Credit score reason codes, in plain English
Every credit score comes with up to four or five short reasons that say what held it back. Find yours below. Each page says what it means, what to look for on your report and what you can do.
The full explanation of how reason codes work is in credit score reason codes, decoded.
FICO reason codes
FICO reason codes, also called key factors, are the short statements that come with a FICO Score and list what held it back the most, in order. Equifax, Experian and TransUnion each produce their own FICO Score, so a mortgage file carries three sets, and a few statements use a different code number at each bureau. The numbers here come from FICO's published U.S. reason code list, revised June 2025.
Payment history
- Level of delinquency on accountsHow far behind your late accounts got, now or in the past, is hurting the score. The code reacts to the depth of a delinquency, such as 60 or 90 days. A separate code covers how many accounts went late.
- Time since delinquency is too recent or unknownYou had a late payment recently, or the model can't tell when your last one happened. It counts the months since your most recent delinquency, and right now that number is small.
- Number of accounts with delinquencyMore than one account on your report shows a late payment, past or present. The model counts how many accounts have gone delinquent, separate from how severe each late was.
- Too few accounts currently paid as agreedNot enough of your accounts are open and in good standing right now. The model counts accounts being paid as agreed, and here the good ones are few or outnumbered by negative ones.
- Time since derogatory public record or collection is too shortA collection, a bankruptcy or another serious negative item on your report is recent. The model weighs these items most heavily when they're new, and lighter as years pass.
- Amount past due on accountsAt least one account is behind right now and shows a past-due dollar amount. This code points to a current problem, not an old late that's already been caught up.
- Too few accounts with recent payment informationFew of your accounts have reported a payment recently. Your file may be mostly closed, paid-off or idle accounts, which tells the model little about how you pay today.
- Amount owed on delinquent accountsYou still owe money on accounts that are late, charged off or in collection. The dollar amount owed on those negative accounts is large enough to rank among your top reasons.
- Serious delinquency, and public record or collection filedYour report carries both a serious delinquency and a public record or collection. This one statement combines two major negatives, and when it ranks first, those items are costing the score the most.
- Serious delinquencyAt least one account reached a serious level of delinquency, such as several missed payments in a row or a charge-off. Its partner codes, 38 and 40, cover collections and public records.
- Derogatory public record or collection filedYour report shows a collection account or a public record such as a bankruptcy. The code points to the item itself rather than to late payments on an account you still have open.
Amounts owed
- Amount owed on accounts is too highYour total reported debt is high for a file like yours. This code adds up every balance the bureau has, cards and loans together, rather than measuring how close your cards are to their limits.
- Proportion of loan balances to loan amounts is too highYour installment loans, such as car, student or personal loans, still carry most of their original balance. The model compares what you owe now with what you first borrowed, and on a young loan those two numbers are still close.
- Too many accounts with balancesToo many of your accounts are carrying a balance at the same time. The count is what matters here, separate from how large the balances are, so several small balances can trigger it.
- Proportion of balances to credit limits on bank/national revolving or other revolving accounts is too highYour credit card balances are high compared with your card limits. This is credit utilization, and it's one of the few reason codes you can usually change within a single statement cycle.
- Amount owed on revolving accounts is too highThe dollar total on your credit cards and other revolving accounts is high. This differs from the utilization code: it looks at how much you owe on revolving credit, not what percent of your limits you're using.
- No recent non-mortgage balance informationOutside of a mortgage, nothing on your report has shown a balance lately. Your cards and loans are paid off, closed or reporting zero, so the model has no recent non-mortgage debt to evaluate.
- Number of bank/national revolving accounts with balancesToo many of your general-purpose credit cards are carrying balances at once. It's the bank-card version of the broader code about accounts with balances, and the count matters more than the dollars.
- No recent revolving balancesAll your revolving accounts reported zero balances recently. Paying every card before its statement closes avoids interest, but it leaves the model no card balance to grade.
- No recent bank/national revolving balancesNone of your general-purpose credit cards reported a balance recently. On TransUnion FICO Scores, that leaves the model without current bank card use to grade, even if a store card carries a balance.
Length of credit history
- Account payment history is too new to rateYour accounts haven't been reporting long enough to show a real payment record. The model can score you, but it has only a few months of history to judge, which holds the score back.
