Consumer complaint received 2023-10-17
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc.
State: CA
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Other personal consumer report
Issue: Improper use of your report
Sub-issue: Reporting company used your report improperly

Complaint:
Experian has released sealed information to third parties that legally have no rights to view it being that the Case is Sealed in California, that is a violation of State Law, federal, and the FCRA, Criminal Penalties Any officer or employee of an agency, who by virtue of his employment or official position, has possession of, or access to, agency records which contain individually identifiable information the disclosure of which is prohibited by this section or by rules or regulations established there under, and who knowing that disclosure of the specific material is so prohibited, willfully discloses the material in any manner to any person or agency not entitled to receive it, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than {$5000.00}. 5 U.S.C. 552a ( i ) ( 1 ). 

Any officer or employee of any agency who willfully maintains a system of records without meeting the notice requirements of subsection ( e ) ( 4 ) of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than {$5000.00}. 5 U.S.C. 552a ( i ) ( 2 ). 

Any person who knowingly and willfully requests or obtains any record concerning an individual from an agency under false pretenses shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than {$5000.00}. 5 U.S.C. 552a ( i ) ( 3 ). 

Comment : The Privacy Act allows for criminal penalties in limited circumstances. 

An agency official who improperly discloses records with individually identifiable information or who maintains records without proper notice, is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of up to {$5000.00}, if the official acts willfully. Similarly, any individual who knowingly and willfully obtains a record under false pretenses is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine up to {$5000.00}. 

Experian receives their data on Public Records from Lexis Nexus, After disputing the sealed record with XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX conducted an investigation informing the creditor to notify them whether the case they represented, or tried to collect on is a sealed case, sealed in California, the creditor refused to verify whether or not the case was sealed, and XXXX XXXX concluded the investigation that the case was sealed, and deemed unverifiable by the creditor, therefore the XXXX XXXX account was deleted from their system, and they sent me a letter stating they deleted the account, they also informed me they sent a letter to Experian to remove the account from their systems, but Experian has failed to do ao, after speaking with an Experian Representative XXXX, he stated in order for them to delete the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX account, they need the letter from XXXX  XXXX  stating that it was deleted from their system. So I have attached the letter for the CFPB To Issue to Experian Dispute Public Records Special Department for them to remove the account from my credit file.

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