Consumer complaint received 2026-05-06 00:00:00
Product: Payday loan, title loan, personal loan, or advance loan — Installment loan
Issue: Problem when making payments — 
Company: Affirm Holdings, Inc
State: LA

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I obtained an installment loan from Affirm , Inc. to finance a XXXX purchase. The original loan amount was {$2600.00} with a XXXX term. I enrolled in autopay and made on-time monthly payments from XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX. THE AUTOPAY DESIGN GAP On XX/XX/XXXX, my scheduled autopay payment failed due to insufficient funds in my bank account. As a result, Affirm automatically XXXX autopay on my loan. I noticed autopay was off shortly after and re-enabled it, believing this would resume normal payments and keep my account current. Affirm 's autopay then resumed processing my regular monthly payments on schedule. From my perspective as the consumer, this confirmed the account was being managed correctly. What I did not understand, and what was not clearly disclosed, is that Affirm 's autopay system, by design, only covers the current month 's scheduled payment. It does not retroactively apply to past-due balances, even when reactivated by the consumer. As a result, the {$68.00} from the failed XX/XX/XXXX payment remained unpaid for over a year as an orphan balance on an account that otherwise appeared current. I confirmed this design directly with an Affirm customer service representative on XX/XX/XXXX. The representative stated, in his own words : " Autopay only looks forward. Autopay will never look backward. '' He also stated : " Whenever you activate autopay, autopay will only cover the monthly amount. If there's any overdue payments, autopay will not take care of that. '' INADEQUATE NOTIFICATION Over the XXXX period that the orphan balance accrued the path to charge-off, Affirm 's only direct contact regarding this issue was purportedly a single text message on XX/XX/XXXX, which I did not see or process. The representative told me the message stated that the upcoming autopay charge of {$68.00} would not cover an " overdue balance of {$68.00}. '' The message is internally confusing, citing XXXX near-identical {$68.00} figures with no explanation that XXXX was an orphaned XXXX balance and the other was the regular XX/XX/XXXX payment. I have searched my email inbox, archive, and spam folders for the relevant period. I have only " Thanks for your payment '' payment confirmations from Affirm during XXXX and XXXX. I have no record of any past-due notice, late payment warning, or charge-off warning email from Affirm. I confirmed this with the Affirm representative on the recorded XX/XX/XXXX call by reviewing my email in real time during the call. Affirm did not send any physical mail regarding the past-due balance or the impending charge-off. The representative confirmed Affirm uses only email and text for these notifications. CHARGE-OFF AND CONTINUED REPORTING On XX/XX/XXXX, Affirm charged off the {$68.00} balance, representing 2.57 % of an otherwise fully-paid {$2600.00} loan. Affirm has reported this charge-off to Experian every month since XX/XX/XXXX, totaling approximately XXXX consecutive monthly charge-off marks on my credit report as of XX/XX/XXXX. The Affirm representative also disclosed during the XX/XX/XXXX call that Affirm 's reporting practices have been inconsistent over time. He stated : " Back around XXXX we started reporting everything. But what was in the past remains in the past. Back in [ Affirm 's earlier ] policies, basically there were some loans that were reported and there were other loans that we never reported until they got eventually charged off. '' This raises a fairness question about why this small-balance charge-off, caused by Affirm 's own autopay system gap, was reported when other small balances historically were not. REFUSAL OF GOODWILL ADJUSTMENT On the XX/XX/XXXX call, I requested that Affirm consider a goodwill adjustment to remove the charge-off tradeline given : ( XXXX ) the loan was 97.43 % paid on time, ( XXXX ) the delinquency originated from Affirm 's own autopay system gap rather than willful nonpayment, ( XXXX ) the only notification purportedly sent was a single ambiguous text, and ( XXXX ) I am a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX otherwise excellent credit history. The representative refused, stating : " As of today, Affirm has not implemented any sort of relief or assistance regarding this kind of situation, such as a goodwill adjustment. We can not proceed with any kind of procedure regarding removing a negative mark on the credit report. '' The refusal was framed as a blanket company policy that does not consider individual circumstances. THREAT OF ESCALATION After I declined to pay during the call, the representative made statements suggesting legal action and third-party collections were possible if the {$68.00} was not paid. The phrasing referenced both " legal actions '' and being " sent to a third-party collections agency '' as escalation paths if I did not pay. I respectfully ended the call. WHAT I AM ASKING THE CFPB TO INVESTIGATE Whether Affirm 's autopay design, which silently fails to apply to past-due balances on reactivation, constitutes an unfair or deceptive practice under XXXX, particularly given the lack of clear disclosure. Whether Affirm 's consumer notification practices prior to charge-off ( purportedly a single confusingly-worded text, no physical mail ) meet a reasonable standard for installment loan delinquency. Whether Affirm 's prior inconsistent credit reporting practices raise fairness concerns when applied selectively to small-balance charge-offs that arose from the company 's own systems. Whether Affirm 's blanket no-goodwill policy, applied without individual consideration, is consistent with reasonable industry practice. I am requesting that Affirm remove the charge-off tradeline from all three credit bureau XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX I am willing to pay the {$68.00} balance in full upon written confirmation that the tradeline will be removed.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation