:41:07 GMT

@Anonymous Does your Affirm account report to all bureaus? Mine only reports to Experian.

Re: Removing CFA's

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 12:44:54 GMT

Experian only

Re: Removing CFA's

rosco75 — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 13:25:23 GMT

pardon the interuption, but what is a CFA? I do not see this acrynom listed in the mega thread located here:

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/User-Guidelines-General/Common-Abbreviations/td-p/88458

Re: Removing CFA's

pizzadude — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 19:03:25 GMT

CFA is a Consumer Finance Account. There is a FICO scoring penalty for having one of these types of accounts, as the posts above have alluded, the impact of these accounts is debated.

My belief is that the penality is minor but it's one of those grey areas that is very hard to nail down due to the other scoring factors that the account impacts such as AAoA, utilization, etc..

Re: Removing CFA's

pizzadude — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 19:05:47 GMT

@rosco75 wrote:
pardon the interuption, but what is a CFA? I do not see this acrynom listed in the mega thread located here:

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/User-Guidelines-General/Common-Abbreviations/td-p/88458

It is in there, described as a CFL: CFL = Consumer Finance Loan - AkA CFA (Consumer Finance Account)

Re: Removing CFA's

cr101 — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 19:57:12 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Experian only

Are you saying that only EX considers CFAs in the score? This is the only place I've seen it.

I would be happy to know which accounts are actually considered CFAs. I have a clue that it's one or all of my auto loans. I just wish that I knew which one, especially since I personally don't consider them to be "bad" (at least not at the time before I discovered my CU). But, if they're going to hurt my score, I likely wouldn't use them again for another car.

Re: Removing CFA's

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 10:18:57 GMT

With all the new FinTech companies popping up and creating competition for the legacy banks, the application of a negative mark on your FICO for having a CFA in your profile doesn't sit well. The issue is the vagueness of what is considered a CFA. Not all FinTechs are payday loans. Some report large FI backed auto loans are tagged CFA. So unless you only do business with an "Approved" list you're gonna get dinged for 10 years. Those are BK guidelines. Interesting.