Consumer complaint received 2018-02-11
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc.
State: CA
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Was not notified of investigation status or results

Complaint:
Experian : Please refer to your data as to this issdue here : Prepared for : XXXX XXXX XXXX Personal & Confidential Date Generated XX/XX/XXXX Report Number XXXX The report of my own here is a diplomatic attempt to address what has become for me and others a long standing and unfortunately universally accepted source of now in-accurate data and thus universally accepted credit information and by posting this in a more conspicuous place am formally requesting you revisit the issue of account classification and do a review of how one 's financial stability can suffer merely by unaware of its peculiar nature take out a Home Equity loan that is, a bit over one year later affecting my FICO score negatively in such a negative fashion that it's roller coaster up and down motion makes one dizzy and XXXX deserves this second look to see if a more finely crafted denominator and classification for this loan product might prove both useful to you as you hone in on it and garner the appreciation of your clients who are similarly mystified at the current state of affairs and then might be more helpful to those such as myself that at no fault of their own is no longer distressed as to it's effect on one 's good name, overall outlook on live and planning for everything from a vacation to a solid retirement and thus face the somewhat one 's debts on time, resulting in a credit profile befitting the borrowers that diligently repay their financial obligations in full and on time. 


The result of over a year 's worth of education and research on my part leaves me with few answers and many frustrated efforts lately in fact at even securing a conventional mortgage now to pay this loan off and be done with it, as my FICO score has been so depreciated it's become unfeasible I feel that as the industry leader it would seem worth Experian 's time to look again at your loan typing of the HELOC and LOAN and perhaps recategorize how each have become segmented in the past to represent the types of credit accounts an individual may have ... and how these standards in for instance your Score 8 calculations create a distinct disadvantage for those that also temporarily have higher than is healthy utilization of such unsecured debt and other measures ( the other bureau 's reporting scores for myself are not so seriously skewed ) that may indeed lead to a more accurate delineation between a real property loan which is just as or more secure at the grass roots user level and in instances such as my own, cease to create undue financial hardship and the resulting expense and lack of flexibility that ensues when indeed that very flexibility was why the loan appealed to me in the first place. 

I do understand and appreciate EXPERIAN and it's genuine and everlasting quest for accuracy on all data points and yet, subsequent to your recent evaluation of my own credit worthiness.. such classification is sorely out of whack with reality and causes me to think how nice it would be to actually become so inattentive to financial matters, be late on payments six months of the year if not seven once and awhile and frankly stop caring or give a hoot for what my financial future might become ... For I am NOT my FICO score , right ...? I'm the guy that has to earn, borrow any additional funds necessary in this credit intensive day and age and repay all, on schedule with the interest ... 

I was unaware of the classification this loan would fall under, thinking ( correctly ) that it's even more of a secure bet as it's funding paid to pay off any debt accumulated and the majority went to improve the asset in the form of a remodeled my kitchen and bathroom in my home and thus increased the solidity of the collateral and the note securing the loan, yet discovering that in all but specific name my HELOC is reporting as an unsecured credit card and that the words 'secured by ' appear nowhere on my EXPERIAN consumer report anyway which in my case has become a grossly unbalanced way of looking at the remodel itself as if it didn't happen at all and I took my family on a world cruise instead. 

Hopefully if you are still listening I plan to herein provide the basic facts for you and let 's see if you might be able to assist in getting my score back to where it belongs ... and if so i'll keep the HELOC or at least be able to get credit at the DEPOT for carpeting for heaven 's sake. I shall also briefly lay out below what might happen to one 's financial stability if taking advantage of the equity in y home built up over many years and a loan on paper anyway that is indistinguishable for the most part from said Credit XXXX and usually as the numbers do matter, with a limit that might better befit a sports hero on a spending streak and for the most part has a limit far in excess of the average individual 's card in his wallet. 
-- -- - I at first thought it was my lender incorrectly reporting the loan and it's particulars but then discovered it was not after disputing this issue here, Seeking further clarification, I have spoken with more than a few lenders about this recently, for my better sense says to pay this 30 year loan off as soon as possible ... .but the fact that it's reporting has driven my FICO score into the ground I can not now qualify for a reasonable mortgage to pay if off and it's taken four to five months to discover this, while at the same time presently I am forking out 1/2 of my SSA benefits to cover just interest on the personal loans and credit card i used to complete the remodel, given that 1/3 of the funds were redirected by the lender to other unrelated debt early repayment, which at the time did not worry me but even I ( with a XXXX XXXX XXXX ) can't keep every XXXX  job in budget, least of all on my own home! 

I took out a $ XXXX Home Equity line of credit against my home in XX/XX/XXXX which is the only loan I have against the property which is now  worth {$170000.00}. I spent the majority of the funds over last summer remodeling the kitchen and bath and upgrading the electrical and plumbing systems to this 100 year old home. My credit score had been XXXX or so until I joined the Credit Union three years ago but the credit reporting practices of this lender are not so clear cut I have discovered and as recently happened changes in reporting are not announced in advance or for that matter told to us at all ... .Suffice it to say that this organization feels entitled to change and update everything while it ignores the status quo to such a degree that even they can not offer an explanation but have refused to offer the loan I seek on reasonable terms and believe it or not I have been encountering difficulty qualifying even with those that failed to advise me of the financial consequences stating " your FICO score will improve in a few months '' when indeed it's been the opposite direction ... so much for faith in lending, eh? 

Please feel free to review the attached documents :

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