- Length of time revolving accounts have been establishedYour credit cards are young. The model measures how long your revolving accounts have been open, and a card needs years, not months, before its age counts for much.
- Length of time accounts have been establishedYour credit history is short compared with the oldest files the model scores. It weighs your oldest account, your newest and the average age of everything, and only time closes that gap.
New credit
- Too many inquiries last 12 monthsYou've applied for credit several times in the past year, and those hard inquiries are costing points. This is the one code that can appear as a fifth reason on top of the usual four.
- Too many accounts recently openedYou've opened several new accounts in a short stretch. The model treats a burst of new credit as a risk sign, apart from the hard inquiries that the applications created.
- Date of last inquiry too recentYou applied for credit very recently. This TransUnion code reacts to how close your latest hard inquiry is, separate from how many inquiries you've had in the past year.
- Time since most recent account opening is too shortYou opened an account very recently. The model checks the age of your newest account, and even on a long, clean history, one that's only weeks or months old holds the score back.
Credit mix
- Lack of recent installment loan informationYour report shows no installment loan with recent activity. Either you've never had one, or every loan you had is paid off and closed, so the model has no current fixed-payment history to look at.
- Too few bank/national revolving accountsYou have few or no open general-purpose credit cards, the kind issued by banks and card companies that work almost anywhere. Store cards and loans don't fill the gap, so the model has little card history to judge.
- Too many bank/national revolving accountsYour file has a large number of open general-purpose credit cards. The model reads a high card count as a risk sign for a file like yours, even when the cards carry no balances.
- Too many consumer finance company accountsSeveral of your accounts come from consumer finance companies, the lenders that make personal loans and store or point-of-sale financing outside of banks. The model counts these accounts as their own type and treats a high number of them as a negative.
- Lack of recent bank/national revolving informationNo general-purpose credit card on your report shows recent activity. You may own cards, but they haven't reported recent use, or the issuers closed them, so the model has no current read on how you use a bank card.
- Lack of recent revolving account informationNone of your revolving accounts, store cards and credit lines included, shows recent activity. The model has no current information on how you handle revolving credit of any kind.
- Number of established accountsYour file has few accounts with real age behind them. The model wants more accounts that have been open and reporting long enough to count as established, and a thin file falls short.
VantageScore reason codes
VantageScore reason codes are the short statements printed with a VantageScore that list what held it back the most, in order, with up to four reasons plus a fifth when inquiries played a part. VantageScore 4.0 and 3.0 use different numbered lists, so the same problem can carry two different numbers, and some numbers mean different things in each version. Match the wording first, then check which version is printed next to your score.
Payment history
- Delinquent or derogatory accountAt least one account on your report shows a payment 30 or more days late, or a worse status such as a charge-off or collection. It's the broadest of VantageScore's late payment codes.
- Delinquent or derogatory status on accounts is too recentYour newest late payment, charge-off or collection happened recently enough that VantageScore still weighs it heavily. The code is about timing: how many months have passed since the last bad mark.
- Too many delinquent or derogatory accountsMore than one account in your file carries a late payment or a negative status. This statement is about how many accounts are affected, apart from how late or how recent each problem was.
- Balances on delinquent or derogatory accounts are too highYou still owe a large total on accounts that are late, charged off or in collection. Instead of counting the problems, this code adds up the dollars still owed on them.
- Too few accounts recently paid as agreedAmong accounts reported recently, too few show clean, on-time payment. Either the file has few active accounts, or a big share of them had recent lates.
- Payments on auto accounts less than scheduled amountAn auto loan on your report shows payments smaller than the amount due. It's a VantageScore 4.0 statement; the 3.0 list has nothing like it, so you won't see it on many free app scores.
- Delinquent or derogatory student loanA student loan on your report shows a payment 30 or more days late, or a worse status such as default. VantageScore gives student loan problems their own code in both 3.0 and 4.0.
- Delinquent or derogatory real estate secured loanA mortgage, home equity loan or home equity line on your report shows a payment 30 or more days late, or a worse status. VantageScore lists home loan problems under their own codes.
- Unpaid collectionsYour report shows at least one collection with money still owed. VantageScore 3.0 and 4.0 skip paid collections and all medical collections, so this code is about unpaid, non-medical ones.
