FICO Quick To Add a Negative Item But Slow To No Action When It's Corrected

[Anonymous]

I joined myFICO because I assumed because their company originated the scoring model that most every company uses they would be able to explain to me exactly why a change occurred.  That however is not the case.  If a negative item appears on your credit report myFICO will show it on your credit alert and ding your score before you take your next breadth. When that item is corrected on your credit reports action at myFICO showing the correction in your score and on your credit alerts is slow to none. I've called customer service numerous times trying to find out when will the correction appear in my score, and all they can tell me is they can not request updated information from the credit bureaus, they must wait till they send it. I understand large companies often send and receive information in batches on a particular day in the month. The CSRs at FICO have no clue if that's the case or when that date is. I had to file a dispute with Equfax to get them to send updated information to FICO in a attempt to get a accurate score. I receive my copy of my dispute from Equifax three weeks ago stating they sent a updated

credit report to FICO. It still hasn't appeared as corrected in my credit alerts and likewise no change in my score. I sent one last letter to FICO warning if they don't update this information my next action will be filing complaints with the BBB and my State Attorney General's Office.

Why is this so important to everyone? Because if your applying for credit and the lender subscribes to FICO the score they receive comes from FICO, and if FICO is negligent in keeping your records up to date the score they provide to the lender wont be a true reflection of your credit worthiness. The credit report they pull from Trans Union or Equifax could be accurate, but again the score will come from FICO based on the information they have.

FICO not keeping records up to date in a timely manner is harmful to the consumer, and  they should institute a system that shows corrections to negative items as quickly as negative items appear.

[llecs]

FICO generates a score based on the info they receive from the CRAs (TransUnion, Equifax, Experian) at that precise moment in time. That's the same score that any lender would see if they pulled using the same formula. FICO isn't in the business of analyzing what change occurred and why. It is up to each one of us to look at the details of our own before and after reports to figure out what happened and why. Now there are posters within this forum who are great at finding the subtle changes to explain why a change in score happened.

Any alerts you'd receive are for using ScoreWatch only. SW gets data from EQ and that often trickles a bit slow. However, in order to pull a new CR daily with all 3, I've found that SW is that fastest in providing information on potential score changes. I also subscribe to creditchecktotal and NatCity's ID protect. While these do NOT offer FICO scores, I'm alerted to any change on my reports and found that alerts can take a week or longer. On average for SW, I get alerted within a day or two.

If you ever get an alert via SW, IMO, you should pull a new report. The alerts from SW don't always show the big picture. For example I got an alert once that my EQ FICO score went up because of a new inquiry. My score didn't increase because of the inquiry, but rather it increased because of a change on my report that SW doesn't advertise that it'll pick up on.

It is true that companies typically update once a month. But the FICO CSRs wouldn't know that. You need to contact your lender(s) to find out when they report. If a CC, for example, they usually report around your statement date.

I've been pulling FICO reports at least 2x per month for the past 2 yrs. I also pull each CR daily from other monitoring services. Of all the times doing this, the data, like balances, info, statuses, dates, etc., have all matched exactly. I hope I addresses each point.

Message Edited by llecs on 10-07-2009 03:15 PM

[Anonymous]

I find your statement inaccurate "Any alerts you'd receive are for using ScoreWatch only. SW gets data from EQ and that often trickles a bit slow. " My experience is they're fast as lightening posting a credit alert no matter what time of the month it is, and your score is dinged immediately not when another credit report is pulled.

My complaint is when that item is corrected on your credit report it doesn't appear as corrected in your credit alerts, and there's no change in your score.

I've had a lender pull a Equifax credit report after it was corrected of any inaccuracies, and the score they got from FICO was the same dinged score as MyFICO

shows calculated with the mistakes. That's a major consumer problem for everyone, and the basis of my complaint. Negatives are quick to appear and ding, but

slow to no action when corrected.

Also your statement "FICO isn't in the business of analyzing what change occurred and why. It is up to each one of us to look at the details of our own before and after reports to figure out what happened and why." This seems to be the case, but I strongly disagree with FICO's negligence in customer service in this area.

FICO creates the credit scoring formula. We the consumers know the basic things we should do to have a good score, but still the formula itself is kept a mystery from us.  How would you feel if you hired a accountant to do your books but he wouldn't explain how he came up with his answers? You would expect he could walk you through is calculations and explain any questions, and if a variable happened what the exact answer would be. The FICO score simulator is to broad and vague in what your score will be. I think it's a reasonable expectation to want the CSR to be able to tell me what my score will be EXACTLY if a specific change occurs.

After all when they ding your score or your score goes up that's a hard number. Not some vague range.

To repeat, I chose to sign up with MyFICO because FICO created the credit scoring formula.  FICO should be able to give exact answers if changes occur.

[Anonymous]

UPDATE TO MY ORIGINAL POST:

I gave FICO a reasonable time to post the corrections to my credit alerts and correct my score after Equifax sent FICO a updated credit report generated from a dispute I originated against MyFICO.  I warned if they failed to make the corrections by the deadline I would be filing complaints with the BBB and my State Attorney General's Office consumer complaint division.  At 9:AM on the date I set for the 5M deadline I noted no correction had occurred so I sent them

on last warning that if they didn't act the complaints would be filed and legal action against them would occur.

The deadline passed with no action by MyFICO so I filed the complaints as warned. My hopes are that my State Attorney General Office will not only get my file corrected, but that they will see this lack of business performance is a problem for all consumers and they will work to get FICO to change the way it does business "or lack there of".

[Barry]

While most people understand that the credit reporting is done by the credit bureaus, many are not aware that the scoring also takes place at the bureaus. That is, FICO provides the bureaus with the FICO scoring calculation software that generates the score using that bureau's data. FICO has no direct access to the credit bureau data or the FICO scores calculated on that data.

When you order any product from myFICO, you provide us with your identifying information and we go to the bureau on your behalf with a request for your credit information -- including your FICO score. With Score Watch, EQ provides my FICO with your credit reports, FICO scores, and Score Watch alerts based on your information on file at EQ. Neither myFICO nor its parent, FICO, has any direct input as to your credit information or FICO score at any point in the error correction process.

To be clear, you are not entitled to an updated report/score from myFICO or a corrected Score Watch alert upon the correction of erroneous information on your credit report.  Additionally, the myFICO customer service representatives do not have the information necessary to be able to explain exactly how your score was calculated.

You may purchase a new report and score through Score Watch at a discount ($10.95) if you'd like.  Or, you may cancel your monthly Score Watch subscription after a minimum of three months.