Not enough balance paid down over time on real estate secured loans

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

This code covers first mortgages, home equity loans and home equity lines together. VantageScore's explanation for code 93, the first mortgage version, says people who haven't paid down much of their first mortgage are a higher credit risk than people who have.

Early mortgage payments are mostly interest, so on a 30-year loan the balance falls slowly in the first years. A two-year-old mortgage will look barely paid down. A home equity line that gets drawn back up after each paydown keeps the share low too.

What to check on your credit report

• The original amount and current balance of each mortgage and home equity loan
• That a mortgage you refinanced or sold shows as closed with a $0 balance
• Home equity line balances against their limits

What you can do about it

• Keep paying on schedule. This code fades with time.
• Pay down a home equity line instead of redrawing it, if your budget allows.
• Make sure old loans paid off in a refinance are reported closed.

How soon a change can show

Movement is slow on a mortgage. Each reported payment helps a little, and the effect builds over years rather than cycles.

If you are applying for a mortgage

On a refinance application this code reflects normal payoff on a young loan. Put your effort into the codes you can move faster before the credit pull, like card balances.

Guides that go deeper

• The credit scores mortgage lenders pull in 2026Mortgage lenders pull FICO 2, 4, and 5 or VantageScore 4.0 from all three bureaus and use your middle score. The 2026 rules and FICO 10T's status.
• VantageScore 4.0 mortgages: who it helps and how to ask for itA paid collection, medical bills or a short history can score higher on VantageScore 4.0, which mortgage lenders can now use. What that's worth in price.
• Paying down balances before a loan application: timing and rescoresPaying cards down before you apply only helps once the new balance reports. How to time it, which cards to pay first, and how a lender's rapid rescore works.
• 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.