Too few accounts currently paid as agreed

FICO 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

FICO counts the number of accounts being paid as agreed as part of payment history. A file with two collections, a charge-off and one open card in good standing has a low count. Equifax and Experian list this statement as code 19. TransUnion lists it as code 27.

Positive accounts sit beside negative ones and soften them. A file built mostly on old damage, with little current good history, gives the model weak evidence of how you pay today.

What to check on your credit report

• Count open accounts that show a current or 'pays as agreed' status.
• Check that accounts you pay on time report as current, not with an old past-due status.
• Look for good accounts that appear on one bureau and are missing from another.

What you can do about it

• Add positive accounts slowly, such as one secured card first and a second only after the first has built a record.
• Keep existing open accounts current and open.
• Ask a creditor that skips a bureau whether it can report to the missing one.

The free ready by can help with this step.

How soon a change can show

Each new account in good standing joins the count after its first monthly update. The effect builds as those accounts age.

If you are applying for a mortgage

For a buyer rebuilding after collections or a bankruptcy, open and current accounts are what the underwriter wants to see beside the old damage. The sooner they start reporting, the more clean months they show at application.

Guides that go deeper

• A 12-month credit rebuild plan when your score is near 500A month-by-month plan for rebuilding credit from around 500: what to do first, what to open, what to leave alone, and what a year can and can't change.
• How secured credit cards workHow a secured card's deposit, limit and bill fit together, what scoring models see, how small limits inflate utilization, and how to get your deposit back.
• Rebuilding credit after bankruptcy: the first 24 monthsWhat your report should look like after a bankruptcy discharge, which accounts to open first, which offers to ignore, and how long the record stays.
• 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.