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How bad are consumer finance accounts really?

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FinStar
Moderator Emeritus

Re: How bad are consumer finance accounts really?

 

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How bad are consumer finance accounts really?

Message 41 of 55
REDBOYYY56
New Contributor

Re: How bad are consumer finance accounts really?

So just when I thought that I could at least live with all the explanations on CFAs, Experian threw me a curveball this weekend.

My new Experian score jumped 23 points to 780. the CFA negative reason report is no longer on there. With the exception of three accounts aging by one month, I can't find an explanation.

I'm not complaining at all, but I really thought the negative reason report would hang around for another 6 years or so. Does it seem as if the three CFAs have dropped off after 4years?Smiley Surprised

Message 42 of 55
AzCreditGuy
Established Contributor

Re: How bad are consumer finance accounts really?


@REDBOYYY56 wrote:

So just when I thought that I could at least live with all the explanations on CFAs, Experian threw me a curveball this weekend.

My new Experian score jumped 23 points to 780. the CFA negative reason report is no longer on there. With the exception of three accounts aging by one month, I can't find an explanation.

I'm not complaining at all, but I really thought the negative reason report would hang around for another 6 years or so. Does it seem as if the three CFAs have dropped off after 4years?Smiley Surprised


Congrats is this on your Fico 8? I have a mention of CFA on 2 of my Fico 8s but my scores are all above 815 for all 3, where I see the issue where my scores are being dragged down is EX FICO 5 where my score is 777 and has the CFA remark

Message 43 of 55
Tapdnsr25
Valued Member

Re: How bad are consumer finance accounts really?

After reading this, I had to check mine (mortgage scores). I have 2 personal finance loans currently reporting. One is through Republic Finance, and the other Mariner Finance. I also have a few other similar--though closed--loans on my report. My mortgage scores are higher than my FICO8 scores...well, with the exception of TU. For some reason, here lately, my TU scores are quite a bit higher than my others, though the mortgage scores are all pretty close to one another...in fact, the TU and the EX are the same. The TU is missing one of these loans, while the EX is missing a bank loan. So based on my own data, it's kind of hard to sell me on the idea of these types of loans lower scores much...but perhaps I'm just lucky and they aren't reporting with the "CFA" coding? These 2 loans are now paid off and will report as such ANY day now, AND a new Lending Club loan will also report very soon. So it will be interesting to see what happens with my scores as both changes appear. Here are my scores, if it helps....

 

FICO8:

EQ 739

TU 769

EX 713

 

FICO9:

EQ 768

TU 775

EX 753

 

FICO's 5/4/2 (Mortgage):

EQ 753

TU 746

EX 746

 

My TU got a boost recently when a 30 day late was removed on it but not the other 2, so that's why it's higher. And my EX is lower because for some reason it's not reporting a $35k bank loan for our camper. (I need to look into that.) 

Message 44 of 55
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: How bad are consumer finance accounts really?

CFA's stay there full monty unfortunately (10 years after close as someone already mentioned).

 

Any time you change buckets the reason codes get jumbled around among other reasons for a CFA reason code disappearing.  It is not a major ding so it will often sit in the 4th or worse position (5/6/7) depending on scorecard, and with reason code cutoffs it's hard to see.

 

That reminds me, I actually have an somewhat interesting credit event this year... yay!  God I feel old got that before I even found this forum, but that will get me off my ass to try to get credit prettier before that event. 

 

Cashcall loan12/1/11122Closed 7/12, Not on TU7/1/22



        
Message 45 of 55
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: How bad are consumer finance accounts really?


@FinStar wrote:

@sarge12 wrote:

@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

Nobody knows. Sometimes it's really difficult to pin down what account is a CFA. Then you have lenders like Honda and Toyota whose financing shows up as a CFA. From what I've seen, it doesn't appear to drag down your score much. Issue is more with lenders on a manual review who see them. Even then, it seems to be a non-issue for most.


From personal experience, it affects mortgage scores mainly. American Honda Finance showed as a negative on my mortgage scores for 10 years, in spite of the fact I only actually had the loan for 1 day. I re-financed the day after buying my Goldwing to get a better rate from my credit union. I can't attribute all the lower scores to that alone, but my fico scores used in mortgages were about 50 points lower than fico 08 scores. They are still lower, even after falling off the report, but are closer now than they were then FWIW.


My outcome was definitely different than yours regarding AHF.  Many, many moons ago, I had leases and loans with AHF and I never saw any [CFA] negative reason codes display on any of the scoring versions 🤷‍♂️


I'd ask how many moons ago that was bud.

 

AFAIK CFAs are just a list of lender names that if the lender shows up it gets the CFA tag and if it doesn't no problem.  This gets updated regularly.  Not a fan, but I want to say around 2014/2015 people started seeiing the negative reason code with the Honda Financing tradeline name.  Worse the tradeline name sometimes changes too, CFAs are just a mess full stop and I wish they were just done away with.




        
Message 46 of 55
GApeachy
Super Contributor

Re: How bad are consumer finance accounts really?

Are loans from banks like Bread Financial aka Comenity Bank considered a CFA?   I'm not talking about Bread's "buy now pay later" type financing but their newest product, Bread Loan. 

My Take Home Pay Don't Take Me Home
Message 47 of 55
TyrannicalDuncery
Regular Contributor

Re: How bad are consumer finance accounts really?

@REDBOYYY56  It looks like this issue went away for you? That's great! Thanks a lot for the info.

 

When you had the issue, did you have items in your list of accounts on Experian that were described as CFAs? Or did they show up as "installment loans" or something else? Also just so I understand, you were checking this on the Experian website?

 


@REDBOYYY56 wrote:

This is one topic that no one has a definite answer for. With all things being equal, my Experian fico 8 score has been my lowest score at 756. There are currently 3 CFA showing paid that go back since 2018. Since I'm not looking for a mortgage anytime soon I've never really dug into it.

Currently, it's listed as the second negative item on my Experian, so it has some impact but it's hard to quantify how much! 

The fact that it's my lowest score across the board tells me that it has some impact.

I wished I was warned of those CFA, but that's another story for another day!!Smiley Wink

 


 

Message 48 of 55
FireMedic1
Community Leader
Mega Contributor

Re: How bad are consumer finance accounts really?

@TyrannicalDunceryClick on a posters name with old threads. @REDBOYYY56 hasnt been here since 08/22


Message 49 of 55
GApeachy
Super Contributor

Re: How bad are consumer finance accounts really?


@FireMedic1 wrote:

@TyrannicalDunceryClick on a posters name with old threads. @REDBOYYY56 hasnt been here since 08/22


Maybe a little traffic here will round up some peeps Smiley Happy

 

@FireMedic1 we need a sticky on CFA's. Or am I missing it somewhere around here?

My Take Home Pay Don't Take Me Home
Message 50 of 55
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