Consumer complaint received 2021-03-17
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc.
State: MA
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:
I am currently trying to get a mortgage. In XXXX of XXXX, I checked my credit reports and my credit reports from Experian and XX/XX/XXXXshowed that I had a collection under my name for a debt that I did not owe. 

According to my credit report, I owed the original creditor " XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX '' a debt of {$450.00} dollars, created in XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX sold the debt to a collection agency, XXXX XXXX, in XX/XX/XXXX. 

Prior to me checking my credit report, neither the original creditor nor the collection agency sent me any communications informing me that I owed a debt. 

Once I found out about the collection on my credit report, I contacted the credit agencies to dispute the collection. I filed an online dispute with XXXX  on XX/XX/XXXX, and I reached out to Experian in early XXXX. I did not, however, receive any updates to my dispute from either XXXX  or Experian. 

In an effort to follow up, I reached out to the original creditor, XXXX XXXX XXXX, on XX/XX/XXXX. They told me that they would have to check their databases to determine whether the original debt was mine. I did not receive any follow-up from XXXX XXXX XXXX, so on XX/XX/XXXX, I called XXXX XXXX XXXX again. On the XX/XX/XXXX call, XXXX XXXX XXXX confirmed that the birthdate and the passport number associated with the debt/collection do not match with mine. XXXX XXXX XXXX told me to contact XXXX XXXX with my birtdate and passport number to clear the debt. 

After confirming that the debt was not mine, I reached out to the collections agency, XXXX XXXX, on the same day XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX. I informed them that the debt was not mine, and they requested that I send a copy of my passport over email, which I did on the same day ( attached to this complaint ). They did not respond to my XX/XX/XXXX email. On XXXX XXXX, I sent a follow-up inquiry ( attached to this complaint ). They did not respond to my XX/XX/XXXX email. 

I called XXXX XXXX again on XX/XX/XXXX. A XXXX XXXX agent told me that they had investigated my debt and contacted the credit report agencies XXXX XXXX, Experian, and XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX to remove the collection from my credit reports. They provided me with a reference number. 

I continued checking my credit report, and by XX/XX/XXXX, my Experian and XXXX  credit reports still reflected the erroneous collection. I called XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX to inquire about my dispute ( which is still listed as pending on the XXXX website ). The XXXX  representative told me that my dispute was resolved on XX/XX/XXXX. This was the first time I learned of this information. I never received any email or correspondence telling me this. In fact, at the date of this complaint, the XXXX website still lists my first dispute as pending. The XXXX  representative told me that XX/XX/XXXX had contacted XXXX  XXXX XXXX, and that XXXX  XXXX XXXX had confirmed that the debt was mine. The XXXX agent told me that the dispute was considered resolved, refused to send me a report of the investigation, and that I would have to open another dispute to remove the collection from my account. 

I also called Experian on XX/XX/XXXX. The Experian representative told me that my dispute was still under investigation, and that they had not received any communications from XXXX XXXX or XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted XXXX XXXX XXXX to ask for a letter confirming that I did not owe a debt and emailed them all the information again ( attached ). On XX/XX/XXXX, I called again and XXXX XXXX XXXX informed me that it had contacted XXXX XXXX and would not issue a letter until XXXX XXXX finished investigating my inquiry as part of their internal procedure. XXXX XXXX XXXX told me that it had received no communications from XXXX XXXX since my XX/XX/XXXX inquiry. Soon afterwards, XXXX XXXX called my personal phone number seeking to collect on the improperly assigned debt ( despite the fact that XXXX XXXX confirmed on XX/XX/XXXX that the debt was not mine ). When I asked about my XX/XX/XXXX inquiry, the XXXX XXXX XXXX told me that XXXX XXXX XXXX had not received any communications from XXXX  XXXX XXXX. 

It has been over 3 months, and despite multiple attempts to resolve this issue with XXXX, Experian, XXXX XXXX XXXX, and XXXX XXXX, my credit report still reflects a collection for a debt that is not mine.

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 non-monetary relief