Consumer complaint received 2025-12-09 00:00:00
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report — Account status incorrect
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: MD

Complaint narrative:
Hello, My name is XXXX XXXX, I am submitting this complaint because American Express ( AMEX ) has furnished two business credit card accounts to my personal consumer credit reports as if they were individual consumer obligations, resulting in significant and ongoing damage to my personal credit profile. This is a misclassification error, and the reporting is inaccurate under FCRA 602 ( a ), 623 ( a ) ( 1 ), and XXXX reporting standards. 

These accounts are commercial accounts for my business, XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
The AMEX statements clearly identify : XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX disclosures and terms Business customer service channels Business credit limits Business address printed directly on the statements These documents confirm that both accounts are commercial products. 

However, AMEX furnished these accounts to Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion as : Account Type : Consumer Credit Card Responsibility : Individual Status : Consumer Charge-Off Payment History : Personal derogatory history Loan Type : Personal revolving account This information is factually incorrect and misleading. 

XXXX XXXXXXXX report shows the AMEX account coded as : Responsibility : Individual Account Type : Credit Card Status : Charged Off ( {$14000.00} written off ) Past due balance and derogatory consumer historXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX report lists both AMEX accounts as : Individual Account Revolving Consumer Credit Card Charge-Off Multiple derogatory months These entries are not accurate, because the debts are business obligations and not personal consumer credit. Furnishing them as personal charge-offs has caused : Significant score reduction Incorrect derogatory payment history Incorrect utilization calculations Ongoing negative updates each month Loss of personal and business credit opportunities I want to emphasize that I am not disputing the underlying business debt. 
I am disputing the pattern of misreporting and the unfair harm caused by AMEXs inaccurate furnishing practices. 

When this issue first occurred, I did not understand how the reporting system worked and assumed the bureaus would correct the mistake. Only after researching the issue myself did I discover thousands of similar complaints filed against AMEX across multiple years describing the same conductmisclassification, reporting business accounts as personal, and failing to correct inaccurate information. 

In addition to this CFPB complaint, I am preparing a formal letter to Congress because the public data shows that consumers nationwide have been repeatedly harmed in the same way, year after year, without meaningful enforcement or systemic correction. Furnishers should be held to the same accuracy standards that consumers are held to, especially when misclassification of commercial accounts as personal obligations causes significant financial harm. Stronger oversight and enforcement is needed to prevent these issues from repeating for future consumers. 

======== There is a structural gap in the credit-reporting system that allows this harm to occur and continue. Today : The investigation process is slow ( often 30 days or more ). 
The credit-scoring engine is instant. 
These XXXX systems do not communicate with each other. 

Because of this separation, inaccurate data furnished by AMEX is allowed to still : Continue updating Continue refreshing Continue being treated as verified Continue lowering credit scores even while the account is under an active dispute and supposedly under review. 
From a consumer-protection standpoint, there is no logical or fair reason that a disputed account especially XXXX under investigation should continue to harm a consumers score in real time. 

This creates unavoidable and ongoing consumer injury because : Consumers are penalized before accuracy is confirmed. 
Incorrect information remains visible and continues to generate negative scoring impacts. 
Derogatory codes continue accumulating in the background. 
The system defaults to protecting the furnishers data stream rather than protecting the consumer. 

This design flaw means that even when a consumer identifies a serious misclassification ( such as a business account incorrectly reported as personal ) and disputes it, the damage continues throughout the investigation period. 
This is what is happening in my case : the incorrect AMEX charge-off is still refreshing during the dispute, and my credit score continues to be harmed while accuracy is being examined.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation