Consumer complaint received 2022-11-19
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: FL
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Written notification about debt
Sub-issue: Didn't receive enough information to verify debt

Complaint:
Dear Equifax, I am writing in response to a failure to validate on multiple accounts, copy is enclosed. 
I sent XXXX XXXX and XXXX Account System ( XXXX  ) a letter through XXXX explaining that I do not believe I owe what they say I owe and, in accordance with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 USC 1692g ( Validating Debts ) : ( b ) If the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period described in subsection ( a ) that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, or that the consumer requests the name and address of the original creditor, the debt collector shall cease collection of the debt, or any disputed portion thereof, until the debt collector obtains verification of the debt or any copy of a judgment, or the name and address of the original creditor, and a copy of such verification or judgment, or name and address of the original creditor, is mailed to the consumer by the debt collector. 
I will attract a copy of the letter to this letter. 
I must remind you that in my previous letter I requested the following information : ( 1 ) the amount of the debt ; ( 2 ) the name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed ; ( 3 ) Provide a verification or copy of any judgment ( if applicable ) ; ( 4 ) Proof that you are licensed to collect debts in ( insert name of your state ) I also requested that if you have reported me to any credit reporting agency, that you inform them that I have placed this debt in dispute and to provide me with proof that you have done so. Furthermore, I asked that you immediately send a copy of that dispute letter to the company ( creditor ) that you say I owe money so they are also aware of my dispute with this debt. 
As of today, you have failed to respond to my requests! For your convenience, I have included a copy of my previous letter and a copy of the mail receipt showing that you received my letter on { insert date from mail receipt }. 
Since you have failed to respond I assume that you have been unable to validate the debt and therefore, I consider this matter closed. You may consider this letter your official notification that I do not intend to correspond with you on this matter again unless you comply with my requests, the FDCPA and the FCRA. 
I must remind you that any attempt to collect this debt without validating it, violates the FDCPA and that I am recording all phone calls and keeping all correspondence concerning this matter. Be advised that I will not hesitate to report violations of the law to my State Attorney General, the Federal Trade Commission and the XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

Signature here XXXX XXXX I have the response but no validations on the accounts, nothing was sent to me in the mail or email. 
XX/XX/XXXX : My request through CFPB : In accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, XXXX XXXX XXXX has violated my rights. 15 U.S.C 1681 section 602 A. States I have the right to privacy. 15 U.S.C 1681 Section 604 A Section 2 : It also states a consumer reporting agency can not furnish an account without my written instructions.FRONTIER Original creditor ( 2 accounts ... continue to open and close on each credit bureau, as well as the dates are not the same, continue to change, I have disputed this account multiple times. Spoke with XXXX XXXX, Equifax and XXXX. It is still on my account. ) Their responds : The debt ( s ) in question are for the balances owed on a XXXX bill for service provided through XX/XX/XXXX and unreturned equipment. The account was placed for collections on XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX has a balance of {$190.00} for service and XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX {$100.00} for unreturned equipment. An initial collection notice was mailed to you to the address provided. XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX did send notices to you prior to and after the account had reported to the credit bureau agencies. The original creditor typically sends XXXX bills prior to being placed in collections. We made several attempts to work with you to come up with an amicable agreement/arrangement for repayment. You refused to provide an updated address in XXXX so validation can be sent. The consumers permission to report to the credit bureaus is not required. Validation of debt ( s ) has been mailed today to the address provided in his complaint. 
( I received no validation ) Collection : Request and response with nothing sent to me as a validation, XX/XX/XXXX YOUR COMPLAINT In accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act : Account Name : XXXX XXXX, Account Number : XXXX has violated my rights ; I, XXXX XXXX, as a consumer, living man, and XXXX of the People mentioned in the Constitution for the United States of America, am aware of all my reserved rights, protected by the Constitution for the United States of America, all state constitutions, and by Congress under the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ). Pursuant to 15 U.S. Code 1681a ( b ), the term person means any individual, partnership, corporation, trust, estate, cooperative, association, government or governmental subdivision or agency, or other entity. Pursuant to FCRA/15 U.S. Code 1681s2 ( a ) ( 1 ) ( A ), a person shall not furnish any information relating to a consumer to any consumer reporting agency if the person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the information is inaccurate. Pursuant to FCRA/15 U.S. Code 1681s2 ( a ) ( 1 ) ( B ), A person shall not furnish information relating to a consumer to any consumer reporting agency if ( i ) the person has been notified by the consumer, at the address specified by the person for such notices, that specific information is inaccurate ; and ( ii ) the information is, in fact, inaccurate. Pursuant to FCRA Section 602 ( a ) /15 USC 1681 states that I have a right to privacy. Pursuant to FCRA Section 604 ( a ) /15 USC 1681b states that a consumer reporting agency can not furnish an account without my written instructions. Pursuant to Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( FDCPA ) Section 804/15 U.S. Code 1692b, any debt collector communicating with any person other than the consumer for the purpose of acquiring location information about the consumer shall ( 2 ) not state that such consumer owes any debt ; and ( 5 ) not use any language or symbol on any envelope or in the contents of any communication effected by the mails or telegram that indicates that the debt collector is in the debt collection business or that the communication relates to the collection of a debt. The FDCPA Section 803 ( 6 ) /15 U.S. Code 1692a defined debt collector/person, I do not give permission for any credit reporting agency nor have given written instruction for XXXX & XXXX and any associated accounts to furnish any alleged debt on my consumer reports, especially XXXX that is hearsay evidence, negative, adverse, and discriminatory, nor any of my personal information disclosed or my alleged involvement with the alleged debt by another person XXXX XXXX and all credit reporting agencies must adhere to my consumers right to privacy. Per 15 USC 1681a ( e ), The term investigative consumer report means a consumer report or portion thereof in which information on a consumers character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living is obtained through personal interviews with neighbors, friends, or associates of the consumer reported on or with others with whom he is acquainted or who may have knowledge concerning any such items of information. However, such information shall not include specific factual information on a consumers credit record obtained directly from a creditor of the consumer or from a consumer reporting agency when such information was obtained directly from a creditor of the consumer or from the consumer. All credit reporting agencies are mandated by federal law to verify consumer information by issuing an investigative consumer report that adheres to 15 USC 1681a ( e ). My wife has tried to resolve this but they said they will not send information to a third party which is strange because a " third party '' is trying to collect money from an account that is not mine. Please look in to this. Thank you XXXX. XXXX Acct # XXXX This response is in relation to CFPB Complaint ID XXXX submitted on behalf of XXXX XXXX XXXX We at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) take our consumer protection obligations very seriously and have dedicated significant resources to our compliance-related functions. I personally conducted a full file review and believe the following information will address the issues and concerns set forth in the complaint. The account in question is the result of emergency physicians ' services provided on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX Florida XXXX XXXX XXXX by the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. Prior to credit reporting, our office sent XXXX XXXX notification of the debt in an electronic communication. The notification was sent on on XX/XX/XXXX. In accordance with Regulation F, the account was monitored for a minimum of XXXX  days to allow for notice of deliverability issues with that email. No undeliverability notice was received to indicate an issue. On XX/XX/XXXX, our office received a notice from the credit bureaus the consumer was disputing the debt. In response to the dispute, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX conducted a reasonable investigation, obtaining verification of the debt in the process, and confirmed the accuracy of the information being credit reported. The supporting document was forwarded to the consumer on XX/XX/XXXX. The Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ) provides written instruction by which information can be credit reported. A review of the file found that XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX acted in compliance with the requirements imposed by Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( FDCPA ) and Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ). I hope my response has addressed the issues and concerns as set forth in the complaint. We will continue to note the account as disputed and thank you for the opportunity to respond to Complaint XXXX. Sincerely, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX. **This is a communication from a debt collector. This is an attempt to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose. 



