Citi error messes up TU score!

[Anonymous]

I'm fuming. I have worked very hard to get my score high. My credit is impeccable. No late payments. No delinquencies. I was up at 780 just 2 months ago.

Then Citibank screwed up. I had paid off my Mastercard with them and had a zero balance for months. When I got a bill with an annual fee, I called to ask them to waive it. Instead of waiving it, they closed the card! My FICO plummeted to 720 in a month. That was the ONLY change to my credit.

I called Citibank and they copped to their mistake. They reopened the exact same account number and essentially reversed what they had done. But they said to fix the FICO I would have to call TransUnion directly.

When I called TransUnion, they said that I'd have to call FICO, as TransUnion claimed they had no control over the FICO and couldn't undo the mistake.

I then called FICO. Guess what they said? I had to call TransUnion! Yep. Each was passing the buck to the other. Neither wants to accept responsibility for reverting the FICO to what it was before Citibank's error.

I am very upset about this and don't even know if I have legal recourse. Is there a regulatory agency that oversees these types of things? I can't imagine that I should be punished for Citibank's mistake. Yet a FICO that drops from 780 to 720 in one month is inexcusable.

If anyone knows how to proceed (other than telling me to live with it), please respond. Thanks.

edited to change thread title after splitting thread off from "score dropping while carrying no balances whats up!". None of wolfmgmt's text was changed.

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 09-23-2008 06:42 AM

[haulingthescoreup]

Your FICO score is generated off the underlying report at each credit bureau. So it becomes a garbage in, garbage out type of thing --inaccurate reports create inaccurate scores.

If you can get the Citi info reported correctly on the TU full report --all dates, balances, every lost jot and tittle, then the TU FICO will automatically correct itself.

Do you know if (a) Citi re-reported all the data to TU, and if (b) TU has corrected the credit report? If so, your FICO score will be automatically corrected.

I'd say that you'll have to pull it again to confirm, so first go over that TU report with a magnifying glass (get it directly from TransUnion, and don't buy their score) to confirm that it is clean once again.



edit to add: I split this post off from "score drops while carrying no balances whats up" to form its own thread, as it is on a different topic. I changed the subject line to reflect the new issue.

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 09-23-2008 06:43 AM

[Anonymous]

you can dispute it on-line which is better than a phone call.  TU will have to investigate it then and contact Citi.

You can dispute direct with TU or with My Fico (if you pull your ficos.

[hdporter]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm fuming. I have worked very hard to get my score high. My credit is impeccable. No late payments. No delinquencies. I was up at 780 just 2 months ago.

Then Citibank screwed up. I had paid off my Mastercard with them and had a zero balance for months. When I got a bill with an annual fee, I called to ask them to waive it. Instead of waiving it, they closed the card! My FICO plummeted to 720 in a month. That was the ONLY change to my credit.

I called Citibank and they copped to their mistake. They reopened the exact same account number and essentially reversed what they had done. But they said to fix the FICO I would have to call TransUnion directly.

When I called TransUnion, they said that I'd have to call FICO, as TransUnion claimed they had no control over the FICO and couldn't undo the mistake.

I then called FICO. Guess what they said? I had to call TransUnion!

First, understand what tanked your score: Citi closed your account -- this meant that the open credit on the line was no longer factored against your total credit utilization. The proper remedy is for Citi to reopen the account and change the existing tradeline back to "Open". So long as that is done, then the FICO hit should reverse itself.

FWIW, neither TransUnion, nor FICO, can remedy a score change. A tradeline impacts your score because of the information therein. If a creditor changes the reported information, then your score is likely to change. No one, other than a creditor, is able to change the information within a tradeline (outside of extraordinary circumstances -- e.g. the removal of information in response to a dispute to which the creditor doesn't reply).

The biggest exposure you had to a possible failure of your credit score to resurrect itself upon account reopening would be if Citi had assigned a new account number. However, you confirm that wasn't the case. If you pull a new FICO score, I would guess that your score would be reinstated to its former value (other than any adjustment related to other changes in your credit report since the first pull ... e.g. balance changes).

[Anonymous]

Wait 30 days for them to update new activity. Probably still showing closed even though it is open. Can take up to 30 days to report this change back. I suggest using the card to force activity. Remember up to 30 days. Citi reports for me 1 week after my statement closing date. You can probably estimate when they will update this change for you. Give it time. It's frustrating I know. I had my CC report a bal and didn't want it there. I have to wait a whole 30 days again for it to update again.

[Anonymous]

sorry but TransUnion is the worst with credit scores.

With these people my score is always 20 points below Experian and Equifax.


Your score should reverse very soon hopefully. transunion is slow though.