Equifax wiped out his credit score — and a little-known policy means he can't get it back
Go Public uncovers hole in consumer protection — no rules on how credit bureaus set or store credit scores
David Tregear says getting credit was never a problem, until the rejections started piling up. A car loan, credit cards and more — all denied.
When he checked his Equifax account, he saw his score had been wiped to zero — without warning or explanation.
"I was just stunned," said the Victoria man. "I was like, what do you mean I don't have credit? Are you kidding me?"
What followed was more than a year of frustration.
Tregear says he begged Equifax to fix the problem — sending documents, filing complaints, even turning to federal and provincial oversight bodies for help. Nothing worked.
Equifax refused to restore his credit score or explain why it dropped to zero, until Go Public started asking questions.
- Got a story you want investigated? Contact Rosa and the Go Public team at gopublic@cbc.ca
Only then did the company point to its little-known policy: If a credit file sits inactive, the consumer may be labelled "unscoreable" and their score reset to zero. Tregear says the last time he checked, before it disappeared, his score was around a more respectable 700.
He says it's true that he stopped using credit to avoid falling into debt, but never imagined he'd be penalized for it.
Equifax told him it's a two year cutoff, but won't say if that's true for everyone.
Canada's other major credit bureau, TransUnion, says it doesn't reset credit scores.
A credit score is a number that typically ranges from 300 to 900 and shows lenders how likely you are to repay debt.
Tregear says the consequences have been serious — especially since many lenders rely solely on Equifax.
"This has to be rectified somehow," he said.
Equifax told him he'll have to rebuild his credit score from scratch — a challenge, he says, since he can't get approved for credit without one.
Serious flaws
Go Public has since found a major flaw in consumer protection rules — that there are no laws or oversight on how credit scores are calculated, leaving credit bureaus to do what they want.
Consumer advocate Geoff White says that gives credit bureaus too much power, with no transparency.
"A credit score is a very important piece of information. It shouldn't be arbitrarily wiped out through lack of use of credit," said White, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, a non-profit that advocates for consumer rights.
"The customer is out of luck," he says. "This shows there's a hole in Canada's consumer protection system when it comes to credit."
Equifax says its website is clear about how scores are calculated — citing factors like payment history, available credit and public records. But it also says having different scores from Equifax and TransUnion is "completely normal," because each bureau uses "multiple scoring algorithms," and that "there are some differences in the calculations."
Equifax refused to answer Go Public's specific questions about Tregear's case, how it justifies deleting a consumer's long-standing credit score due to inactivity, or how that policy affects Canadians.
Instead, it sent a general statement partly saying it takes "consumer concerns very seriously" and "prides itself on being a trusted steward of personal data" and is "committed to maintaining the accuracy of all credit data… in compliance with applicable legislation."
Tregear says the reset has left him stuck — unable to get credit or buy a home — because many lenders only check Equifax. He says every time he opened a complaint, Equifax closed it without resolving anything.
"They've never reached out to me," he said. "I've always had to call in and with no success. I started feeling defeated."
Equifax's website mentions the policy, saying: "Sometimes there's not enough information in your credit file to provide a credit score… This is not an indicator of bad credit history."
But White, and other credit experts, tell Go Public that's just not the case.
"A zero credit score means you're starting from scratch," he said. "Credit scores influence not only the decision to lend or not lend… it affects your ability to get a good interest rate on your mortgage."
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) also flags the issue on its website: "It's impossible to know exactly how much your credit score will change based on the actions you take. Credit bureaus and lenders don't share the actual formulas it uses to calculate credit scores."
Go Public asked Equifax about transparency concerns. It didn't respond.
Bureaucratic maze
Tregear says trying to get help felt like being stuck in a bureaucratic maze.
He's written letters, made countless phone calls, and even filed complaints with both provincial and federal regulators — but got no help.
"Everybody was just referring me back to somebody else or referring back to the same person that referred me to them," Tregear said.
He tried the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, which referred him to the FCAC, which said it doesn't handle complaints about credit bureaus.
Then he was sent to Consumer Protection B.C., which said it was outside their mandate, and he should contact the privacy commissioner — but it wasn't clear whether that meant the federal or provincial office.
"It's been crazy," Tregear said.
White says when things go wrong — like in Tregear's case — the complaints process can be "tortuous."
He says Tregear's case shows the maze consumers face with no clear path forward.
"It tells me there's a lack of common-sense rules," said White. "This is a big problem."
He says Ottawa can — and should — step in and create consistent national standards by regulating credit bureaus under the Bank Act, rather than leaving oversight to provinces with a patchwork of regulations.
While banks fall under federal regulation, credit bureaus are overseen by provincial agencies — and rules can vary depending on where you live.
In general, provinces make sure credit reports follow basic rules like getting consent before someone accesses your report, addressing false information and overseeing privacy like how personal data is collected, used and shared.
But credit scores are a different story. No government agency regulates how they're calculated — or whether they're fair. Credit bureaus, which are private companies, make their own rules.
"Credit reporting… needs an overhaul and we need clear federal rules that allow for accountability and more transparency in terms of how this process works and how life-affecting decisions are made," said White.
Go Public asked Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne if he plans to step in — but got no response. The ministry would only say credit bureaus aren't under federal control.
'Punished for living debt-free'
Equifax says it is already "a highly regulated business… governed by both applicable credit reporting and privacy laws in Canada. To protect the integrity of our processes, procedures and to ensure we comply with applicable law, we do not allow for public comment on consumer inquiries."
After Go Public brought Tregear's case to their attention, two B.C. agencies — Consumer Protection B.C. and the provincial privacy commissioner — reached out to him offering to investigate.
He'd contacted the wrong privacy office — the federal one — by mistake, and Consumer Protection B.C. had wrongly turned him away. That agency now admits it "overlooked" some jurisdictional issues and says it's reviewing its processes to make sure it doesn't happen again.
But Tregear says he doubts he'll get the help he needs — especially with Equifax's little-known policy still in place.
"I'm being punished for living debt-free," he said.
Submit your story ideas
Go Public is an investigative news segment on CBC-TV, radio and the web.
We tell your stories, shed light on wrongdoing and hold the powers that be accountable.
If you have a story in the public interest, or if you're an insider with information, contact gopublic@cbc.ca with your name, contact information and a brief summary. All emails are confidential until you decide to Go Public.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