I enclose copies of my requests to the collection agency, asking them to validate my debts, and the receipts showing that I sent these letter-certified signature requests. This debt is not mine and I was given no evidence of my obligation to pay this debt to this collection agency. 
The FCRA requires you to verify the validity of the item within XXXX days. If the validity can not be verified, you are obligated by law to remove the item. There is a clear case of unverified debt here, and I urge you to remove this item before I am forced to take legal action. 


Collection : Request and response with nothing sent to me as a validation, XX/XX/XXXX In accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, XXXX XXXX XXXX has violated my rights. 15 U.S.C 1681 section 602 A. States I have the right to privacy. 15 U.S.C 1681 Section 604 A Section 2 : It also states a consumer reporting agency can not furnish an account without my written instructions.FRONTIER Original creditor ( XXXX accounts ... continue to open and close on each credit bureau, as well as the dates are not the same, continue to change, I have disputed this account multiple times. Spoke with XXXX XXXX, Equifax and XXXX. It is still on my account. ) Their response : The debt ( XXXX ) in question are for the balances owed on a XXXX bill for service provided through XX/XX/XXXX and unreturned equipment. The account was placed for collections on XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX has a balance of {$190.00} for service and XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX {$100.00} for unreturned equipment. An initial collection notice was mailed to you to the address provided. XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX did send notices to you prior to and after the account had reported to the credit bureau agencies. The original creditor typically sends three bills prior to being placed in collections. We made several attempts to work with you to come up with an amicable agreement/arrangement for repayment. You refused to provide an updated address in XXXX so validation can be sent. The consumers permission to report to the credit bureaus is not required. Validation of debt ( s ) has been mailed today to the address provided int his complaint. 
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS This company stated that my account was adequately investigated but How is that possible? I never received anything in the mail nor any phone calls. I never gave this company any permission to send any of my information to any other company. They have XXXX account charges on my credit report. The account XXXX : The last report is inaccurate, all the bureaus have different comments, the last date is inaccurate, Account Status is inaccurate. On the second account, XXXX doesn't even acknowledge that its an actual account the last date is inaccurate, the last date is inaccurate. So I'm just a little confused right now on what's really going on. I just now these accounts are effecting my life and consumer report... 15 U.S.C. 1681 section 602 A : states That I have the right to privacy. 15 U.S.C. 1681 section 604 A section 2 : States A consumer report agency can not furnish an account without my permission. I have spoken to the credit bureaus and not XXXX of them furnished me with any statement showing the creditor 's account in my name. 
I UNDERSTAND THE COMPANYS RESPONSE TO MY COMPLAINT Yes ADDITIONAL COMMENTS So I believe this company has violated my rights in multiple ways. Correct??? According to the law 15 U.S.C. 1681 ( A ) ( 1 ) Any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure or damages of less than {$100.00} and not more than {$1000.00} I want XXXX XXXX dollars per violation or completely removed from all accounts within a timely manner. Thank you for your time. Have a wonderful day. 
THE COMPANY DID WHAT THEY SAID THEY WOULD DO WITH MY COMPLAINT No

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation