Consumer complaint received 2019-06-19
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: CA
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:
In XX/XX/XXXX I noticed a new collection account listed on my credit report under a generic collection agency, stating that I owed a {$360.00} debt that was delinquent since XX/XX/XXXX. I first called this agency, and did not get a satisfactory response regarding this account, specifically who they were collecting for and why had I not received any bills or requests for payments after more than a year after an account was delinquent. I then disputed this account with Equifax, and XXXX. The two agencies who reported the collection. XXXX notified me that the collection agency was collecting on behalf of XXXX XXXX, a company who I have been an ongoing customer of for many years, and I called them and resolved the issue. XXXX updated their records to the correct reflection that identified the original creditor as sprint and reflected that I paid the debt in full and that the dispute was resolved. 
Equifax, to this day has not resolved this dispute. I have asked them to update and correct this information on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX ; and most recently XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. They continue to report that I am actively disputing the account despite the fact that my initial dispute led them to correctly report the original creditor, and to reflect that the amount is paid in full. Each time I asked them to correct this information, they initiated it as a new dispute, rather than resolving the accurate reflection that the account is paid, closed and resolved, and is no longer a disputed account. Instead they maintain and perpetuate misleading comments attached to the account " Consumer disputes this account information '', when in reality I disputed the inaccurate, incomplete reporting of the account in XX/XX/XXXX. 
This issue has directly caused me to be denied a Mortgage loan to purchase a home, which I was otherwise approved for. The lender directly told me that the credit report reflecting accounts in dispute was the reason for not being able to finance my loan. On XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke with a representative from Equifax directly to clarify the status of this account, that the updated information identifying the creditor as XXXX allowed me to resolve the account and to please remove the comments which incorrectly indicated that I continued to dispute information. I was kept on the phone on hold while the representative assured me he was removing the comment information, and ultimately provided me with a confirmation number # XXXX. I was told that my credit report would reflect the updated information in 48hrs, and that I could have the lender re-request my credit report after that time.I extended a credit freeze lift on my report until XX/XX/XXXX to allow for the information to be corrected. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I retrieved my credit report online, after being alerted by my potential lender that there was no change in the status of the report and that the dispute language remained on my account and was further " updated '' to be current as of XX/XX/XXXX. I once again called the Equifax dispute department and was kept on the phone 45 minutes while a second representative told me that there was NO INFORMATION associated with the confirmation number that I was given XX/XX/XXXX, other than a direction to the confirmation from my original dispute in XX/XX/XXXX. 
This representative whom identified herself as XXXX, preceded to assure me while placing me on multiple holds that she was removing comments indicating that the XXXX collections account was in perpetual dispute. She also claimed to be removing similar comments from my XXXX   student loan account, which I disputed as inaccurate after my credit report incorrectly reported that I was 90 days late when the account was in deferment. They updated the information to correctly reflect that there was no 90 day delinquency and that the account is in deferment, but incorrectly continues to report in the comments section that I dispute the information on the account. After this phone call I was given confirmation # XXXX, associated with removing the perpetual dispute comments with the XXXX account, and reference # XXXX associated with removing perpetual dispute comments from my XXXX  student loan account, and a XXXX account for which I have no record of disputing. I directly asked XXXX who was responsible to ultimately ensure that my credit report reflected accurate information, and that once disputes were updated to reflect correct information that it would be considered resolved. She indicated to me that once an account has been disputed by the consumer that the account will have comments reflecting any dispute, even when the dispute results in updating and correcting information, such that the consumer no longer disputes the information. XXXX indicated to me that if the report did not reflect that she had removed the comments within 48hrs,  that my only remedy was to keep calling the dispute department and that a supervisor would eventually make sure the report was correct. 
Three years ago to this month XX/XX/XXXX, I requested that Equifax correct the spelling of my middle name on their file, and mailed in a copy of my driver 's license and Social Security card as requested, and to this day, three years later it remains misspelled on my Equifax report. That is how much Equifax cares about the accuracy of the information they report. The confirmation number for that request made XX/XX/XXXX is # XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation