What is the best move in this case?

[Anonymous]

I just request and got up-dated FACO score from Chase Identity Protection.   I noticed something wrong with my open acct number.  Somehow, it changed from 11 to 4 and the score went down 16 pts on all three scores.  I have not changed how I use my ccs, so it supposed to be 8 open acct.  What I noticed is those 4 open accts has balance on the statement, and other 4 accts has zero balance because I PIF before its closing date.  And those 4 accts without balance .... its acct status is " paid "  instead  " open ".   ....... Amex Blue, Chase Freedom World MC, Chase MC (former wa-mu platinum), NFCU cashRewards.

Which of the following move is a smart move?

1. Call CCC and ask why it does not report as open.
2. Call CB and ask them to correct the information.
3. Carry the small balance all 8 open ccs on next statement, then will get it report as " open ". 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Which of the following move is a smart move?

1. Call CCC and ask why it does not report as open.
2. Call CB and ask them to correct the information.
3. Carry the small balance all 8 open ccs on next statement, then will get it report as " open ". 

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I'd go with 4) None of the above.

Personally, I wouldn't rely on the information received from third party credit report vendors to make a decision here. Instead, why don't you pull your reports directly from the Big 3, see how the information is actually reported (ignore the FAKO scores), and then determine if something is reported inaccurately? More than likely, everything is fine, and it's the third party product that has the problem.

[RobertEG]

+1

You may be confusing many different items reported to the CRA.

Current monthly status of your account, open or closed, is one item reported to the CRAs.

Also reported are your current payment status, current account balance, current payment rating, and a history profile of your past monthly payment history.

They are stored in different fields of your credit file, and are really apples an oranges. "Open" being the apple, and "paid" being the orange.

Open can be open and current (paid), open and 30-days late, open and 60-days late, etc.

Open can be open with current account balance of $0 or $1,000.

The confusion is most likely not your fault.  As LilMirth has said, commercial credit reports offered to consumers often report items of information that appear contradictory since they dont identify the field code in your credit file.  The most aggregious of this is the mixing of dates reported by an OC and a CA when it comes to reporting collections.

If you have not ordered your free credit report from the federal site at annualcreditreport.com with the last 12 months, I would not pay any commercial vendor for another.

I would order a copy of my CR from each CRA at annualcreditreport.com, which is far superior to any other consumer credit report you can obtiain, anywhere, and it is free.

[Anonymous]

Since I already requested and obtained a report from EX (02/10) and TU (08/10) through gov site, I requested for EQ this time.  

Then I received following message:

Welcome to Equifax

Please Note

Internet Delivery Unavailable - Mail in Request

We're sorry, for your protection we are unable to deliver your FACT Act Equifax Free Annual Credit Report on the internet. There are a number of reasons that we may be unable to fulfill your request online. You may have a Security Freeze on your credit file, an Active Duty Military or Fraud Alert, or the identification information submitted online may not match the information on file.

I have no idea about why I got this message.  I have not put freeze on my CF.   I guess I have to mail the form to get one.

[AndySoCal]

Generally if a credit card is reporting a paid status on a credit report it has been closed otherwise you would see paid as agreed or current. This also could be an error in how the account is being reported by your credit monitering service. I woul call and double check to avoid an unwanted surprise.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Since I already requested and obtained a report from EX (02/10) and TU (08/10) through gov site, I requested for EQ this time.  

Then I received following message:

Welcome to Equifax

Please Note

Internet Delivery Unavailable - Mail in Request

We're sorry, for your protection we are unable to deliver your FACT Act Equifax Free Annual Credit Report on the internet. There are a number of reasons that we may be unable to fulfill your request online. You may have a Security Freeze on your credit file, an Active Duty Military or Fraud Alert, or the identification information submitted online may not match the information on file.

I have no idea about why I got this message.  I have not put freeze on my CF.   I guess I have to mail the form to get one.

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i get this from equifax every time i make a request for my free report.  it's probably nothing you can control, and it's no indicator that there's a freeze on your account as far as i know.  i sent them a copy of a utility bill and a highly redacted copy of my w2 form and got my paper report mailed within 3 weeks.  it's just one more cost of doing business with them i guess.

if anyone knows whether this is an indicator of a security freeze let me know!

[Anonymous]

No indicator of a security freeze. I have had that message for EQ and TU for a few years. Once I started using MYFICO and had reports pulled it updates your info for activity. I did call in and actually ask them why that was happening at the time, their response was since I haven't pulled a report in a decent amount of time more then a year that it is for my protection. I was okay with that response at the time. I haven't had an issue since then. But I also pull my free reports yearly now.