Credit Report Error

and My
Ford Motor Credit Approval

Some car buying questions from Tanya in Austin, TX...
A credit report error and her Ford Motor Credit approval.

My scores up until November 22, 2009 were Experian 688, Equifax 580 and Transunion 626. A collection agency reported me to the credit bureau on November 16, which on November 22, is when it showed up and my credit scores went to Experian 612, Equifax 519 and Transunion score of 666.

I called the collection agency which said they made a mistake and will have it deleted. I don't know if it has been updated by the credit bureau yet, but today my score is Experian 612, Equifax 535 and Transunion score of 656. I ordered a car from Ford which is due in this week.

If the credit bureau has not updated before the car comes in this week, will I still be able to get the car financed with Ford Motor Credit and if so which score do you think they will use and what do you think my interest rate will be? Thank you for your help.

Answer:

Hi Tanya,

It's been awhile since I've worked with Ford Motor Credit, but one of the stores in my group happens to be a Ford dealer and from what I understand they are still very flexible. In my opinion (I've not only worked for Ford, but had two loans with them personally), one of three things will happen:

1) They may not even re-pull your credit if you were already approved and you take delivery within 30 days of your approval with them.

2) They do re-pull your credit and because of their flexibility, use your higher Transunion score.

3) Worst case scenario, they require that you prove the collection was a credit report error. This should be simple to do and will simply require that you get a letter from the collection agency stating such.

All in all, I wouldn't worry too much as this should be a non issue. I would recommend contacting the collection agency and making it very clear that you are buying a car and you want a letter stating that they made a mistake.

In addition, let them know that their credit report error may affect your approval and they'd better step it up and quickly get that collection removed from your credit.

As for your finance rate, I'm not real sure, because there are a lot of different variables involved and your credit score is a very minor one with Ford Motor Credit. Even with the credit report error, you could still qualify for whatever special rates they offer, 0%, 1.9%, 2.9%, etc...

Hope this helps. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to get back in touch with me...Justin

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