After a declared disaster, or when hardship leads to a formal deferment or forbearance, a lender or servicer may pause or reduce your payments. That relief is only useful if your credit file matches it. Sometimes it may not. The sources reviewed for this piece do not say how a deferred payment should be reported, so the safe move is to look at the reports yourself.
Why late marks can show up during relief
Credit files are built from monthly data sent in by lenders, loan servicers, and collectors. The CFPB calls the companies that send this data furnishers. If a furnisher does not report a relief arrangement correctly, an account you were allowed to pause could appear as late. Common errors the CFPB lists include accounts reported as late when they were not, closed accounts reported as open, and the same debt listed more than once.
There is some evidence that disaster flags were applied unevenly in the past. A 2018 CFPB report on natural disaster reporting looked at Hurricane Harvey. It found that fewer than 40 percent of consumers in the disaster zone had the natural disaster code, known as AW, on their credit reports. Only 16 percent of mortgage servicers used the code, though they represented 58 percent of Houston-area market share. Among credit card issuers, 5.7 percent used it, representing 35.4 percent of that market share.
Advocacy groups cited that report in a 2019 joint letter urging the credit bureaus to help affected consumers. That is one storm and one review, so treat it as a warning and not a rule. The sources do not explain what the AW code does in practice, or how scoring models treat it. Do not assume you are protected just because you arranged relief or live in a declared disaster area.
How to inspect your credit reports
Start with all three nationwide bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The CFPB says you can check your reports weekly for free at AnnualCreditReport.com. Pull all three. Each bureau keeps its own file, so reading only one can leave you with an incomplete picture.
Find every account covered by your deferment or forbearance. Check whether it shows as thirty, sixty, or ninety days late. Then check the dates. The CFPB's guidance on common credit report errors points to the date opened, the date of last payment, and the date of first delinquency. A wrong date of first delinquency can make a late mark look more recent than it is.
Do not stop at the past-due column. Read the whole report from top to bottom. Look for closed accounts still listed as open, wrong balances, and duplicate entries. Fixing them in one round saves time.
Cross-check with your servicer and your statements
A dispute is only as strong as your paperwork. Gather your statements from before, during, and after the disaster or deferment. For mortgages, the CFPB's page on managing your money during forbearance advises checking each monthly statement for errors. It also says to confirm that escrow payments for property taxes and insurance are being made.
Then call your servicer. Ask how the forbearance or deferment is being reported to the bureaus. Ask the servicer to confirm the date of last payment and the date of first delinquency on the account. Write down the date of each call, the representative's name, and what was said.
Keep every approval letter and digital notice. Save your written request, the servicer's reply, payment confirmations, and any hardship correspondence. Together they show you were following an agreed arrangement and not simply skipping payments.
- Statements from before, during, and after the relief period
- The servicer's written approval of your deferment or forbearance
- Your call log with dates and names
How to dispute an error
You have the right to dispute errors in your file. According to the CFPB, fixing an error generally means contacting both the credit reporting company and the furnisher that supplied the information.
Put the dispute in writing. Say what is wrong and why. Include the account number and a copy of the report page with the disputed items marked. Send copies of your supporting documents and keep the originals. The CFPB notes that certified mail with a return receipt creates a record that your dispute was received. It also offers sample letters for both bureaus and furnishers.
If you suspect identity theft is behind the error, the CFPB says to report it at IdentityTheft.gov. The sources do not say how long an investigation takes. They also do not say what a bureau must do when it finishes, or what to do if your dispute is rejected. If that happens, a housing counselor or consumer rights attorney may be able to help.
Skip the paid fixers and check the dates
People with credit problems after a crisis can attract credit repair companies. In 2016 the CFPB sued one such company, alleging illegal advance fees and misrepresented services. The CFPB said consumers have a right to a free report and can dispute inaccurate information themselves.
Most of the disaster reporting material cited here dates from 2016 to 2019. The sources do not cover the rules that apply now. Check the current CFPB pages before you rely on any of it.
This guide is for education only. It is not legal, financial, or tax advice. If an error threatens a mortgage or your housing, consider a HUD-approved housing counselor or a licensed consumer rights attorney.
Please seek a professional. This article is general information, not financial, tax or insurance advice. Please seek a licensed financial, tax or insurance professional about your own situation.
