Need your help with FCRA Questions

[Dishpro]

I am filing a complaint against Ally Financial for refusing to remove a 30 day late from my report when my payment was 27 days late. In the BBB complaint I feel that a reference to the FCRA rule about reporting late payments that are 30 days late and also about a having to report only accurate info. But I cannot find the rule in the FCRA. Can somebody please help me with this?

[pizzadude]

Just to clarify ~ you made a payment to Ally 27 days after the due date ~ is that correct ? So for example if your payment was due on June 1 you would have paid on June 28, or something similar ~ is that right ? The FCRA doesn't get into specifics about how late payments are determined, it just states that information reported must be accurate. However many creditors use the Metro2 format and guidelines which dictate the specifics of how and when creditors are to report. I'd have to do some digging but the Metro2 guidelines clearly state that a 30~day late is to be reported only when a payment is more than 30 days late past the due date.

[Dishpro]

Yes, that's exactly correct. The payment was due on the 22nd and was paid the following 20th. It was actually 26 days after the due date. They show the transaction on the 20th at 3:20pm a Friday on the transaction history, they claim that it didn't post in there system till the 23rd. They are shorting the amount of time because of the way they set up their system. It's not fair or accurate.

[pizzadude]

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@Dishpro wrote:
Yes, that's exactly correct. The payment was due on the 22nd and was paid the following 20th. It was actually 26 days after the due date. They show the transaction on the 20th at 3:20pm a Friday on the transaction history, they claim that it didn't post in there system till the 23rd. They are shorting the amount of time because of the way they set up their system. It's not fair or accurate.

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Most creditors have rules about how they apply payments ~ for example....sometimes payments received after 2pm aren't applied until the following business day.  That's what it sounds like they did with your payment.    Do you have any documentation regarding their rules for how they process payments ?

[Dishpro]

Can a creditors payment posting policy alter the number of days a payment is actual late. They acknowledge that the transaction date was on the 26th day after the due date. Reporting accurately is their responsibility. My point in the dispute is that the payment was made during their normal business hours on the 26th day after the due date and regardless of their posting policy the transaction took place before it was 30days late. Do you think I have a chance at getting the BBB to see it my way. And if not, whatvwould you suggest?

[rckstrscott]

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@Dishpro wrote:
Can a creditors payment posting policy alter the number of days a payment is actual late. They acknowledge that the transaction date was on the 26th day after the due date. Reporting accurately is their responsibility. My point in the dispute is that the payment was made during their normal business hours on the 26th day after the due date and regardless of their posting policy the transaction took place before it was 30days late. Do you think I have a chance at getting the BBB to see it my way. And if not, whatvwould you suggest?

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I have an Ally auto loan. I make some of my payments as one-off online payments, mainly because I don't like setting up automatic payments and often get lazy and don't send the check in time

If you made the payment after 2pm EST, it will not process until the next business day, If that date was a Friday, it will not process until the following Monday. 

I am unsure what month or when this happened. Looking at the calendar, I do see one month where this scenerio could have played out; although I am sure there are other months too. If your payment was due on March 22nd, and you made your payment on April 20th, it would not have posted until the 23rd, and you would therfor be 30 days late. It states that in your loan terms when you agree to make online payments.

I don't know if you made it by phone, I never have done that with them so I am unsure.

I sympathize, and I am not stating this scenerio happened to you, merely my experience with Ally.

 I would wait it out and try for GW down the line personally, but if you are adamant you were not 30 days late, and you can prove it based on their terms of service online and you loan documentation backs up what you are saying, I think you may have to go the legal action route to get this corrected; although unless you checking account/credit card statement shows definitely you made a payment on the 20th and not the 23rd, also think legally you have no legs to stand on.

BBB might work. Looks like only 1/4th of the complaints against them ended with the consumer disagreeing, and they respond to all complaints. You might have a shot; I just don't know how you could word it in your favor, if in fact it is their own system and terms of services that did you in.

-scott

[RobertEG]

"FCRA 623(a)(1)(A).  Reporting information with actual knowledge of errors.

A person shall not furnish any information relating to a consumer to any consumer reporting agency if the person knows of has reasonable cause to believe that the information is inaccurate."

"FCRA 623(a)(2)(B),  Duty to correct and update information

A person who has furnished to a consumer reporting agency information that the person determines is not complete or accurate shall promptly notify the consumer reporting agency of that determination and provide to the agency any correction to the information, or any additional information, that is necessary to make the information provided by the person to the agency complete and accurate.."

Their knowldege of the inaccuracy is based upon the definition of a reportable late payment contained in the CRA credit reporting manual, jointly developed and used by each of the big-three CRAs, and titled the "Credit Reporting Resource Guide."  It is incorporated into their reporting agreement, and thus constitutes a reasonable showing of knowldege of the accuracy/inaccuracy of their reporting.

The guide is copyrighted by the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA, their contractor for preparation of the manual), and thus I wont provide quotes, but it stipllates with NO ambiguity that a reportable delinqueuncy is based on being 30 days past the billing due date, and not the billing date.

The recent FCBA also includes express provisions regarding the entry of credit card payments on the date received.  It is not addressed specifically in the FCRA, and I suggest consulting the FCBA, which also has its own dispute process.

[Dishpro]

I really appreciate your feedback. Your insight is very helpful, I guess what bothers me with the way Ally has their system set up it does not allow a consumer the full 30 days. I can understand making a payment outside their business hours or on the week end, however my payment was made on a Friday during their hours of operation. They acknowledge that I made the payment on time as the transaction date verifies this on their site. I will check my bank statement and see if the money was taken from the account the same day. Thanks....

[Dishpro]

Thank You so much Robert this will help me.......... Very much appreciated......