- Derogatory public recordsYour report shows a public record, and on today's nationwide bureau reports that means a bankruptcy. Civil judgments and tax liens were removed from those reports by April 2018.
- BankruptcyA bankruptcy filing is on your credit report. VantageScore calls it a proven indicator of risk that causes a significant drop, and both 3.0 and 4.0 list it as a reason of its own.
Amounts owed
- Balances on accts too high compared to credit limits and loan amountsAcross cards and loans together, you owe a large share of your total credit limits and original loan amounts. It's the broadest VantageScore balance code, covering revolving and installment debt at once.
- Balances on bankcards are too high compared with credit limitsThe balances on your bank credit cards are high compared with their limits. It's VantageScore's version of the utilization code, and usually the one you can change fastest.
- Too many bankcards with high balance compared to credit limitSeveral of your cards are close to their limits, even if your overall utilization looks fine. VantageScore counts how many cards are running high, separate from the total.
- Too many bankcards with a high balanceToo many of your credit cards carry balances at the same time. VantageScore reads the number of cards with balances as a risk sign of its own, apart from what each one owes.
- Balances on bankcards are too highThe total dollar amount you owe on bank credit cards is high. Its sister code, 29, compares balances with limits; this one is about the amount itself, so it can show up even with large limits.
- Not enough available credit on revolving accountsThe unused room left on your cards is small. VantageScore reads low available credit as a sign you're leaning hard on the cards you have.
- Not enough balance paid down over time on bankcardsYour card balances haven't come down much over time. It's a VantageScore 4.0 statement tied to trended data; the 3.0 list has no bankcard paydown code at all.
- Not enough balance paid down over time on installment accountsYour open installment loans, such as auto, personal or student loans, still carry most of their original balance. A recently opened loan triggers it more often than anything else.
- Not enough balance paid down over time on real estate secured loansYour mortgage or home equity balances are still close to their original amounts. Anyone with a recent purchase, refinance or home equity line can expect to see it.
- Too high proportion of balances from loans not secured by real estateMost of what you owe is on cards, auto loans, personal loans or student loans rather than a home loan. VantageScore 4.0 reads a debt load tilted away from real estate as higher risk.
- Too few bankcards with high credit limitNone or few of your credit cards have a large limit. The model counts cards with big credit lines, and your file doesn't have many, even if every payment has been on time.
- Average credit limit on open bankcards is too lowThe average limit across your open bank credit cards is low. A few small-limit cards drag the average down even when one card has a decent line.
- Balances on auto accounts are too high compared with loan amountsYour auto loans still have most of their original balance left. It's normal after a recent car purchase or trade-in and fades steadily as you make your monthly payments.
Length of credit history
- Average time since accounts opened is too recentThe average age of your accounts is young. New accounts pull the average down, so this code often follows a burst of card or loan openings.
- Oldest account was opened too recentlyYour oldest account isn't very old. The code is common on young files and on files where the oldest accounts were closed and later dropped off.
New credit
- Most recently opened revolving account is too newYou opened a credit card or other revolving account recently. VantageScore checks the age of your newest card on its own, so a single new card can trigger this code.
- Too many accounts recently openedYou've opened several accounts in a short time. VantageScore treats a cluster of new accounts as a proven risk sign, separate from the inquiries that came with them.
- Too many inquiriesSeveral lenders pulled your credit for applications recently. VantageScore counts each hard inquiry, but it treats repeat mortgage or auto inquiries within a 14-day window as one.
- Number of inquiries was a factor in determining the scoreYou have recent hard inquiries, and they cost a little, but not enough to make the top four reasons. VantageScore adds this as a fifth reason when inquiries played any part.
Credit mix
- Lack of real estate secured loan informationYour file has no mortgage or home equity loan for the model to score. Renters and first-time buyers see it all the time, and it often appears on scores in the 800s.
- Too few accountsYour file has only a handful of accounts, so the model has little behavior to judge. It's a thin-file code, common for young adults, newcomers and people who mostly use cash.
- No open bankcards in your credit fileNo open bank credit card appears on your report. Much of how scores judge risk comes from how people handle revolving credit, and without an open card the model has none to read.
- No open installment accounts in your credit fileNo loan with a fixed monthly payment is open on your report. It's common after you pay off a car or student loan, and rarely worth taking on a loan to fix.