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Equifax Misreporting a CFA

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Pines
New Member
New Member
‎02-02-2019 02:39 PM
‎02-02-2019 02:39 PM

Equifax Misreporting a CFA

Long time lurker, first time poster. 

 

Just wanted to extend my sincere thanks for all of the great information here.  After a nasty divorce some years back I've managed to bring my scores from the dumps up to the 740-765 range due to these boards and in large part thanks to BrutalBodyShots' saturation technique to remove some negative items my ex left in my lap.  Kudos.

 

I noticed something hinky after I pulled my reports for the month; Equifax is reporting one (or more) of my accounts as a CFA and it's having a negative impact on a couple of my scores.  My auto score 5/4/2, for instance, is a 698 with Equifax and 783 with Experian.  My FICO 5/4/2 is 724 with Equifax and 769 with Experian.

 

" You have a consumer finance account on your credit report."

 

I have 14 accounts total:

 

Us Dept. Of Education (Closed) - Student Loan

Dept Of Ed/Sallie May (Closed) - Student Loan

Dept Of Ed/Sallie May (Closed) - Student Loan

Sallie Mae (Closed) - Student Loan

Sallie Mae (Closed) - Student Loan

Navient  (Closed) - Student Loan

Us Dept. Of Education (Closed) - Student Loan

Fnb Omaha (Open) - Credit Card

Credit One Bank {Ugh} (Open) - Credit Card

First National (Open) - Credit Card

Chase Auto (Open) - Auto Loan

Capital One Bank Usa (Open) - Credit Card

American Express (Open) - Credit Card

Us Dept Of Ed/Glelsi (Open) - Student Loan

 

Not a single CFA listed.

No store cards.

No reason I can find for Equifax to report as such.

 

I've done some digging and found a few other instances of this happening here on these boards.  Has anyone had any luck getting issues like this resolved?  What could cause one of the accounts I have listed to report as a CFA by Equifax but not by TU or Experian?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

*Edited post to fix one of the listed accounts*





Message 1 of 5
4 REPLIES 4
Anonymous
Not applicable
‎02-02-2019 07:10 PM
‎02-02-2019 07:10 PM

Re: Equifax Misreporting a CFA

Welcome to the forum and it's great to hear that you found success with the Saturation Technique.  How many negative items were you able to get removed, what was their severity and across how many lenders?  Did it take you many Rounds to achieve success, or were you lucky?

 

As far as your CFA question, have you pulled a copy of your real Equifax credit report?  If not, what tool (CMS) are you using to view your report?  My suggestion would be to obtain your real (hard-copy) Equifax credit report and go through it looking for CFA coding.  

Message 2 of 5
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Pines
New Member
New Member
‎02-02-2019 08:31 PM
‎02-02-2019 08:31 PM

Re: Equifax Misreporting a CFA

I started my journey in late 2017 with FICO 8's in the mid-to-high 500's and a plethora of derogs on reports from all 3 CRA's.

 

5 collections

30/60/90/120 day lates on joint student loan

No credit cards

No auto loan

No mortgage

 

I decided to quit despairing over the divorce and set out to repair the damage that had been done.  I apped for a secured card (FNBO) with a $500 SL in November of 2017 and a Credit One card with a $300 SL in January of 2018.   I acquired my 3rd card in February of 2018 and put 50% down on a vehicle and financed the remainder with Chase in April of 2018.  Also got a Cap One Quicksilver in May 2018 and an Amex in July 2018, have been gardening since.  My Fico 8's as of today are 764 / 745 / 742 and my next goal is to purchase a home within 12 months.

 

I have always been great at saving but had very little experience managing credit until recently; I made huge mistakes in my late teens and had denied myself the chance since.

 

The lates on the student loan were wiped away due to being lucky - I had applied for a forbearance twice in the last decade and Great Lakes made them retroactive, effectively removing every single one.  The collections accounts I had paid in late 2017 before I realized I could have attempted PFDs.  I started writing emails and letters in December of 2017 and the final collection (Comcast) was removed three weeks ago.

 

Collection accounts:

Comcast

T-Mobile

Progressive Insurance

2 x Local Utilities

 

I had luck removing one of the local utilities with an email, the second took 3 or 4 letters and I had success with direct contact with the CEO.  Progressive took an email and two letters.  Comcast and T-Mobile were much, much harder nuts to crack.  I think it took me 8 rounds of  4 letters each with Comcast before I had luck and it was actually with the CA, Diversified Consultants.  T-Mobile, I probably wrote 60 or 70 letters before stumbling on some information that I think led to the deletion:  the account was listed as PIF but settled for less than the full amount, so I went directly to a local T-Mobile location and paid the remainder in full (less than $150).  A month later and another round of letters and it was removed from all 3 reports.

 

I currently use FICO Ultimate 3B monthly and Experian CreditCheck Total to pull my reports, I'll probably cancel one of them now that the hard part is done.  I pulled reports from all 3 bureaus in late November of 2018 when my free annual reports were available and have them in digital format - how do I search for CFA coding?

 

Thanks again for the invaluable information, it led to a 200 point increase in my FICO 8's and a much, much better night's sleep. 





Message 3 of 5
Pines
New Member
New Member
‎02-07-2019 08:06 PM
‎02-07-2019 08:06 PM

Re: Equifax Misreporting a CFA

No one has any clue which account(s) could be the culprit?  Here's the complete list of accounts from my latest 3B reports pulled on 2/2/19, I can provide more information if necessary:

 





Message 4 of 5
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Pines
New Member
New Member
‎02-07-2019 08:07 PM
‎02-07-2019 08:07 PM

Re: Equifax Misreporting a CFA

CONTINUED (20k limit is a nightmare)

 

 




Message 5 of 5
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