I Disputed an Address With Equifax. They Nearly Erased My Report.

[daveg38]

I kid you not.

I logged into the dispute console at Equifax to see an updated copy of my report.

I had disputed two addresses that I had never heard of that were reinserted on the 19th.

Instead of removing the address, they erased 10 positive accounts, 2 inquiries, and all negative accounts except for three - one which was previously removed then reinserted.

I now have 3 chargeoffs, no good accounts, no inquiries, and literally no clue as to what to do. My score has probably tanked 200 points or worse, yet I am afraid to refresh my report to see.

I cannot call creditors who I had good accounts with that were closed; they will not reinsert that stuff. My only recourse, I assume, is to call Amex (AU account), Credit One and First Premier to see if they will report the accounts and the history that I have built up.

My only way of proving this happened is using my 11/09/2020 report from myFico to prove those accounts were deleted.

[Anonymous]

Equifax's level of incompetence is matched by no other entity. 

It is always best to just leave Equifax alone and not really try to ask them to do anything. 99.9% of the time, they will screw it up and you'll be worse off. As you now see...

And getting it corrected now....well, not sure which will win - a cure for cancer or a resolution to your newly imposed problems. 

[Anonymous]

What a nightmare!

How many negative accounts were removed?

Honestly, any positive and open accounts should hopefully start reporting again after the next statement.

While you may have lost some postive / closed accounts, if the number of derogs that were erased outweighed them,  perhaps this is not too bad? You even had a couple inquiries removed.

Were the positive accounts very old?

I guess I would almost be curious to wait for the positive account to report again and see where you stand before going on a crusade.

Maybe I am crazy, idk?

[daveg38]

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@Anonymous wrote:

What a nightmare!

How many negative accounts were removed?

Honestly, any positive and open accounts should hopefully start reporting again after the next statement.

While you may have lost some postive / closed accounts, if the number of derogs that were erased outweighed them,  perhaps this is not too bad? You even had a couple inquiries removed.

Were the positive accounts very old?

I guess I would almost be curious to wait for the positive account to report again and see where you stand before going on a crusade.

Maybe I am crazy, idk?

---

I had 7 negatives removed, all 3.5 years old. I can live with that.

Credit One should re-report on November 25, so maybe that will come back. Amex just reported on 11/17, so I may need to wait on that one. First Premier Bank never reported to Equifax, so I will compel them to.

What hurts the most is the two Volkswagen Credit accounts that were deleted. Perfect auto payment history. One was 8.5 years old; the other was almost 6 years old. My auto score will now reflect only my chargedoff Chrysler account.

What hurts my retail portion is the First Premier Bank I closed in 2011 with perfect payment history.

Of the three chargeoffs they stuck me with, one was re-inserted so I can probably get that one deleted as I have proof. Another one is a paid chargeoff, decent for utilization. The last chargeoff is the Chrysler Capital.

My guess is that my Fico 8 went from 592 to low 400's, and my Fico 9 Bank Card is what will lose 200 points (632 to low 400's).

But my absolutely worst fear is if my open accounts (not the Amex AU) are closed due to my score tanking.

[Anonymous]

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@daveg38 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

What a nightmare!

How many negative accounts were removed?

Honestly, any positive and open accounts should hopefully start reporting again after the next statement.

While you may have lost some postive / closed accounts, if the number of derogs that were erased outweighed them,  perhaps this is not too bad? You even had a couple inquiries removed.

Were the positive accounts very old?

I guess I would almost be curious to wait for the positive account to report again and see where you stand before going on a crusade.

Maybe I am crazy, idk?

---

I had 7 negatives removed, all 3.5 years old. I can live with that.

Credit One should re-report on November 25, so maybe that will come back. Amex just reported on 11/17, so I may need to wait on that one. First Premier Bank never reported to Equifax, so I will compel them to.

What hurts the most is the two Volkswagen Credit accounts that were deleted. Perfect auto payment history. One was 8.5 years old; the other was almost 6 years old. My auto score will now reflect only my chargedoff Chrysler account.

What hurts my retail portion is the First Premier Bank I closed in 2011 with perfect payment history.

Of the three chargeoffs they stuck me with, one was re-inserted so I can probably get that one deleted as I have proof. Another one is a paid chargeoff, decent for utilization. The last chargeoff is the Chrysler Capital.

My guess is that my Fico 8 went from 592 to low 400's, and my Fico 9 Bank Card is what will lose 200 points (632 to low 400's).

But my absolutely worst fear is if my open accounts (not the Amex AU) are closed due to my score tanking.

---

I just feel like First Premier and Credit One are subprime lenders to begin with, so I am not certain they will take AA from a score decrease? Do you have large lines with them? And if FP did not report to EQ did they ever even SP EQ so I guess they wouldn't know anything changed if they never checked anyway?

I still say it couldn't hurt to just hang back and see what happens. You can always try to have EQ fix what they did if it is not in your favor. I guess the way I see it is you had a lot of baddies removed and while a few still remain, it is a lot cleaner of a report than before. You might be surprised. I would not base it off any score until the open lines are all reporting again. So yes, there may be a score loss, but once the open lines are reporting correctly again, it may be ok?

I honestly wouldn't mess any further with EQ with removing the other CO that was removed and reinserted, as I just think it could end up being more headaches for you again.

It has been said many times here that EQ can become a nightmare quickly. If things improve from these changes, I cannot see any reason to poke the bear any further.

[flexin222]

Man, so sorry to hear of your Equifax woes! I pray it gets resolved in your favor, but the one good thing out of all this is that you shared on MyFico forums for your sisters and brothers. This helps others out and hopefully someone that dealt with Equi-fault can help you out also. Look out for good times ahead, and take care.

[Slabenstein]

It's possible that your address dispute resulted in a split file, with all the missing accounts going to the split report.  If that's the case, all of your missing credit information should still be recoverable, including closed accounts, but unfortunately you'll have to go through Equifax to re-merge the file.

[daveg38]

It just keeps getting weirder.

First, I get an alert from MyFico that my Equifax file was updated. Look at the alerts, and it said my score went up 4 points, but two of the accounts that I am showing deleted were updated as "chargedoff, reinvestigation in progress".

Then I get a letter in the mail from Equifax that my dispute results are completed.

The dispute? My American Express account - which I NEVER disputed - is being reported properly. It was never listed on my report, anyway.

The saga continues...

[Anonymous]

Equifax is straight trash. Hopefully, the active accounts will auto update.