Equifax Report....HELP!!!

[Toonie]

I'm not sure how I should handle this issue.  I have two US Dept of Ed loans that I went into default on and I paid them off back in December 2010 through their default resolution group. I noticed that my Equifax report under "Understanding Your Fico Score" was showing my most recent late payment happened 10 monhts ago which I knew was definitely incorrect.  After reviewing the report, I noticed that both of the Dept of Ed payment histories showed the following:

Recent payment history [?]

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2010 20112012 

2010                                                    2011  Legend:	Currently paid as agreed
	120 days late

So, these two loans are the culprit of this misinformation that I'm sure is not helping my credit score I have been diligently working on for over a year now.  Here are my issues.  I've disputed this with Equifax and the response is that it is reporting correctly.  I called the Dept of Ed default resolution group and they state they've reporting it to them correctly and they can't assist me.  They did give me an address to write them (Dept of Ed.) and request a letter showing date loans were satisfied but why should I have to do thi????  Who do you think is at fault here....Equifax or Dept of Ed?  Can I file a complaint with someboday?  Let's just say I'm a little ticked!!!  Any input would greatly be appreciated.  I even called Equifax after receiving the dispute results trying to explain that all of the reporting on these files is correct other than the payment history part....they said call Dept of Ed.  Called Dept of Ed....they said call Equifax.

[llecs]

Your picture doesn't show the payment history. What month and year does it show the last 120-day late?

They can report late every single month up to the point it is paid in full. If you paid it off in full in December, 2010, then no late can appear beyond Dec. 2010.

[Toonie]

It is reporting 120 days late as of April 2011 which is incorrect on both loans.

[Toonie]

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@llecs wrote:

Your picture doesn't show the payment history. What month and year does it show the last 120-day late?

They can report late every single month up to the point it is paid in full. If you paid it off in full in December, 2010, then no late can appear beyond Dec. 2010.

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Both of these loans were paid 1/18/11 so the other CRAs show nothing late as or 12/10 except EQ which is showing on the payment history 120 days as of 4/11. Dept of Ed doesn't want to help me and point the figure at EQ and EQ is pointing figure at Dept of Ed stating I need to deal with them. I'm fed up and am at a lost for the best way to proceed. Any thoughts?

[llecs]

I'd argue it is misreporting. The last 120+ late should have reported in January, not April. In the long term, there's no difference in score. However, since it's less than a year old, you might see a few added points if they changed the late pay from April to January. Is it worth fighting it? Maybe...how do the other two reports show the payment history? If lacking lates on those two reports, then there's the risk of the lates migrating over thereby messing up the other two CRAs. If already on there, I'd fight it.

To fight it, I would start with the OC. I'd mail them a copy of the cancelled check or proof of payment as well as a copy of that page of your report and demonstrate to them that they are mis-reporting. At the same time, I'd include in there a GW of sorts and kindly ask them if they wouldn't mind deleting all of the lates while they are at it. I would try this a few times before giving up and I'd keep it via mail. If after a few tries fail, then I'd mail the CRAs the same information and dispute it that way...or I'd try the BBB and maybe they'll back off and work with you on those lates.

[Toonie]

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@llecs wrote:

I'd argue it is misreporting. The last 120+ late should have reported in January, not April. In the long term, there's no difference in score. However, since it's less than a year old, you might see a few added points if they changed the late pay from April to January. Is it worth fighting it? Maybe...how do the other two reports show the payment history? If lacking lates on those two reports, then there's the risk of the lates migrating over thereby messing up the other two CRAs. If already on there, I'd fight it.

To fight it, I would start with the OC. I'd mail them a copy of the cancelled check or proof of payment as well as a copy of that page of your report and demonstrate to them that they are mis-reporting. At the same time, I'd include in there a GW of sorts and kindly ask them if they wouldn't mind deleting all of the lates while they are at it. I would try this a few times before giving up and I'd keep it via mail. If after a few tries fail, then I'd mail the CRAs the same information and dispute it that way...or I'd try the BBB and maybe they'll back off and work with you on those lates.

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Thanks for your input. I think it is certainly worth fighting as EQ is reporting both loans incorrectly the same way thus making it appear I was 120 days late on both accounts 10 months ago when it was really 14 months ago. TU and EX are reporting both loans correctly and show my pmt hx as fair rather than bad like EQ. I feel if I could get these correctly I should see a little bump in my EQ score....maybe.

[Revelate]

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@Toonie wrote:

Thanks for your input. I think it is certainly worth fighting as EQ is reporting both loans incorrectly the same way thus making it appear I was 120 days late on both accounts 10 months ago when it was really 14 months ago. TU and EX are reporting both loans correctly and show my pmt hx as fair rather than bad like EQ. I feel if I could get these correctly I should see a little bump in my EQ score....maybe.

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Even if it doesn't supply a score boost, I'd argue that it's worth fighting for an additional reason: on any manual review (which you'll probably get a few on your credit rebuilding journey) you won't have to give the somewhat limp answer of: Equifax sucks, but here's all my documentation from the Department of Education...

In this case do as illecs suggests, get the documentation, fix it with Equifax, and that way avoid all the extra hassle and headache in the future from the misreported loan; however, that one's clearly misreporting just looking at your payment history: OK, OK, OK, 120 days late, no chance on any tradeline: any underwriter will probably be able to see that straight off anyway, but it's easier not to have the question even come up as they could either assume you did not pay it (missing 3x120 lates), or you did pay what you owed in December post statement close, and then Jan/Feb/Mar are missing the corresponding 30/60/90 day lates as you stopped paying again.  

Better to just get it reported correctly and avoid either of those two cases.

[Toonie]

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@Revelate wrote:

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@Toonie wrote:

Thanks for your input. I think it is certainly worth fighting as EQ is reporting both loans incorrectly the same way thus making it appear I was 120 days late on both accounts 10 months ago when it was really 14 months ago. TU and EX are reporting both loans correctly and show my pmt hx as fair rather than bad like EQ. I feel if I could get these correctly I should see a little bump in my EQ score....maybe.

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Even if it doesn't supply a score boost, I'd argue that it's worth fighting for an additional reason: on any manual review (which you'll probably get a few on your credit rebuilding journey) you won't have to give the somewhat limp answer of: Equifax sucks, but here's all my documentation from the Department of Education...

In this case do as illecs suggests, get the documentation, fix it with Equifax, and that way avoid all the extra hassle and headache in the future from the misreported loan... and that one's clearly misreporting just looking at your payment history: OK, OK, OK, 120 days late, no chance on any tradeline: any underwriter will probably be able to see that straight off anyway, but it's easier not to have the question even come up.

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Exactly Revelate. I'm working on all my documentation now and will update once resolved. Thanks for your input.