Consumer complaint received 2023-07-21
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc.
State: SC
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:
On XX/XX/2023, I received a notification from Experian Reporting Credit that XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) verified a dispute submitted to the credit reporting agency. XXXX and Experian has violated FCRA and FDCPA regulations by verifying the account as accurate when it is clearly false information as well as parking an account that clearly has not been properly validated or verified ( See attached files ) Parking a new collection tradeline for XXXX is considered continued collection activity. I am submitting this complaint due to precedence set by the FTC in the XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX ( " XXXX '' ) settlement case for FCRA and FDCPA violations for illegally parking an old debt on my credit report : XXXX. I am in the middle of a mortgage closing process and XXXX is suddenly using this tradeline as leverage to intimidate me to pay the outstanding balance. Parking this account will result in sub-prime rates and loan terms. ( FTC/FDCPA violation ) XXXX. As part of my legal claim for a lawsuit against XXXX and Experian, I will be using the claim that XXXX is retaliating against me by adding a new negative tradeline to my credit reporting. 
XXXX. I will claim that XXXX parked the account on my credit reports with malicious intent to cause financial harm to my credit due to : XXXX ) The current mortgage loan approval. Why would XXXX choose now to submit a negative reporting ( collection account ) XXXX years after the open date in the tradeline for any reason other than malintent? 
XXXX. XXXX nor Experian has never legally validated this account or the amount based on the attached documents. 
XXXX. XXXX reported a balance of {$1200.00}, a balance which has never been submitted to me or validated by XXXX. 

The Federal Trade Commission ( " FTC '' ) recently announced that a debt collector will pay {$24.00} million to settle an agency investigation into the unlawful practice of debt parking. The civil penalty will be paid by XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX ( " XXXX '' ), a debt collection company that engaged in unlawfully reporting debts to consumer credit reporting services without first investigating the debts, attempting to collect the debts or even contacting the debtors. 
The owners of XXXX are also being punished personally. 
In a recent settlement case with XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, the FTC has used the case to establish the general principle that debt parking is unlawful. As the FTC statement says, debt parking is now to be deemed an other prohibited practice under federal law which can subject violators to " ... law enforcement action for violations of the FTC Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. '' Under various consumer protection statutes, reporting parked debts to credit reporting services is unlawful. In the investigation, the FTC charged XXXX with many legal violations for their debt parking practices. 

The FTC charged XXXX with violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( " FDCPA '' ) which makes it unlawful for a debt collector to falsely represent the character, amount, and/or legal status of consumer debts. The FDCPA also punishes debt XXXXollectors who report debts to reporting services if the debt collector knows or has reason to suspect the debt may be disputed. The FDCPA prohibits using any sort of false or deceptive means to collect a debt. According to the FTC, debt parking practices are deemed a form of false or deceptive means used to collect debts. Such practices are deemed particularly false and deceptive when the debt collector fails to communicate with the consumer before making the report. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) also violated this provision of the FDCPA. Finally, the FDCPA requires that debt collectors provide various notices to consumers. XXXX has failed to provide such notices, yet another violation of the FDCPA. 

The FCRA requires that debt collectors conduct a reasonable investigation if debts are disputed and must report the results of those investigations prior to reporting debts to credit services. XXXX and Experian violated the FCRA by failing to conduct any sort of true investigation and CCS by failing to communicate with the alleged debtor. 

Per the FTC, the debt parking tactics employed by debt collectors violate various aspects of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which lays out how debt collectors should engage with debtors, and the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which spells out how credit reporting agencies and those who furnish information to them should operate. 
The legal violations the FTC cites against parking a debt include : False representations, or representations that lack substance. 
Not providing validation notices to consumers giving them the information they need to dispute a debt. 
Providing information to credit reporting agencies that they knew, or had reason to believe, was not accurate. 
A failure to conduct reasonable investigations of consumer disputes of the debt. 
Not communicating the findings of investigations to consumers Re-aging a debt is also a violation of the FDCPA and FCRA and is punishable in a court of law. 

When a debt buyer parks an old debt on your credit report or re-ages an account, it is a violation of the FCRA. 
The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ) requires consumer reporting agencies ( CRAs ), also called credit bureaus, to maintain an accurate file of your credit information. XXXX is trying to get around this law by reporting an old debt as newer than it really is. But by lying about the age of the account is or the date of any delinquency, XXXX has violated the FCRA. XXXX did not alert me that they've reported an old debt to the CRAs. Because the FCRA requires debt buyers to notify you when they report negative information to a CRA, this practice violates the FCRA.

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