I have two accounts with Home Loans Services (HLS) for a home that I sold in 2005. The accounts are completely paid off, however, they were late a handful of times. I disputed the accounts and they removed the entire payment history. This tells me that they no longer have that information in their files, so they could not verify it. The problem is that the PAY STATUS field shows "30 DAYS LATE" or "PAYS 30-59 DAYS" depending on where it is pulled from. Here's the FCRA catch: that negative mark must be removed after 7 1/2 years, but with no payment history listed there's no way of knowing when it occurred. Basically, they are reporting that I was late, but not WHEN I was late. In my mind, this makes the information INCOMPLETE.
My problem is not with HLS, but with Equifax, so I disputed and noted this exact information. They verified, so I called them up to argue with them. A supervisor finally told me that it is their internal policy to not remove something unless the data furnisher instructs them to or fails to respond to a dispute. This is a clear violation of the FCRA which states:
If, after any reinvestigation under paragraph (1) of any information disputed by a consumer, an item of the information is found to be inaccurate or incomplete or cannot be verified, the consumer reporting agency shall–(i) promptly delete that item of information from the file of the consumer,or modify that item of information, as appropriate, based on the results of the reinvestigation;
Notice the word INCOMPLETE. I explained all of this very clearly to them over the phone, but they would not budge. I am going to send a certified letter to their corporate office.
Does anyone have any info or opinions on this? Am I correct in thinking that this information is incomplete if they are saying I was late but can't tell me WHEN?
