Incorrect Equifax default hindering mortgage application

xmissanderson

Hi

I’m hoping someone can advise or there may be someone that has had the same issue as me recently and managed to get it resolved…

I have had a checkmyfile account for a while so I could keep up to date with my scores before I applied for a mortgage with my partner. 

We put the mortgage application through, and the lender our mortgage broker was planning to use uses Equifax for their credit reports. 

An incorrect default has been flagged Equifax in March/April 2020. I have all of the proof of the payments being made on Experian and Transunion. I have put a letter of complaint into Equifax as the lender has told me that this alone has caused the decline because the default has been registered within the last 3 years. 

I have explained to my mortgage broker that it is incorrect and that I’m currently battling to have it removed. I have sent all of the statements dating back to 2019 of every single payment that has been made and the mortgage broker is going to run the AIP again. 

Equifax are insisting that I should pay to create an account with them in order for them to investigate it. This doesn’t seem fair since it isn’t my mistake. 

Has anyone else found themselves in this situation? If so, how long did it take to resolve?

Thanks for any help you can give. 

K_S

xmissanderson said:

Hi

I’m hoping someone can advise or there may be someone that has had the same issue as me recently and managed to get it resolved…

I have had a checkmyfile account for a while so I could keep up to date with my scores before I applied for a mortgage with my partner. 

We put the mortgage application through, and the lender our mortgage broker was planning to use uses Equifax for their credit reports. 

An incorrect default has been flagged Equifax in March/April 2020. I have all of the proof of the payments being made on Experian and Transunion. I have put a letter of complaint into Equifax as the lender has told me that this alone has caused the decline because the default has been registered within the last 3 years. 

I have explained to my mortgage broker that it is incorrect and that I’m currently battling to have it removed. I have sent all of the statements dating back to 2019 of every single payment that has been made and the mortgage broker is going to run the AIP again. 

Equifax are insisting that I should pay to create an account with them in order for them to investigate it. This doesn’t seem fair since it isn’t my mistake. 

Has anyone else found themselves in this situation? If so, how long did it take to resolve?

Thanks for any help you can give. 

@xmissanderson I'll limit myself to the questions around the mortgage.

The sequence of events isn't entirely clear to me but did your broker not ask you for a copy of your credit report before making a recommendation? Are you limited to this one lender and do you already have an offer accepted?

It's not uncommon for clients to have differing Experian and Equifax reports, either due to errors or due to accounts only being reported to one of the two bureaus. In those scenarios, where the adverse info on one report is failing a DIP, my approach can sometimes be to try and use a lender that uses the cleaner report and doesn't explicitly ask about the specific adverse issue. This is just a very general statement, may or may not apply to your case. Plus, if you're limited to one lender that uses Equifax (for example only NatWest will lend what you need because of a high variable income component) then your options may be more limited.

Going by client experiences, rectifying errors on a credit report can take weeks if not months so if you have an offer accepted and need to proceed asap, I suggest you ask your broker to see if there is a an alternate solution. Hopefully they've got your CMF report to hand now.

ACG

As K_S says, did your broker not ask for your report upfront? 
Failing that, did you not tell them there was a default showing on equifax incorrectly? 

Speak to the company who registered the default and ask them to remove it from equifax. 

Ultimately you have 2 options:
1) Find a new lender or;
2) Wait until the issue has been resolved and the default removed. This can be resolved quickly or take months. It really depends on the details and the timescales the company involved has. 

It appears all of the stress and anxiety could have been avoided by just going to a lender who will accept the default or a lender who will not pick up on the default nor ask about it. 

md64

I’ve spent 2 years fixing my credit file ready for our mortgage. I’ve paid for all of my reports to get contact with the credit reference agencies… if you want equifax to remove it I’d pay the fee for their service, they sorted mine within 4 weeks but some can take months. Like others have said you may need to look at different lenders. 

stclair

md64 said:

I’ve spent 2 years fixing my credit file ready for our mortgage. I’ve paid for all of my reports to get contact with the credit reference agencies… if you want equifax to remove it I’d pay the fee for their service, they sorted mine within 4 weeks but some can take months. Like others have said you may need to look at different lenders. 

Could they not raise the dispute through Clearscore as they use Equifax data.

md64

stclair said:

md64 said:

I’ve spent 2 years fixing my credit file ready for our mortgage. I’ve paid for all of my reports to get contact with the credit reference agencies… if you want equifax to remove it I’d pay the fee for their service, they sorted mine within 4 weeks but some can take months. Like others have said you may need to look at different lenders. 

Could they not raise the dispute through Clearscore as they use Equifax data.

Not that I was told, if you want any corrections applied you need to go to that credit reference agency who’s reporting. 

ACG

You could always do it and then ask the company to reimburse you for the costs. 

jackjones01

md64 said:

stclair said:

md64 said:

I’ve spent 2 years fixing my credit file ready for our mortgage. I’ve paid for all of my reports to get contact with the credit reference agencies… if you want equifax to remove it I’d pay the fee for their service, they sorted mine within 4 weeks but some can take months. Like others have said you may need to look at different lenders. 

Could they not raise the dispute through Clearscore as they use Equifax data.

Not that I was told, if you want any corrections applied you need to go to that credit reference agency who’s reporting. 

You can raise it through clear score I have done previously no problem. 

DeeDeeDeeDeeDeeDee

hi, is there a template letter to request defaults to be removed from your report?

Fighter1986

You can create an Equifax account for free, obtain your statutory report via their online portal free, and raise a dispute via their query portal... free.