Consumer Finance Account help!

[Anonymous]

Idk if this is the right sub or not so here goes... I noticed on my husbands Equifax report that there is a consumer finance account on it. I've looked all over his report and searched through everything and there's not an account that says consumer finance account. I'm thinking it's one of two accounts... Badcock or a Verizon Wireless charge off. Badcock says it's a charge account which is why it's confusing and Verizon doesn't say what it is. Would a  Verizon charge off be listed as a cfa? If it's badcock can I get them to remove the account that's always been in good standing and had been paid off for 4 years? I don't use it... They're so overpriced. We did finance through them 6 years ago because my husbands credit wasn't good at the time but like I said... It says charge account. Thanks in advance for your help! 

[Anonymous]

CFAs are installment loans. You could get them for financing from like Affirm, personal loans like Best Egg, and auto loans like those Honda and Ally for some examples. 

There is no actual credit report distinction but if you took a loan and it wasn't from a bank or credit union, there is always a chance that you'll get the reason code. 

It isn't worth many points, likely less than 5. You won't have success getting a creditor to take it off and since the account status isn't derogatory it will hang around for around 10 years after the last payment activity. 

[Anonymous]

He does have 2 ally loans but they say auto loan. Could they still be considered a cfa? It's not saying he has a cfa on Experian or Equifax but the ally loans are on those too. Thanks for your help! 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

He does have 2 ally loans but they say auto loan. Could they still be considered a cfa? It's not saying he has a cfa on Experian or Equifax but the ally loans are on those too. Thanks for your help! 

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Yep those would be the CFA(s). Ally is known to unfortunately trigger the reason code. 

As for why it wouldn't appear on the other bureaus, he likely has it but it's not visible because he has other things costing him more points. If you pull his mortgage scores it may show up there. It was only recently that I learned my TU 8 has it because it showed up on my Disco CLI denial letter. 

It isn't worth investing a lot of time into it. There is nothing you can do about. Best to forget it exists and just be sure to only get any kind of installment from a major bank or credit union directly in the future. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

He does have 2 ally loans but they say auto loan. Could they still be considered a cfa? It's not saying he has a cfa on Experian or Equifax but the ally loans are on those too. Thanks for your help! 

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Unfortunately, as mentioned abive, they do not disclose that it is a CFA and can be a wild guessing game. Me and My SO have student loans, and apparently a good chunk of the servicers are considered CFAs! 

The code does not drop until the accounts (culprits) age off. If they are psoitive accounts, that is generally 10 years after they are paid and closed. That makes this topic quite tricky sometimes who it is and what the score change is until you wait them out.

There is often a misconception that the scoring oenalty is small and I assume because we do not know enough about them and it could depend on your credit profile all together, but I gained +20pts in my EQ5 scores when my CFAs (SLs) and my SO gained upwards of +40pts in his EQ5s when the CFAs (SLs) came off his credit report.

Even manufacturer financing, for say auto loans that offer those good 0% offers, are generally CFAs. 

I really wish there was a requirement to disclose that you are about to get a CFA and it be shown on your credit report who is considered one.

Even those little affirm/klarna offers are CFAs. They are everywhere and it is unfortunate we are punished for using specific types of financing without even really knowing that we are in the first place.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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There is often a misconception that the scoring oenalty is small and I assume because we do not know enough about them and it could depend on your credit profile all together, but I gained +20pts in my EQ5 scores when my CFAs (SLs) and my SO gained upwards of +40pts in his EQ5s when the CFAs (SLs) came off his credit report.

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On those files, where did CFAs rank on the negative reason statement list associated with the scores that big gains were seen on?

[Anonymous]

Under public record and serious delinquency I’m willing to bet.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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There is often a misconception that the scoring oenalty is small and I assume because we do not know enough about them and it could depend on your credit profile all together, but I gained +20pts in my EQ5 scores when my CFAs (SLs) and my SO gained upwards of +40pts in his EQ5s when the CFAs (SLs) came off his credit report.

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On those files, where did CFAs rank on the negative reason statement list associated with the scores that big gains were seen on?

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We had a pretty good discussion about it in another thread where I displayed all reason codes and scores.

Here you go:

11/17/21

11/17/20

12/21/20

12/21/20

No matter how dirty my credit profile was, with dozens of CAs and defaulted SLs, 100s of lates, and a CO here or there, this has always been number 3 on my negative reason code list until those 4 accounts (totally positive, no bad marks anywhere, and lowered my AAoA when they were removed).

[Anonymous]

@Anonymous

For SO:

He also had bad credit from the get go and the CFA code was buried under having no revolving credit and a recently added CA.

Once he established his first CC, then the CFA code came in as number 4. Unfortunately it got buried again. He had the exact same SLs, but only 2 instead of my 4, age off the same month as me. They were also completely positive with no negative marks and lowered his AAoA once removed. Here are some reason codes and scores:

2/27/2020

Next report 4/18/2020

Month before CFAs dropped 11/24/2020

11/24/2020

12/25/2020

12/25/2020