Personal Finance

Equifax messed up my credit report again...what's the impact?

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  • Aug 21st, 2020 5:41 pm
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Equifax messed up my credit report again...what's the impact?

Until recently, my Equifax credit report mistakenly continued to indicate a LOC that was closed years ago was still open. So I contacted Equifax to correct the error because I didn't want lenders to think I had credit available to me that wasn't actually available anymore. After providing them with a letter from the bank that the account was closed a long time ago, they "corrected" the error by completely removing the LOC from my credit report, as in the account never existed. I'm thinking probably nothing negative can come out of this, so I'm not going to press them to correct it again, but I just want to make sure. So what do you guys think?
Last edited by IceCreamPanda on Aug 20th, 2020 1:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
19 replies
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Apr 16, 2007
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bobohobo2kx wrote: Until recently, Equifax mistakenly continued to report a LOC that was closed years ago was still open. So I contacted Equifax to correct the error because I didn't want lenders to think I had credit available to me that wasn't actually available anymore. After providing them with a letter from the bank that the account was closed a long time ago, they "corrected" the error by completely removing the LOC from my credit report, as in the account never existed. I'm thinking probably nothing negative can come out of this, so I'm not going to press them to correct it again, but I just want to make sure. So what do you guys think?
Equifax and Trans Union are nothing more than passive portals that accept credit data reported to them from banks/FI's/courts/other licensed institutions.
With this said, these credit bureau entities do not report any tradeline activity or the actual tradeline itself. The bank you have the LOC with are the ones responsible for reporting it. So if that tradeline shows up again it is not Equifax's fault, it's the banks fault. Contact them
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bobohobo2kx wrote: Until recently, Equifax mistakenly continued to report a LOC that was closed years ago was still open. So I contacted Equifax to correct the error because I didn't want lenders to think I had credit available to me that wasn't actually available anymore. After providing them with a letter from the bank that the account was closed a long time ago, they "corrected" the error by completely removing the LOC from my credit report, as in the account never existed. I'm thinking probably nothing negative can come out of this, so I'm not going to press them to correct it again, but I just want to make sure. So what do you guys think?
Credit score mostly irrelevant in Canada. Well assuming you always pay your bills and have a decent history. 700 750 800 all the same.
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fogetmylogin wrote: Credit score mostly irrelevant in Canada. Well assuming you always pay your bills and have a decent history. 700 750 800 all the same.
Right, so credit score is irrelevant except when it is relevant. Not even the topic of this thread, which is an incorrectly reported LoC. Having an open LoC of significant value may impact ability to obtain future loans and mortgages regardless of score. As previous reply indicated, the Financial Institution is the one that needs to stop electronically reporting it as "open", and the complaint needs to go there.
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Dec 5, 2006
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bobohobo2kx wrote: Until recently, Equifax mistakenly continued to report a LOC that was closed years ago was still open. So I contacted Equifax to correct the error because I didn't want lenders to think I had credit available to me that wasn't actually available anymore. After providing them with a letter from the bank that the account was closed a long time ago, they "corrected" the error by completely removing the LOC from my credit report, as in the account never existed. I'm thinking probably nothing negative can come out of this, so I'm not going to press them to correct it again, but I just want to make sure. So what do you guys think?
In your credit file, loc is reported as open or close?
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smartie wrote: In your credit file, loc is reported as open or close?
Neither. It's gone as I already said:
bobohobo2kx wrote: they "corrected" the error by completely removing the LOC from my credit report, as in the account never existed.
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mikeymike1 wrote: Equifax and Trans Union are nothing more than passive portals that accept credit data reported to them from banks/FI's/courts/other licensed institutions.
With this said, these credit bureau entities do not report any tradeline activity or the actual tradeline itself. The bank you have the LOC with are the ones responsible for reporting it. So if that tradeline shows up again it is not Equifax's fault, it's the banks fault. Contact them
I'm not worried about the trade line showing up again. I'm wondering what are the impacts of it being omitted on Equifax. There's no record of it anymore on my Equifax credit report. A lender pulling both TransUnion and Equifax credit reports would see this discrepancy where TransUnion correctly shows that I had this LOC at one point but was closed on this date, and Equifax having no record of it at all anymore.
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bobohobo2kx wrote: I'm not worried about the trade line showing up again. I'm wondering what are the impacts of it being omitted on Equifax. There's no record of it anymore on my Equifax credit report. A lender pulling both TransUnion and Equifax credit reports would see this discrepancy where TransUnion correctly shows that I had this LOC at one point but was closed on this date, and Equifax having no record of it at all anymore.
In either way(Equifax and transunion), no impact on your bureau score. Is this what you are asking?

