I have a car loan that I had to pay 22 days past the due date. It is now reporting as 30 days late on my credit report. Can they report it like this even though it was NEVER 30 days late???
Can you show that they received payment around 22 days after due? Cancelled check with processing stamps showing date processed on back? Dispute thru the CRA as not 30 days late. If they verify, file a complaint with your state AG, and sue under FCRA for erroneous reporting.
It was a local bank. I can prove when they cashed the check and it does have the stamp on the back. Also, they credited my loan payment the same day I made it. So I can clearly prove on my statement from this bank that the payment was received before it was 30 days late.
Your payment, being "late" by a few days, but not 30 days, may have been reported as late to the CRA, where it shows as "30 days late" to all viewers of your reports. There are 2 possibilities: 1) They are not aware that they are reporting you as "30 days late", and will correct it when you bring it to their attention. or: 2) They think (or one of their employees thinks) that any "late", even by a day, should show on your reports, since you "deserve" it, and the CRA will show it as 30 days late even though it is not. But credit reporting is required by Federal law (FCRA) to be "accurate". Creditors can't legally report anything they want, just because they think you deserve it. On its' face, 22 days is not 30 days, and they are falsely telling all your creditors that you were late by 30 days. Either way, you must first bring it to their attention, while establishing your rights under FCRA should you need to raise the stakes. Realize that although one level of their staff may think there is nothing wrong with all lates being reported, and it is not their problem if the CRA says it is 30 days, you can raise the complaint to higher levels who are responsible for keeping them out of trouble, not following erroneously interpretted policies. Have you brought the matter to their attention, in writing, CRRR? Under FACTA, you can dispute directly with any data furnisher. Do so, including a redacted copy of your credit report, (remove items not related to this account), showing that their account is erroneously reporting 30 days late, which it is not. Include a copy of the check, and spell the error out clearly in your letter. This puts the direct evidence of their erroneous reporting in their hands, not just whatever the CRA would query them in a dispute. Note that this letter is not just for them to read, but written with an eye for how it may later appear in court, or to a compliance officer interested in staying out of court. If they refuse to correct, proceed with a CRA dispute, under FCRA, to formally confirm their reporting. You might also add a state AG complaint at this stage, since state reporting laws often parallel Federal law. Raise the issue to the attention of higher management (their regulatory compliance officer) knowing you can now file suit. His responsibilities in protecting the interests of the bank are different than some lowly clerk dealing with CRA disputes.
I disputed this with the CRA and just got my results back. Now they are showing that I have been 30 days late EVERY MONTH SINCE OCT 2005!!! Yet they are reporting the SAME account via EQ as pays as agreed every month. I am furious! I am going to shoot a letter off to the OC but I just not sure how to phrase it yet. I don't want to mention that they are reporting it correctly on EQ for fear they will change that report also.
Six months of 30 day lates will tank your scores, and destroy your other credit relationships. This shows that you are dealing with incompetence or possibly malice, so act appropriately. You want to document, in writing, the extent of damages. Keep accurate files, copies of all correspondence, send all letters CRRR, and take accurate notes at the time of any phone calls. Initial and date them immediately after the call. Have you pulled your reports with scores? You also want paper copies direct from the CRAs. Then send a letter, CRRR, direct to the bank's executive offices, disputing their reporting, that your documents and canceled checks show that none of your payments have been late 30 days, that you have disputed their reporting thru the CRA, and that it appears that one of their employees responded to your CRA dispute by posting months of erroneous 30 day lates, in what appears to be a very unprofessional response to your CRA dispute. (Save "malice" and "retaliation" for if you need to file suit. At this point you want to, if necessary, split the upper management from support of erroneous lower level credit department policies, based on minimizing business risk.) Demand that they remove all late reporting immediately, and include a redacted copy of your report showing their errors. They will either correct it with an apology, correct it silently, ignore you, or possibly say something dumb like "It is our policy to report even 1 day late as late, and we determine if it is late by when we process payment, not when we receive it." If you don't get a prompt and satisfactory response, see an FDCPA attorney, sooner rather than later, to minimize your financial damage.
