Who do I Complain to?

[msavage123]

I need some advice about who I should complain to.

My credit score has always been close to perfect - I pay everything on time and have very little debt. Last year I noticed in Equifax someone with extremely bad credit was accidentally linked to my credit file. Apparently our ssn is extremely similar and he had used mine a number of times. As a result my credit score is below average at 697. I worked for months with CSC and Equifax to have my credit report cleaned up. About 4 months ago after many iterations there were finally no traces of the deadbeat on my report. The problem is my FICO score has not gone up.

Last week I called Equifax to complain and they directed me to FICO. I called FICO and they directed me to Equifax. My question is who do I really need to contact about this?

My understanding is that CSC has my raw credit data. They feed it to Equifax who uses FICO software to calculate my score. Is any of this correct?

[masdeocho]

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msavage123 wrote:
I need some advice about who I should complain to.

My credit score has always been close to perfect - I pay everything on time and have very little debt. Last year I noticed in Equifax someone with extremely bad credit was accidentally linked to my credit file. Apparently our ssn is extremely similar and he had used mine a number of times. As a result my credit score is below average at 697. I worked for months with CSC and Equifax to have my credit report cleaned up. About 4 months ago after many iterations there were finally no traces of the deadbeat on my report. The problem is my FICO score has not gone up.

Last week I called Equifax to complain and they directed me to FICO. I called FICO and they directed me to Equifax. My question is who do I really need to contact about this?

My understanding is that CSC has my raw credit data. They feed it to Equifax who uses FICO software to calculate my score. Is any of this correct?

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Welcome, msavage123!

Sorry this happened to you.  I don't know who CSC is.  FICO uses its own software to calculate your score based on the data in your Equifax report.

Now that you've had the incorrect info scrubbed (which is no easy feat), you may be left with only a "thin" file which is why your score is low.  We'd need a lot more info to figure out how to increase your score.  How long is your credit history, how many CCs, installment loans, outstanding debt as a percentage of credit limits, etc., etc.

[msavage123]

Thanks for the quick reply.

CSC Credit Services is an affiliate of Equifax. From what I understand they have the raw credit data for my region and provide it to Equifax for reporting. I had to work with CSC to fix the credit data but went to Equifax to see the results on a credit report.

Help me understand the credit data flow. I've been told CSC has the raw credit data and provides it to Equifax for reporting. Equfiax has stated that they do not calculate the FICO score but ship the credit data to FICO for score calculation. The FICO score is then returned to Equifax for inclusion on the credit report.

When I spoke to FICO they stated that FICO does not calculate the score for Equifax but simply provides the software to allow Equifax to calculate it themselves. What version is correct?

My Equifax credit report details as of last week:

Mortgage: 6 accounts (1 active), $150,621
Installment: 10 accounts (2 active), $37,149
Revolving, 15 accounts (about 6 active), $4,593
Other: 2 accounts (0 active): $0
Total Accounts: 33 accounts, $192,363

I have one mortgage account that is always paid on-time, two installments accounts (land loan and Toyota auto) always paid on-time, and the revolving accounts are paid on-time every month (only use one of these accounts).

# Accounts in Good Standing: looks like all my accounts are here
# Accounts Currently Past Due: None
# Negative Account History: None

I have no collections on file and no public records on file.

I'm not sure how to calculate outstanding debt as a percentage of credit limits.

Let me know if you need any other information.

Thanks for the help.

[masdeocho]

As far as I know, FICO takes the data from EQ (who got it from CSC), puts it in a blender @ high speed, and spits out your score.  No way that FICO gives its software to anyone.  It's more proprietary than the Coke formula. 

Looks like you have no baddies (negative information) so the only thing that would be dragging down your score is utilization.  For each CC, divide your outstanding balance by your credit limit.  For example, your balance is $3,000 and your credit limit is $4,000.  Your util is 75%.  You want a low number; between 1 and 9% is ideal.  If you have over 50% or have maxed out your cards, it does serious carnage to your score even if you pay on time.  Calculate this for each CC and do an average for all CCs.

[msavage123]

I only have one credit card that currently has a balance. It has a $4,593 balance with a $20,000 credit limit. That's 22%. We put everything on that card and pay it off each month. One time it could have been as high as $7k or $8k but never higher.

Isn't it true that FICO scores are quick to decrease but slow to increase? Is there a time factor involved here from the FICO stand point? What I mean is it appears FICO saw the bad credit history of the deadbeat mixed in with mine and gave me a low score. After I correct everything, FICO should immediately return my score to the correct level but has not - is there some kind of time factor built into the FICO scoring algorithm?.

So do I complain to FICO for not increasing my score fast enough because they maintain a history and have some type of time factor built into their algorithm or do I complain to Equifax for not sending the correct data in a timely manner to FICO? Both are telling me it's the other party's problem.

Thanks for the help.

[Rocket01]

Mas is probably on the right path.  I wanted to add that credit utilization is 30% of your score, so it can make a huge difference.   You might also check the length of your credit history and average age of your accounts to ensure that CSC or whomever isn't miscalculated your account ages with all the changes that have been made.

[masdeocho]

Ironically, you may have lost some positive hx (history) when you cleaned up.  For example, if the imposter had an account that was 20 years old, and yours are 5 years old, then his hx was giving you a long average account age.  Remove him from your file and there goes the hx.  Just a possibility.

[msavage123]

My earliest open account is from 1985 and my earliest closed account is from 1982.

Since cross referencing my good history with the deadbeat's history was an Equifax problem, should they be responsible for restoring my FICO score? Or does FICO maintain a history where they can still see the deadbeat's credit history associated with mine?

[masdeocho]

Your credit score is a snapshot in time.  There is no historical factor.  It is what it is... today.

[msavage123]

I signed up for Score Watch (you guys should have told me to do that sooner ) and found some useful info.

Under the "What’s hurting your FICO score" section:

Number of your accounts that were ever 60 days late or worse: 1 account

Some Chase credit card account shows some months 120 days overdue for a number of months back in 2002. This was not mine but it gives me something to work with.

Your most recent late payment happened 3 months ago

Yes I did miss a car payment while fiddling around setting up on-line bill payments. I forgot about that one.

Number of your accounts with a missed payment or a derogatory description: 2 accounts

I'm assuming this is the total of the first two items because I don't see any other accounts listed on my report.

So now I have to work on the Chase credit card. Interestingly none of this was shown on the Equifax credit report. Thanks for all the help.