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We designed this online tool to help you learn more about the reason codes related to your VantageScore credit scores, which are used widely by banks, credit card companies, and other lenders. You receive reason codes with the credit scores you purchase and on certain disclosure notices that lenders provide to you.
Search for your reason code using the search bar below. You can also browse through the full list of reason codes to find the one that matches your situation.
Description
Tips
About Reason Codes
What Are Reason Codes?
What Do They Look Like?
They'll be worded and displayed something like this:
- 32: Balances on bankcard or revolving accounts too high compared to credit limits.
- 16: The total of all balances on your open accounts is too high.
- 85: You have too many inquiries on your credit report.
- 13: Your most recently opened account is too new.
The numbers preceding each statement are numeric identifiers; sometimes they appear with the text, and sometimes they do not.
The four (or five) factors are listed in order of the impact they have. In the above example, the number-one reason the credit score is not higher is, "Balances on bankcard or revolving accounts too high compared to credit limits." That means the consumer's credit card debt is too high relative to their credit limits.
What Can Reason Codes Tell You?
Reason codes tell you the main reasons why you did not receive a perfect score from the particular credit score model that was used to generate your score. Because each credit score model uses its own formula to calculate your score, the reasons why you didn’t get a perfect score will vary from model to model. This site provides reason codes for the three VantageScore models used by lenders.
Because reason codes are required by law, even people with really high scores will receive up to the top four or five reasons why their scores are not perfect.
The reason codes you receive are always listed in order of magnitude about why your credit score was not the highest score on the scale used by the credit scoring model. So the first code given is the reason why you lost the most points, the second code is the reason you lost additional points but fewer points than the first reason, and so on.
Who Makes the Decision
Remember, the reason codes are only an indication of why your score isn’t higher, not why your application was denied or why the interest charged isn’t the lender’s best rate.
One thing to keep in mind is that the CRCs do not make any decision about your application on behalf of the lender. The decision to accept or deny your application is made solely by the lender, as is the determination of what interest rate to charge on each loan. The obligation to send the disclosure notice, with reason codes, is the lender’s, as well.
It’s also worth noting that a credit score is seldom, if ever, the sole determiner of a lender’s decision on whether to extend credit, and at what terms. Lenders also consider information such as your income, employment status, the amount of down payment you’re prepared to make, and the value of the purchase you wish to finance – all factors outside the scope of a credit score.
Improving your credit score can increase your chances of getting a loan, or a favorable interest rate.
Blueprint For Better Scores
Reason codes can be very helpful as a roadmap to score improvement. They paint a very clear picture of the top reasons why your score isn’t higher. This takes the guesswork out of your score improvement strategy.
For example, the recipient of the 705 score in the example above would know the most effective step to increasing his or her score would be to pay down his or her credit card balances, because high balances are the number one reason why the score isn’t higher. Paying off some accounts altogether would also help, by addressing the second most important score-lowering factor, a surplus of account balances. (The third and fourth most significant reasons both refer to recent activities that can only be remedied by keeping accounts in good order and allowing more time to pass.)
VantageScore is your resource to take advantage of the information contained in the reason codes you receive. Type the code statements or numbers into the search tool, and you’ll find more information on the factors that affect your score, and tips for reversing the effect of negative factors. Used wisely, it can help you become a better manager of your credit and a more informed credit manager.
There Are Many Ways You Can Obtain a Credit Score:
Buy it yourself
Get one free from any of several websites that offer them
Receive it in a disclosure notice after applying for credit
Free Credit Report Once a Year
You can obtain a free copy of your credit report once a year from each of the three national credit reporting companies at annualcreditreport.com or by calling 1-877-322-8228.
Credit Score Quiz
To learn more about the importance of credit scores, how they affect your access to loans and the interest rates you pay, and steps you can take to increase your score, take the Credit Score Quiz, developed as an educational resource by VantageScore Solutions and Consumer Federation of America
VantageScore Solutions
Additional information on credit scores, what they measure (and what they do not), and how your behaviors can increase your score, can be found at the VantageScore Solutions consumer website.
Reason Code Video Overview
This educational video shows how reason codes work, how they’re used, and what you can learn from the reason codes you received with your credit score.
Credit Reporting Companies
The three major national credit reporting companies (CRCs) are: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. These firms collect information about your borrowing and repayment behavior from lenders and businesses that have extended credit to you. This information is compiled into a credit report.
You can obtain a copy of your credit report from each of the three companies for a fee. You are also entitled to a free copy within 60 days of being denied credit from the CRC that supplied the lender with your report.
You may contact each company by clicking its name:
Government Agencies
Several organizations within the federal government provide information about credit reports and credit scores, including the following:
You will likely encounter reason codes each time you receive your credit score. You can obtain your credit score from one of the three national credit reporting companies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, or through third-party websites. You may also receive your credit score when your lender checks your credit as part of a loan application.
In 2011, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Trade Commission issued regulations that require all lenders, who either deny a credit application or approve an application but charge interest that is higher than the best available terms, to send a disclosure notice to the applicant that includes the credit score used to reach that decision. The notice will also include the range of possible scores, the date the score was created, the name or entity that provided the credit score, and "major factors that impacted the score." Those "major factors" are the reason codes and the descriptions.
This information is also likely to be included in the credit score you purchase either from one of the three national CRCs or through a third-party reseller.
Up to four reason codes are typically provided. In fact, the number of reason codes you receive is covered by law. The current requirement states that a maximum of four factors should be delivered—unless the number of credit inquiries is also a factor in the score drop and is not already reflected in the top four reasons, in which case, five factors will be given to you.
Reason codes appear in the order of greatest impact. The first or "top" reason code has the most impact on your credit score. The remaining codes continue in order of less and less impact.
It's certainly possible that you are handling your credit accounts perfectly and that you've received reason code information only due to regulations. If your score is very high and you receive the best terms for credit, read the reason codes but understand that you may not need to make changes to the way you handle your credit accounts.
One account could generate multiple reason codes, and the descriptions may appear similar. This is because the credit model is taking into consideration multiple characteristics from that account. A missed payment could generate multiple reason codes.
Reason codes are unique for each credit score model. The reason codes on ReasonCode.org represent the most common reason codes that consumers receive from VantageScore credit score models. There are many credit score models used by lenders. You may have received reason codes from a different model.
VantageScore Solutions, LLC, is an independently managed firm that holds the intellectual property rights to VantageScore. The company was formed in March 2006 when the VantageScore model was first introduced. VantageScore Solutions, LLC, is responsible for the continued maintenance and validation of the VantageScore models. VantageScore Solutions, LLC, does not market VantageScore but conducts educational programs related to VantageScore credit score models. VantageScore is marketed and sold independently by Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion through licensing agreements with VantageScore Solutions, LLC.
VantageScore has compiled a glossary of terms related to credit scores and reason codes. This glossary is designed to help you understand the terminology used in credit reporting and scoring.