Consumer complaint received 2018-03-20
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc.
State: NC
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Account status incorrect

Complaint:
I had an account go into charge off status in XX/XX/XXXX. The account was paid in XX/XX/XXXX and updated to paid charge off. I pulled my credit report with Experian in XX/XX/XXXX and the credit report shows that the account is charged off as of XX/XX/XXXX and the time since the last negative item on my credit report was 1 month. I called Experian and explained that the information is incorrect as the account was charged off in XX/XX/XXXX. I had a 30 day late payment in XX/XX/XXXX, so the time since last negative should have been 11 months. Experian said that it was an issue with the data furnisher and opened a dispute. The dispute was resolved in XX/XX/XXXX and now the report said the charge off occurred as of XX/XX/XXXX and the time since last negative was 1 month. 

Again, I called Experian to complain that this was inaccurate as the last delinquency in XX/XX/XXXX was now 12 months old. Again, Experian said that the data furnisher provided them with information saying that the account was delinquent in XX/XX/XXXX so that is what they reported. At this point I contacted the original creditor by telephone to ask why they keep updating the information as a current delinquency when the account was paid since XX/XX/XXXX and charged off in XX/XX/XXXX.  The original creditor explained that they have not reported that the account was delinquent in XX/XX/XXXX and in fact they have not reported contacted any credit reporting agency about the account since it was paid off in XX/XX/XXXX. 

I called Experian back again and again they said that it was an issue with the data furnisher and rather than update the Experian files, they opened yet another dispute with the original creditor. I got the results of the dispute back today XX/XX/XXXX, and of course the account came back as verified, which it should as the account itself was not in dispute rather it was the manner in which Experian was reporting the account. This time the account came back as 1 month since last negative item and charged off as of XX/XX/XXXX. 

I called Experian again and the agent told me that they report whatever the original creditor reports and since the original creditor verified the information in XX/XX/XXXX they have to report the information as delinquent in XX/XX/XXXX. 

Section 602 ( a ) ( 1 ) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act provides that " [ t ] he banking system is dependent upon fair and accurate credit reporting. Inaccurate credit reports directly impair the efficiency of the banking system, and unfair credit reporting methods undermine the public confidence which is essential to the continued functioning of the banking system. '' The manner in which Experian updates its information is inherently unfair to consumers. I have been denied credit specifically because the time since delinquency is too recent. I have had to call lenders and explain that the delinquency occurred back in XX/XX/XXXX and not in XX/XX/XXXX. The Experian agent stated that because they received verification from the original creditor in XX/XX/XXXX they had to update the record as being delinquent in XX/XX/XXXX. That does not seem fair nor is it at all accurate. A delinquency that occurred in XX/XX/XXXX should be a delinquency that occurred in XX/XX/XXXX and should not be revived as a current delinquency as a result of Experian 's reporting. 

Experian should also be required to fix it's own reporting errors rather than just deferring to the original creditor and submitting an invalid dispute with the original creditor. Experian 's reporting is causing me severe damages in terms of the ability to obtain credit and the cost of the credit I am able to obtain. I do not have the same issue with either XXXX or XXXX  both of whom are reporting accurately.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation