Thanks to Michael Lamm at Corporate Advisory Solutions for giving me a heads up about this issue…
Equifax has been telling lenders that about 12% of the credit scores it has been providing recently are inaccurate, likely a result of a coding error.
The issue affected individuals who received credit scores via Equifax’s platform between March 16 and April 6, according to a published report. About 9% of consumers experienced a change in their credit score of 10 points or less, about 3% experienced a change of between 11 points and 20 points, and less than 1% experienced a change of more than 20 points, according to the report.
Equifax said that the issue stemmed from a coding problem within a program that was in line to be replaced and that the problem may have resulted in a potential miscalculation of certain attributed used to determine consumers’ credit scores. The specific attributes that were affected were the number of inquiries in the past month and the age of the oldest tradeline, according to the report. Equifax said the issue was fixed by April 8. The credit reporting agency has notified lenders and resellers about the issue, but does not have plans to notify consumers, according to the report. Equifax said it will work with lenders to support any actions to address consumer concerns.
The timing of the disclosure related to issues with credit scores coincided with an announcement from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that reminded lenders about their responsibilities to provide specific reasons when an application for credit has been denied, even if the creditor is using “complex algorithms” to make its decision.
