Consumer complaint received 2020-02-24
Company: TRANSUNION INTERMEDIATE HOLDINGS, INC.
State: NJ
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Their investigation did not fix an error on your report

Complaint:
Transunion will not remove a fraudulent account from a collections agency, XXXX XXXX XXXX, on my credit report. I first noticed the inaccurate account when applying for a mortgage. The account in question was never added to my XXXX   report has been removed from XXXX  without any issue. I have filed 3 disputes with Transunion and have been unable to make any progress in removing the account from my credit report. I will attach the original credit report that was run that included the XXXX  report free of this information, confirmation from XXXX  that the account has been removed from my credit report, and all of the notifications from Transunion that the account was verified. 
Timeline of events : XX/XX/XXXX - Mortgage lender ran credit check and informed me of the fraudulent account that was on my Transunion and XXXX  credit report. 
XX/XX/XXXX - called XXXX XXXX XXXX and learned that my social security number was linked to an account with someone elses name. No additional information regarding the account was able to be provided to me, as the account does not belong to me. I was advised to dispute the details with the credit bureaus and when the name on the account did not match my own it would be removed from my credit report. I was informed they were not able to remove my social security number from the account. 
XX/XX/XXXX - filed dispute with XXXX  and Transunion to remove records XX/XX/XXXX - Confirmation from XXXX  mailed that the account was successfully removed from my credit report. 
XX/XX/XXXX - Transunion mailed notification that the account information was verified. 
XX/XX/XXXX - Received determination that Transunion has verified the fraudulent account and the information will remain on my credit report. 
XX/XX/XXXX - Discovered that Transunion had added the incorrect information ( name / address ) from the fraudulent collections account to my credit report. I filed a dispute and was successfully able to remove the inaccurate name and address from my Transunion credit report. 
XX/XX/XXXX - Filed a new dispute with Transunion to remove fraudulent XXXX XXXX XXXX account from my credit report, attempted to provide clarity around the situation and provided details that the name on the account is not mine, the address listed on the account is also an address that I have never lived at. 
XX/XX/XXXX - Transunion mailed notification that the fraudulent account had again been verified and would remain on my credit report. 
XX/XX/XXXX - Received notification that the fraudulent account had been verified. 
XX/XX/XXXX - Contacted XXXX XXXX XXXX, again requesting that my social security number be removed from the account. I was informed that disputing through the credit bureau 's was the only possible resolution. I was given the name and phone number of a direct contact at XXXX who would confirm with Transunion that the name on the account is not mine. I was again advised that they do not have the power to remove my social security number from the account. 
XX/XX/XXXX - Requested to speak with multiple supervisors. I confirmed that only my legal name and my correct addresses were being used to verify my credit information. Opened another dispute with Transunion to remove the XXXX XXXX XXXX account from my credit report, providing a direct contact phone number for XXXX XXXX XXXX representative and requesting they call directly to confirm the account is not in my name. 
XX/XX/XXXX - Transunion sent notification that the fraudulent account had again been verified and the information would remain on my credit report. 
XX/XX/XXXX - Received notification that the fraudulent account was again verified. 
XX/XX/XXXX - Reached out to Transunion again to gain understanding on how this could have happened. I was informed that Transunion only runs a social security number verification through the computer, and they do not directly call collections agencies to verify information - despite being requested to provide a contact phone number previously. A supervisor tried to call the collections agency for me, but it was closed for the weekend. They advised they would try again on Monday XX/XX/XXXX and would get back to me with the results. 
XX/XX/XXXX - Transunion informed me that XXXX XXXX XXXX required my authorization to release my account information. I advised Transunion that since the XXXX XXXX XXXX account was not in my name I could not provide authorization for an account that is not mine. I was told there was nothing further they could do and would need to open another dispute.I have lost faith in the dispute process at Transunion. I believe they either do not understand the situation, despite multiple calls and disputes, or do not care to rectify the error on their part. All I want is for this inaccurate information to be removed from my credit. 
XX/XX/XXXX - Called XXXX XXXX XXXX and they informed me my social security number could not be removed from the account without the original clients authorization to do so. They again reiterated that a dispute should cross check both my name and social security number and they could not understand why this account would be removed by two reporting bureaus but Transunion would not remove the fraudulent information. They advised again that a dispute was my best course of action, they also agreed that a federal complaint was warranted at this point. 
XX/XX/XXXX - filing complaint with CFPB

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation