I am freaking out

[Laura2323]

I just got a score alert that advised that my score dropped by 50 points on my Equifax report!  Apparently, Hyundai Motor Finance had been reporting my account as no lates and paid off and now is reporting 5 lates from 2009 and a current status of 30 days late (even thought I paid the car off).  Any suggestions?  I called and spoke with a very nice woman who is trying to help me but I am just stunned at this point.  She said that the lates were reported on their system when they occured but I guess they were never reported with Equifax.  What stinks even more is that I may have brought this on myself as I recently disputed the account on my Equifax report because it was still showing a balance due and I wanted it to reflect the zero balance.  Now I worry that I may have triggered the review of my account and the lates (which really shouldn't be there to begin with - they were deferred payments) are now showing on my account.  I am also wondering if they update the current status to paid off instead of 30 days late, should my score recover?  The lates are from 2009.  Any insight would be appreciated.  Thank you.

[john398]

When you say they were defered payments are, you saying they said they would not report defered as being late and you have that in writing? Did they add them to the end of your loan?

[Anonymous]

Chrysler Financial would always offer a deferred payment at the end of each year.

Back in the day, I took advantage of them (although I probably wouldn't now) and they always reported my account paid each month.  Never late.

It sounds like Hyundai is trying to get it to report correctly.  Are they calling you back with an update on what they find?

[GregB]

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@Laura2323 wrote:

I just got a score alert that advised that my score dropped by 50 points on my Equifax report!  Apparently, Hyundai Motor Finance had been reporting my account as no lates and paid off and now is reporting 5 lates from 2009 and a current status of 30 days late (even thought I paid the car off).  Any suggestions?  I called and spoke with a very nice woman who is trying to help me but I am just stunned at this point.  She said that the lates were reported on their system when they occured but I guess they were never reported with Equifax.  What stinks even more is that I may have brought this on myself as I recently disputed the account on my Equifax report because it was still showing a balance due and I wanted it to reflect the zero balance.  Now I worry that I may have triggered the review of my account and the lates (which really shouldn't be there to begin with - they were deferred payments) are now showing on my account.  I am also wondering if they update the current status to paid off instead of 30 days late, should my score recover?  The lates are from 2009.  Any insight would be appreciated.  Thank you.

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Who is the "nice woman trying to help me"? is that someone at Equifax or Hyundai?

Lates were reported on whose system?

We need some clarification on "deferred payments". What do you mean by that?

I'm thinking you might want to start by getting complete information from Hyundai. Clarify the "deferred" payments and if they consider any payments as late. If you asked for a payment to be deferred, that might mean that they would still consider them to be late. They should know exactly what they are reporting to EQ. Once you know what they are reporting, you can determine if they are reporting erroneous information or if there is a miscommunication between you and Hyundai.

Hyundai will also update the other two CRAs so they may have the same information.

[Laura2323]

Sorry about not being really clear.  I was so upset when I got the alert - my score dropped to 595 from 646....  Anyway, I called and spoke with a woman at Hyundai and she is the woman that is working on helping me.  The five lates from 2009 are reported on my transunion credit report - they just have never been reported that way on my Equifax report until today.  I am a little confused as the Equifax report states in one section that the balance is "paid" and then under the current status it is reporting "30 days late" which is obviously not true.  I guess my main question is are the lates now posting to my Equifax report from 2009 causing the drop in score or is it the "status" showing the 30 days late in the one section (although it is also reporting as paid).  The lady from Hyundai is supposed to call me back early next week to let me know what she was able to do and she is working with a supervisor to try and correct the problems (at least in terms of the account showing 30 days late).

[Lel]

Again, in order to understand the reporting, we need to know what you mean by "deferred".

Why were these 5 payments deferred?

What were the terms of the deferment?

Did Hyundai Motor Finance tell you that you would reported as paid as agreed?

Do you have any documentation of the deferment terms in writing?

I don't know anything about deferments in the auto lending industry, but I'm guessing that it might be used in cases in which a borrower is temporarily unable to make the scheduled payments.  Instead of threatening to repossess the vehicle, a deferment is offered.  However, this does not necessarily mean that the loan will be reported as paid as agreed, since technically it's not.  There's a parallel in the mortgage industry: borrowers will be given a forbearance.  They don't have to make a few payments, but they are commonly reported as being late.  But the forbearance prevents the foreclosure process from being initiated.

[Laura2323]

The payments were deferred and were not to be reported as late.  They were done as a courtesy.  Quite frankly, I do not know if these lates were from the payments being deferred or if I was actually late - it could have been either.  In any event, I have just called Equifax and spoken with them as well as they are showing that the current status is being reported as 30 days late with a zero balance due.  How that can happen I have no idea lol!  I am just hoping this gets resolved quickly.

[JonStur]

I think it's important for you to determine if it was your "understanding" that the payments would not be considered late, or if you were told and RECIEVED SOMETHING IN WRITING stating this..there is a BIG difference between the two..otherwise it's your word against theirs...

[slarano]

According to your posts, TU already has the 5 lates reported on your TU report, correct? Essentially, the 5 lates are what dropped your score, and having it report as paid no balance due instead of late 30 days would be like putting a bandaid on a broken bone.