Fight with Equifax

[fashionj76]

Community,

I need your help. I had a collection account with was paid off to the original creditor.  The collection agency agreed with me and sent a removal letter to the 3 CRAs. TU and Exp remove the tradeline with no problem. Equifax refuses to remove it. They changed the balance to $0. 

I have been fighting with them thru dispute, complaint from CFPB and now BBB and they still refuse to remove it. I have a copy of the letter from the collection agency letter that was sent to the CRAs. 

What is my next step? Equifax CEO? 

[K-in-Boston]

Disputing will usually just lead to reconfirming the debt.  The bureaus have a clearly stated policy that they do not remove derogatory accounts because they have been paid, but they will remove accounts if requested by a lender.  Equifax is actually doing exactly what they are supposed to do.  How long has it been since the account was paid?  It can sometimes take a while.   I would contact the creditor, not Equifax, if it has been more than a few months.  By contacting Equifax, you are requesting that they remove accurately reported information and that isn't going to be successful.

[fashionj76]

Sorry that is not correct. The collection agency asked Equifax to remove the account. It was not paid to them so that information is being reported inaccuraly. It was early last year so stating time to remove it is false. The other CRAs removed the account. I already contacted the collection agency that is how I got the letter they sent to the bureaus asking them to remove it. 

[Remedios]

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@fashionj76 wrote:

Sorry that is not correct. The collection agency asked Equifax to remove the account. It was not paid to them so that information is being reported inaccuraly. It was early last year so stating time to remove it is false. The other CRAs removed the account. I already contacted the collection agency that is how I got the letter they sent to the bureaus asking them to remove it. 

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CRAs aren't supposed to remove, only update to correct balance to $0.00.

If furnisher wishes to remove their information, that's done directly with CRA, not by providing consumers with letters. 

Unfortunately for you, EQ is not in violation of any rule here. They do not have to delete, but they can if CA instructs them to do so.

As far as the fact other two did, you got lucky. 

I know that's not the answer you wanted to hear, but it's an accurate answer nonetheless. 

[fashionj76]

@Remedios The furnisher told the CRAs to remove the account. I am confused as to why this is difficult to understand especially when the account was already paid to the hospital which is the orginial credit and not the collection agency. The collection agency sent me a copy of what they sent to CRAs for my files to state they made a mistake and told them to pull the account. It's not about what I want to hear.  You stated that the CRAs are not suppose to remove anything? Why is that when it is done when information is reported inaccurately? Please clarify. p

[Anonymous]

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@fashionj76 wrote:

@Remedios The furnisher told the CRAs to remove the account. I am confused as to why this is difficult to understand especially when the account was already paid to the hospital which is the orginial credit and not the collection agency. The collection agency sent me a copy of what they sent to CRAs for my files to state they made a mistake and told them to pull the account. It's not about what I want to hear.  You stated that the CRAs are not suppose to remove anything? Why is that when it is done when information is reported inaccurately? Please clarify. p

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@fashionj76 I may be wrong here, but I'm pretty sure debt collectors do not send a letter to the CRA to delete an account or update it.

Instead they utilize a computer interface and they submit instructions via the metro2 format to the CRA to delete it. So a letter is not what gets it done, the debt collector entering it into Equifax's eportal for them is how it gets done, I believe, but I'm subject to correction. 

The debt collector needs to utilize their eportal and request deletion of the tradeline, I would think. 

if the bill was paid to the hospital and the hospital terminated the debt collectors authority, then they have to delete it. Otherwise it's discretionary on their part, unless as you say it was a mistake, then of course they are required to remove it when the hospital informs them that it was in error, which effectively terminates their authority as well. 

[Remedios]

CRAs do not get letters from collection agencies. It's computer to computer talk. 

It's not an error, collection is yours, and you paid it to the entity you chose, not the one who was collecting either because they purchased the debt or on behalf of OC. 

If debt was sold to CA, you paying OC means nothing. 

If CA was collecting on behalf of OC, all they need to do is update balance to reflect $0.00 due, not remove their reporting.

As far as errors, this isn't an error. Errors should be disputed, but reporting has to be erroneous. That's not the case here.

Here, you got the outcome you were looking for on two CRAs but not on the 3rd one. That's not rare or unusual. 

[fashionj76]

@Anonymous I have an update. The CA called to tell me they sent the deletion request to Equifax. Equifax will not remove it because there was a notation on the account saying I am disputing it. The CA told me to tell Equifax to take the notation off so they can remove it. Does that sound right? 

The CA said they have a hard time with Equifax removing collection accounts. When I talked to Equifax they said they would remove the note. Well they didn't. Even after they sent me something in writing saying they would remove the note. 

Now what do I do? 

[Anonymous]

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@fashionj76 wrote:

@Anonymous I have an update. The CA called to tell me they sent the deletion request to Equifax. Equifax will not remove it because there was a notation on the account saying I am disputing it. The CA told me to tell Equifax to take the notation off so they can remove it. Does that sound right? 

The CA said they have a hard time with Equifax removing collection accounts. When I talked to Equifax they said they would remove the note. Well they didn't. Even after they sent me something in writing saying they would remove the note. 

Now what do I do? 

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@fashionj76 i'm not familiar with having to have an account dispute notation deleted in order for a furnisher to delete a tradeline, but there's a lot I don't know! Maybe other members have such experience?

But, you're going to have to deal with Equifax to get that dispute notation removed, which you should be able to do. There's actually a thread in post 7 of the Primer that discusses it in the context of removing them for a mortgage.  

Hopefully you can talk to the right person or supervisor and get it removed, dealing with Equifax is a terrible thing to have to do. 

Equifax is definitely not customer friendly and they're not trying to assist in the process. You may or may not get anywhere, but can't hurt to try. 

[805orbust]

If you go into anything involving low expectations with Equifax,  you'll limit your disappointment potential. The whole organization is moronic. They're incapable of protecting your personal data, login pages, or web traffic/response time. Keep working with your creditor and do what they say. It may just prove fruitful. Then freeze them... if their idiotic website will allow you to do it... ugh