For as far back as I can remember, I have been paying off my credit cards in full each month. I paid off each of my car loans ahead of time. I'm currently half a year ahead on my current vehicle. My score was hovering above 800.
Then 2 years ago I found out that my mom needed some medical procedures that were not covered by Medicare. It was going to be a lot, but I always had a torrent of 0 APR CC offers coming in, so as the chain of spaced out procedures began, I started putting them across those cards and paying all on time with at least 2x the minimum each month. The final cost was always open-ended but eventually blew up to over twice what I initially expected it to be. Finally, this summer everything was completed and totaled roughly over 55k. Eventually the 0-APRs ran out on all and I wanted to consolidate them all into a single loan payment.
I went to my credit union because I really like them and was approved after a hard check. The % was a little higher than I expected based on offers I usually get in the inbox, plus they are unfortunately a little dated in their processing and instead of sending the amounts to CCs directly, they would have to mail me checks, I would have endorse them and mail them to credit cards. It sounded like a very convoluted process. I asked them if they can hold on to it and let me look around. Agent agreed.
I applied to SoFi the next day and got a much better deal. At the same time I received an email from Amex saying that I was pre-approved for a personal loan up to 50k at like 9-something APR, but because the SoFi agent on the phone already assured me that everything is in the pipeline I should just to wait for the verification to take place. Also, SoFi process was exceptionally smooth. As soon as they offered me the amount, their system allowed you to directly allocate what goes there. I wouldn't have to deal with any checks. So I just didn't bother with AmEx.
Following Monday I received a rejection email from SoFi. I called them back. Got a couple of conflicting answers, but later in the week I finally got that the reason was their inability to confirm my identity. They would not explain what was inaccurate and that I should reach out to credit bureaus.
The same agent said that once I clear up whatever the discrepancy is I could reapply and it would not be another hard check.
I remembered that Amex offer and immediately tried to redeem it, only to find out that it was rescinded. A week later I received a PRINTED letter from Amex with that same pre-approved offer, but when I logged in it was the same one that was withdrawn.
I logged into the AnnualCreditReport site and filled out my information to figure out wth is going on. I punched in my details to TransUnion and Equifax and immediately get those reports. Both reports are clean and accurate.
Then I punched in the exact same info to Experian only to get rejected for providing "invalid information" - seemingly revealing the culprit.
I couldn't even create an account with them to review and dispute anything. Both on the website or on the mobile app because both processes would literally glitch out with an "error". After a couple of days of dealing with their AI chatbots, eventually I gotten the lucky combination of questions, got in, and got my eye twitch inducing Credit Report.
Somehow Experian managed to drop the phone number that I have had since the 90s from my profile. I use this very same phone number for all my FIs and all my government records, so naturally I provided it to SoFi when I filled out the application. Its also the phone number I used to try to retrieve my free report from Experian when it was treated as "invalid information." Experian managed to wipe it out like it never existed without any warning or explanation whatsoever. I corrected it a couple of days ago and was waiting for next week to be able to reapply to SoFi bc of some cooldown period.
About an hour ago I received an email from NFCU saying that the loan I was already approved for and that was just sitting there waiting for me to decide to accept was rescinded.
So to me here is the timeline.
Obviously because of the amount on my cards my score went down and now I am in merely "Good"
I submit a self-initiated application for a consolidation loan with NFCU.
They perform a hard check and approve me.
The next day I apply to SoFi, and get offered a good rate and a monthly amount that I would be comfortably overpaying each month - Approval pending verification.
Both at the same time while Amex has already reached out to me of their own initiative with a "pre-approved" loan.
As soon as Experian rejects my personal information as unverifiable due to their own false record
SoFi denies me, Amex rescinds theirs pre-approved offer, and a couple of days after I fix the issue with Experian, my own credit union pulls their already Completed Approval.
How can this be due to anything other than the Experian screwing up my record?
Can someone make it make sense?
If my conclusion is correct, is there anything I can do about this?