Consumer complaint received 2018-07-10
Company: EQUIFAX, 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 information incorrect

Complaint:
I took out a student loan for college which is separated into 3 separate loans on my credit report. XXXX has me marked for late payments that shouldn't be there, so this stretch of time is amplified because it shows all 3 if these accounts as late on my credit report. When I checked the dates, however, something didn't seem to be lining up. All of the " late payments '' on my credit are either incorrect, when I was still a student, in forbearance, or when the company was in transition. At the time of the " late payments '' I was never notified of being late, wasn't receiving statements or bills, updates, or anything - just the occasional " reply yes for an extension '' e-mails. This all began after XXXX XXXX was taken over by XXXX XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX. The first reported " 90 Days Late '' came in XX/XX/XXXX, but that's impossible because I was a student in XXXX. I called XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke to a customer service agent who confirmed my worries. The woman asked me to send in my IRS form that showed I was, at minimum, a XXXX XXXX in the XXXX tax year - and that once all the information was received my report would be updated and the late payments would be removed. My late payment information doesn't match either ; the XXXX late payment is only on 1 of the 3 listed. The next discrepancies are XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX which are marked as 90 and 120 days late. The issue with this is I " replied yes '' to a forbearance email on XX/XX/XXXX. At the time I was ignorant to the law and the policies surrounding student loans, I had just moved to XXXX, and sent " yes '' because I didn't know a whole lot about it. I scrolled my history and happened to find this e-mail showing my approval with the date. If I am not mistaken, forbearance is 3-4 months ( which I now know ), making the " XX/XX/XXXX - 90 days late '' and " XX/XX/XXXX - 120 days late '' impossible. I was retrieved an email dated XX/XX/XXXX stating that XXXX XXXX had now been taken over by XXXX - that's now two corporate transitions in just twelve months. According to federal law, 34 CFR 682.211 ( e ) ( 2 ) the lender is required to update me every 6 months on forbearance and provide detailed information regarding the loan - this did not happen in XXXX, and that's important because I have another " 90 days late '' marked XX/XX/XXXX ( which is also impossible ). I would like to think all this chaos and confusion ( and error ) was due to the transitional period that was taking place around this time. I took the time to gather the requested information ( from the phone call in XXXX ), and sent everything to XXXX via certified mail in mid-XXXX. I have tried contacting them on numerous occasions now only to get the same result - nothing. According to the FCRA 623 ( a ) ( 2 ) - the furnisher of information provided to these credit reporting agencies is obligated to report and, if necessary, change information to reflect accuracy. That is not the case here. I have attached my tax form from XXXX, the XX/XX/XXXX forbearance email, as well as the call record from XXXX to show my claims are accurate. I feel as though in this frame of time the company took advantage of my ignorance and didn't fulfill their duties required by the laws in place intended to help the consumer. These " late payments '' have damaged my credit score, as well as my ability to obtain credit, for years now - only for me to find they are unjustified.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation