Consumer complaint received 2024-12-02 00:00:00
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem — Their investigation did not fix an error on your report
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc.
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/year>, I made 15 attempts to contact Experian regarding a series of emails that I received. After no success, I pulled up an old report where a phone number was listed and was able to successfully speak to a representative about the emails that I received. The representative was very helpful in clarifying the reason for the emails and we began to go through my credit report to address additional errors and current disputes that I had in progress. 

I addressed the dispute that I currently have with XXXX XXXX  who reported on my consumer report that I was late in the month of XXXX. I explained to the representative that I have never been late on this account, and I asked him about the information that was sent to me from Experian which states : " We review and consider the furnishers or vendors response ( to the dispute ) to determine whether to accept it, reject it, or follow up for additional information. If, after processing, we find that the disputed information is inaccurate, incomplete or can not be verified, we then delete or modify that information, as appropriate. If we do not receive a response from the furnisher or the vendor within the required period, we update the item as you have requested or delete the information and send you the results. 

In some instances, we are able to determine whether the disputed information should be changed or deleted without having to contact the furnisher or the vendor. After we complete our processing, we send you the results. If you question the results of our dispute process, you may also contact the furnisher of information directly. '' This information is relative to me because it translates that if the Consumer Reporting Agency finds that the information being reported by the data furnisher or vendor is inaccurate, the Consumer Reporting Agency has the ability to step in and modify or delete the information as they have a legal obligation to provide accurate information on the consumer. 

However, according to the representative, this disclosure sent to me by Experian is untrue. He further went on to say that if an account is paid one day after the due date, it can be reported as 30 days past due. 
I did not resonate with the information he provided, so I requested to speak to a Supervisor. After speaking with the Supervisor, she also confirmed the previous representative 's statement and said that a creditor can report you as 30 days past due if you do not make payment to the account on the due date. I explained that a creditor can only report an account as 30 days past due if the account has not been paid within 30 days of the statement date. The Supervisor told me that I was wrong. I asked if she was in the United States, she refused to answer so I requested to be transferred to a representative in the United States thinking that those who are offshore may not be properly trained in consumer laws. 

Once transferred, I received another representative who advised that if the account is 1 day past due, the account can be reported as 30 days late. Highly confused at this point, I took the time to visit Experian 's website and read to him the disclosure that I received from Experian earlier that day. 

On XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX it states : " Quick Answer : Late payments are reported to the credit bureaus once youre at least 30 days past your bills due date. If you can bring the account current before then, you may be able to avoid the potential damage to your credit scores. 

Creditors generally report late payments to the credit bureaus once you're at least 30 days late. The exact timing could depend on your account 's billing cycle. Missing a payment by a few days won't affect your credit scores, but it could have other consequences, such as late fees and rescinded benefits.

Late payments get reported to the credit bureaus when your creditor sends an update to the bureaus and your payment is at least 30 days late. One exception is with federal student loans, which don't get reported as late until you're at least 90 days past due. 

Creditors send updates to the credit bureaus at different times, and there's no way to know exactly when the late payment status will show up. But many creditors send updates monthly, so you could expect the late payment to appear on your credit report within a month or two of falling behind on your payments.

Creditors use different codes to indicate your account 's status. There's a code for when your account is current and a code for when your account is 30 days past due. There are also codes for when you fall further behind : 60, 90, 120, 150 or 180 or more days past due.

But there's no code for an account being one to 29 days late, so your creditors may report your account is current if your payment is only a few days late. '' The very last paragraph validates my point to Experian representative about XXXX reporting my XXXX XXXX  XXXX  days past due. The representative opened my attachments ( documents ) sent to them regarding the account. The document was an email from XXXX on XX/XX/year> stating that my account was currently 19 days past due. Although there were circumstances outside of my control for why the payment was late, XXXX confirmed that it received payment for my account on XX/XX/year>. From XX/XX/year> to XX/XX/year> is XXXX calendar days. If my account was 19 days past due on XX/XX/year>, that means it was 29 days past due on XX/XX/year> which is still not 30 days past due. However, XXXX is reporting that I was 30 days past due despite it's own correspondence to me that the timeline was not accurate. 

This communication was forwarded to Experian through the CFPB complaint about the inaccurate information reporting on my consumer report. Although Experian sent disclosure stating that it could intervene and modify or delete inaccurate information and although Experian 's website states that an account can only be reported as 30 days past due if it is 30 days or more unpaid after the statement date, Experian refuses to modify the information. 

Attached is the disclosure sent to me via email, the information that Experian has on it's website stating the reporting process and a snapshot of the phone call with Experian where I was successful in speaking to someone which was 2 hours and 13 minutes long.

If Experian does not properly train it's representatives in consumer reporting and credit reporting laws, how is are we as consumers supposed to rely on the information given to us? If I was not aware or informed in the credit reporting process, I would be totally confused as what I was given was pure misinformation by three separate representatives. All I am asking is for my consumer report to be updated with the proper information as I have never been over 30 days on any account on my credit report. 





Further shocked,

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