It's actually normal you see one trade line shows up in one bureau but not another
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bobohobo2kx wrote: I'm not worried about the trade line showing up again. I'm wondering what are the impacts of it being omitted on Equifax. There's no record of it anymore on my Equifax credit report. A lender pulling both TransUnion and Equifax credit reports would see this discrepancy where TransUnion correctly shows that I had this LOC at one point but was closed on this date, and Equifax having no record of it at all anymore.
Various credit products have a specific ranking. The highest ranked credit product is a Personal Line of Credit. It is the hardest credit product to obtain and qualify for by most people because not only does it factor credit scoring it also factors income, employment status, employment tenure, total length known to any credit bureau and a host of other qualifiers.
With all this said you should want a PLOC to continue to report to your credit file.
Being granted a PLOC is the defining sign and indicator (to other lending institutions that view your credit file) that the lender that gave it to you has the utmost lending confidence in YOU.
For PLOC consideration, you as a person, your complete credit bureau file, your creditworthiness and your character are the security for credit line lending. These are the basic principles almost all lenders follow for PLOC qualifying.

Some inside pointers: When you apply for credit of any kind, many if not all lenders that view your credit file will gauge and qualify you based on the products that are shown on your file. Again, a shown closed or not PLOC is a good thing.
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mikeymike1 wrote: Equifax and Trans Union are nothing more than passive portals that accept credit data reported to them from banks/FI's/courts/other licensed institutions.
With this said, these credit bureau entities do not report any tradeline activity or the actual tradeline itself. The bank you have the LOC with are the ones responsible for reporting it. So if that tradeline shows up again it is not Equifax's fault, it's the banks fault. Contact them
A bit related... I'm having a bit of trouble pulling a report from Transunion (Equifax was fine). Equifax appears correct and appears to show ALL of my credit history for 20+ years. I see nothing that is omitted (except maybe a car lease from years ago if those are reported). My score score is high.

Is there a still a likelihood that TU will show something else? I'd rather not deal with TU if I can avoid it. I do want to ensure my credit history is accurate however.
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mikeymike1 wrote: Various credit products have a specific ranking. The highest ranked credit product is a Personal Line of Credit. It is the hardest credit product to obtain and qualify for by most people because not only does it factor credit scoring it also factors income, employment status, employment tenure, total length known to any credit bureau and a host of other qualifiers.
With all this said you should want a PLOC to continue to report to your credit file.
Being granted a PLOC is the defining sign and indicator (to other lending institutions that view your credit file) that the lender that gave it to you has the utmost lending confidence in YOU.
For PLOC consideration, you as a person, your complete credit bureau file, your creditworthiness and your character are the security for credit line lending. These are the basic principles almost all lenders follow for PLOC qualifying.

Some inside pointers: When you apply for credit of any kind, many if not all lenders that view your credit file will gauge and qualify you based on the products that are shown on your file. Again, a shown closed or not PLOC is a good thing.
Which FIs use closed accounts to gauge risk or credit worthy
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spintheblackcircle wrote: A bit related... I'm having a bit of trouble pulling a report from Transunion (Equifax was fine). Equifax appears correct and appears to show ALL of my credit history for 20+ years. I see nothing that is omitted (except maybe a car lease from years ago if those are reported). My score score is high.

Is there a still a likelihood that TU will show something else? I'd rather not deal with TU if I can avoid it. I do want to ensure my credit history is accurate however.
Firstly, where are your requesting your credit file from? free report orgs?
Your credit bureau file contains two main core data groups. Identifiers and qualifiers. The IQ of sorts for your bureau file.
The identifiers are the data points that finds and matches the correct credit bureau file to the data inputs you filled out to request a copy of your bureau.
Some identifiers are ranked higher than others and may match your file to your inputs quicker.
For example your SIN number is the highest ranked identifier because it is unique (UID code) and no one else has it. While DOB and first and last names can be possibly matched with others. Other identifiers are variable like address and employment.
If you're having trouble getting your Trans Union file that means the system can't match a known credit file with the inputs you have supplied. Sometimes the system may ask addition questions like past addresses or current credit products to help identify you.
To help with identification you should always pull your report with your SIN number. If still can't get your report try requesting your file directly from Trans Union and don't use any of those free-credit report agencies/orgs.
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smartie wrote: Which FIs use closed accounts to gauge risk or credit worthy
I can confidently say all of them do.

But it's important to note, do not get confused with closed accounts as in relation to credit bureau scoring.
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spintheblackcircle wrote: I'm having a bit of trouble pulling a report from Transunion
The best place to get your full Transunion credit report is directly from Transunion, here. They call it an "online consumer disclosure," but it's your full credit report minus any credit scores. I think they let you get it up to once a month. It's the best way to make sure all the information they have is accurate, since Credit Karma only provides an abridged version of your report.
spintheblackcircle wrote: (Equifax was fine)
I'm curious, where did you get your Equifax report? They seem to make people jump through more hoops than Transunion does.
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mikeymike1 wrote: Firstly, where are your requesting your credit file from? free report orgs?
Your credit bureau file contains two main core data groups. Identifiers and qualifiers. The IQ of sorts for your bureau file.
The identifiers are the data points that finds and matches the correct credit bureau file to the data inputs you filled out to request a copy of your bureau.
Some identifiers are ranked higher than others and may match your file to your inputs quicker.
For example your SIN number is the highest ranked identifier because it is unique (UID code) and no one else has it. While DOB and first and last names can be possibly matched with others. Other identifiers are variable like address and employment.
If you're having trouble getting your Trans Union file that means the system can't match a known credit file with the inputs you have supplied. Sometimes the system may ask addition questions like past addresses or current credit products to help identify you.
To help with identification you should always pull your report with your SIN number. If still can't get your report try requesting your file directly from Trans Union and don't use any of those free-credit report agencies/orgs.
I tried via Credit Karma. Admittedly, this is a known issue for me and I had hoped it had resolved organically. TU apparently has my wrong birthday (and potentially address) that at the time this was realized was preventing me from opening an account at a FI (it wasn't a big deal and I didn't end up opening the account). This was a few years ago, and my frustration in trying to correct the matter multiple times still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I guess it still hasn't resolved. That's why I hoped I didn't necessarily have to deal with TU if it is unlikely that it will differ significantly from Equifax.

I will try signing up with TU and include my SIN if that is recommended as a mechanism to potentially verify my ID.

I rarely request credit products (last hard check was 4 years ago per the report), but I recently did and it went through without issue, hence why I was hoping things had resolved.
someweirdo wrote: The best place to get your full Transunion credit report is directly from Transunion, here. They call it an "online consumer disclosure," but it's your full credit report minus any credit scores. I think they let you get it up to once a month. It's the best way to make sure all the information they have is accurate, since Credit Karma only provides an abridged version of your report.



I'm curious, where did you get your Equifax report? They seem to make people jump through more hoops than Transunion does.
I have no problem paying for the report, I would just rather not have to deal with them directly (see above). I pulled directly from Equifax. No problem getting it (even though there is some personal information that is quite old and out of date).
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spintheblackcircle wrote: I tried via Credit Karma. Admittedly, this is a known issue for me and I had hoped it had resolved organically. TU apparently has my wrong birthday (and potentially address) that at the time this was realized was preventing me from opening an account at a FI (it wasn't a big deal and I didn't end up opening the account). This was a few years ago, and my frustration in trying to correct the matter multiple times still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I guess it still hasn't resolved. That's why I hoped I didn't necessarily have to deal with TU if it is unlikely that it will differ significantly from Equifax.

I will try signing up with TU and include my SIN if that is recommended as a mechanism to potentially verify my ID.

I rarely request credit products (last hard check was 4 years ago per the report), but I recently did and it went through without issue, hence why I was hoping things had resolved.
It's important to note that IF your correct inputted identifiers do NOT pull your credit file immediately then it's possible and probable that INCORRECT identifiers can and may have access to your file instead.
This can cause wrong credit tradelines and/or collection tradelines to be reported to your credit file. Once this occurs it does take a long time to correct.
Also, if you short form your first name try not to apply for your own bureau or any other credit using it (a known problem with south and east asians). This is a common known issue that can cause matching and identity problems. Don't use names you're not born with.

App fraud gets flagged that way
Pay close attention to pull-down data fields.
Last edited by mikeymike1 on Aug 21st, 2020 3:12 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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spintheblackcircle wrote: TU apparently has my wrong birthday (and potentially address) that at the time this was realized was preventing me from opening an account at a FI (it wasn't a big deal and I didn't end up opening the account). This was a few years ago, and my frustration in trying to correct the matter multiple times still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I guess it still hasn't resolved. That's why I hoped I didn't necessarily have to deal with TU if it is unlikely that it will differ significantly from Equifax.
Since you are listed in being in Toronto.
I suggest you obtain a copy of your consumer disclosure from TU.
Go through it and find every error.
Gather supporting documentation that will correct the errors and go to their Mississauga office to correct it.
The last page or so of the disclosure contains the forms required for correction.
Be forewarned that they may only correct a few items at a time and you will have to go back to the counter a few times to get things fixed up.
Especially if there are errors in dates. Their system is somewhat archaic. e.g. You will have to fix the oldest error before it will allow you to fix a newer error.
Once all that is done and your file is correct - online registration will work because it is based on a correct file and you are answering the questions to what they have on file.
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ROYinTO wrote: Since you are listed in being in Toronto.
I suggest you obtain a copy of your consumer disclosure from TU.
Go through it and find every error.
Gather supporting documentation that will correct the errors and go to their Mississauga office to correct it.
Trans Union does not have a walk-in office in Mississauga
They are located in Burlington (3115 Harvester Road)
and I believe they are currently operating on an appointment basis only. Can't just walk right in and expect service.
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mikeymike1 wrote: Trans Union does not have a walk-in office in Mississauga
They are located in Burlington (3115 Harvester Road)
Thanks for the correction.
I should have checked knowing that I am geographically challenged & rely on a GPS or a navigator.

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