I've seen all sorts of information on how to get rid of incorrect information from credit files, but I have not seen how to add information back that was mistakenly removed. Equifax removed over 1/2 of my credit history from their files, and refuses to repair the damage. Here's the steps I've done so far... I subscribed to Equifax's online credit reporting, which allows me to view my credit file and FICO score, daily if I want. My score was 703 on January 15. On January 22, my score fell to 692. The reason? Equifax deleted 19 of 37 accounts in my file and all were in good credit standing. They were all closed, but only one was older than 10 years old. My student loans were opened in 1990, and paid off in 1998. The report from January 15 said one of the main problems with my score was I had a "relatively short history of only 148 months". My report on January 22 said I had a "relatively short history of only 100 months". So, I lost 4 years of credit history. I called Equifax, who said they didn't know why the records were deleted. They suggested I fax them the information for an investigation. About a month later, I received a letter from Equifax stating that I needed to have the creditors re-report the information to get it back in my file. I called Equifax again, and they said there was nothing they could do, and that the creditor probably requested the information be removed. When I asked if the Federal Trade Commission was where I filed complaints, I was asked to hold, and when the person got back, they asked for more details on the missing information. I gave the account information from the report, and the representative said they'd have the manager contact me shortly. I tried calling two of the creditors to see if they would report the deleted accounts again. One said it didn't have any incentive to do so, and the other said they probably couldn't because the account was closed 5 years ago. I waited a couple of weeks, and called Equifax again. They didn't know what I was talking about (no record of my calling before), so I explained the situation again. They said that the creditors probably requested the accounts be deleted from my report (hard to do for one of them, though - they went out of business a year or two ago). I again mentioned the FTC and was put on hold, but when she returned this time, she said there was nothing that could be done. I created and sent a letter to the FTC, and put a cc to Equifax. I then sent these registered mail with receipt last week. I received the receipts last week, but I'm wondering if anything will really be done. Here's my questions: 1. Can creditors really request information be deleted from Equifax, and can Equifax really deleted these with no record of why they were deleted? One of the accounts that was deleted had 8 years of history attached to it, and the last reported date was 5 years ago. 2. Is there anything else I can do to get Equifax to add the deleted accounts back to my file?
For starters, there is nothing that says a cra must keep positive accts on record for 10 years. The record can remain for up to 10 years. I doubt that 19 creditors all of a sudden requested they delete the accts. It is possible your file became to large and it split. I would ask them if you have 2 files as that is what it sounds like. The person you want to contact at Equifax is either Robin.Holland@equifax.xom or Lanette.Fullwood@equifax.com I don't know their exact titles, but they are the people that can get things done. Lanette I believe is an assistant to Robin and is very helpful.
I have had Equifax tell me they would "have someone return my call" at least 20 times and I have NEVER received a phone call from them.
We were told that Eq's legal dept would call us back. They actually did so...within 5 minutes. Ended up realiing THEIR mistake and deleted the item in question.
