Delinquent or derogatory real estate secured loan

VantageScore code numbers

Code numbers can differ by bureau and score version. The wording of the statement is what to match.

What puts this reason on your score

A real estate secured loan, in VantageScore's terms, is a first mortgage, a home equity loan or a home equity line of credit. This code appears when one of them shows a payment at least 30 days late or a derogatory status. In 4.0, code 92 covers a first mortgage alone and code 66 covers how recent the problem is.

A home loan is usually the biggest payment a household has, and a missed one is read as a serious warning. A modification, forbearance or trial plan that the servicer reports wrong can also land here, which makes the reported months worth checking line by line.

What to check on your credit report

• Each mortgage and home equity line for late months and status
• Whether a modification, forbearance or trial plan is reported the way your agreement says
• Whether a home you sold or refinanced shows as paid and closed with a $0 balance

What you can do about it

• If you're short, call your servicer before the payment is late and ask about forbearance or a repayment plan, and how each one reports.
• Keep the mortgage current ahead of other bills.
• Dispute any month reported late while you were in an approved plan.

How soon a change can show

Late marks can stay up to seven years. Each on-time payment reported after the late adds weight on the other side.

If you are applying for a mortgage

For a new mortgage or a refinance, recent housing lates matter as much as almost anything on the report. Loan programs also set waiting periods after a foreclosure, short sale or deed in lieu, and those run on dates, not on the score.

Guides that go deeper

• Mortgage waiting periods after bankruptcy, foreclosure, or short saleFHA, VA, USDA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac waiting periods after Chapter 7, Chapter 13, foreclosure, short sale, and deed in lieu, with sources and start dates.
• Your credit after foreclosure, from the report to the next loanA foreclosure can stay on your credit report up to 7 years, and some mortgage programs ask you to wait that long. How to handle the leftover debt and rebuild.
• Hardship plans, forbearance, and how they show up on your creditThe CARES Act rule that kept forbearance off credit reports expired in 2023. How forbearance and card hardship plans report now, and what to ask first.
• Short sale, deed in lieu or loan modification: the credit trade-offsHow a loan modification, short sale and deed in lieu each show up on your credit report, what you might still owe, and how long each delays your next mortgage.
• What your credit score reason codes are telling youReason codes list what held your score back the most, in order. What the common ones mean, which you can act on, and which to leave alone.