Consumer complaint received 2017-03-14
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: TX
Product: Credit reporting
Issue: Improper use of my credit report
Sub-issue: Report improperly shared by CRC

Complaint:
My credit history has been excellent ( i.e., 0 % utilization rate ; 100 % ontime pymts past 7 years ; XXXX open mixed accounts ; all other paid accounts in good standing ; XXXX small pd tax lien in XX/XX/XXXX ( {$5400.00} pd in 3 months ) ; avg credit history 4 yrs 7 mos - XXXX account for 9 yrs ; XXXX for 8 yrs ; XXXX small car loan opened XX/XX/XXXX ( first car loan in 10 yrs ) and 1 rate/term refinance 6 mos ago ; XXXX hard inquiries in past yr ( XXXX for refi in XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX for new home loan XX/XX/XXXX ). My Equifax Vantage score has been between XXXX and XXXX last three months but when lender ran XXXX on these exact same factors on XX/XX/XXXX a score of XXXX was issued. This will increase my mortgage interest rate a full point. 

I contacted " XXXX '' at Equifax ( XXXX - XXXX ) this evening and he could not provide a rationale for such a low score. XXXX would not provide an ID number or last name but told me my score was low because : Equifax counts utility company inquiries as " hard '' inquiries ; XXXX counts EVERY hard inquiry against the consumer - even when XXXX inquiries for the same purpose occurred on the same day. ( i.e., I was shopping for an auto loan and contacted XXXX potential lenders for a quote on the same day - Equifax counted this as XXXX hard inquiries for the year ). When I asked to speak with a supervisor XXXX put me on hold for an extended period and ultimately I was disconnected. 

My score should be much higher for all the effort I dedicate to caring for it. However, the lending industry 's shell game of having over " XXXX different credit scores '' continues to ensure that people with excellent credit will still be stuck with high interest rates. The endless choice of models based on using credit ( or not using credit ) guarantees every lender an excuse to bleed borrowers no matter how strong their credit history is. 

Please investigate my complaint into this " rigged '' system, especially the following : 1. I believe my credit score was unfairly used and manipulated to generate a false impression of creditworthiness. My " excellent '' set of credit factors for the banking, credit card, insurance and auto loan models inexplicably reversed into a " poor '' set of factors under a mortgage model - a drop of nearly XXXX points. This is outrageous and Equifax can't/wo n't explain it. If there 's no valid explanation ( and how could there be? ) Equifax must be encouraged to report the data that is excellent/positive throughout all other models as excellent/positive on the mortgage model. 

2. Equifax needs to be able to explain why a set of positive parameters under one model becomes a strong set of negative factors under another. 

3. Please also lobby to halt the practice of allowing the credit bureaus to have hundreds of scores designed to penalize consumers no matter what their credit situation is. 

I need a response quickly if at all possible due to escrow closing XX/XX/XXXX. Facing a full % point increase if these reports are not corrected. All efforts you can manage to expedite action will be deeply appreciated.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation