Consumer complaint received 2021-08-23
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: DC
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:
To date I have mailed Equifax, XXXX and XXXX dispute letters listing a number of fraudulent accounts I am not aware of and that should be considered inaccurate accounts that they are listing on my credit report. I provided multiple police reports from my local department, an FTC affidavit, Identity Theft Affidavits and enclosed my proof of identity beginning in XX/XX/XXXX. I have asked them to send me copies of the documents that they have in their files that they used to verify the accuracy of these fraudulent accounts. 

Pursuant to section 605B of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the bureaus have 4 business days to block this information and send the required notifications to all furnishers of this information.

Section 609 of the FCRA identified as 15 U.S.C. 1681g gives me, a consumer, the right to ask for copies of the documents that they have in their files that they used to verify the accuracy of these fraudulent accounts.. It clearly states, Every consumer reporting agency shall, upon request, and subject to 610 ( a ) ( 1 ) [ 1681h ], clearly and accurately disclose to the consumer all information in the consumers file at the time of the request This section of the FCRA is saying that if a consumer asks the correct way, in writing, and properly identify themselves, the 3 bureaus are required to disclose to the consumer exactly what documents are stored within their computer base. 

Their response to all of my dispute letters basically parrot what the information provider tells them, all items identified in your complaint have previously been verified as accurate by the data furnisher They also shift the burden back to me by stating that if I want any documents that I should contact the information provider and request it from them. They are not re-investigating anything. They are simply taking the word of the information provider and admitting that they did not and can not verify the accuracy of the disputed item themselves. 

Verification is the focal point of the dispute process. Verification is defined in the terms section of the FCRA. It refers to an account being established in a credit file based on the consumer 's application for the credit or insurance, which is used to determine that the consumer meets the specific criteria bearing on credit worthiness or insurability of the credit or insurance grantor. 

The CFPB must be aware that the Courts have warned credit reporting agencies numerous times that it their reinvestigation obligation in verifying a disputed account requires more than parroting the original sources response. 
If they dont have any documents in their files to prove that they verified the accuracy of the disputed account ( s ) then they obviously did not properly verify the account and can not verify the account as per the terms of Section 611 ( 5 ) ( A ) of the FCRA which states that they MUST delete the unverified disputed account from the consumers credit file if it can not be verified. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX, defines Verification as, Confirmation of correctness, truth or authenticity, by affidavit, oath, or deposition. Affidavit of truth of a matter stated and object of verification is to assure good faith in averments or statements of a party. What this means is that the credit bureau must be willing and able to produce an authenticated document that proves the account ( s ) in dispute belong to me and the information being reported is accurate.

Secondly, to add insult to injury, they removed one account that was recently reinserted 4 months later without notification. As I mentioned earlier, they told me to go and contact the information provider myself and dispute the accounts with them. As I am sure that you are well aware, current Federal case law states that, Consumer Reporting Agencies bear grave responsibilities to ensure the accuracy of the accounts they report on and their responsibility must consist of something more than merely parroting information received from other sources The Courts have also ordered that a Reinvestigation that merely shifts the burden back to the consumer and the credit grantor can not fulfill the obligations imposed by 1681 ( a ) ( 4 ) of the FCRA.

Credit Bureaus are For Profit corporations. They must be held responsible for what they publish and sell to credit grantors. The Courts have ruled that they are responsible for verifying the accuracy not me. By publishing unverified inaccurate items on my credit report and then selling that information to 3rd parties they are damaging my reputation and credit worthiness. On top of that, they are breaking the law and the CFPB who is supposed to regulate and enforce the FCRA is letting them get away with it. 

A consumer shouldnt have to spend 8 months to a year or more to get inaccurate unverified information removed from his/her credit file. Credit Bureaus should be made to comply with Section 611 ( a ) ( 5 ) ( A ) ( i ). Refusing to comply after sending them 5 letters shows their willful disregard to comply and they should be dealt with accordingly by the CFPB.

My question to you is this. Can I count on the CFPB to review the dispute letters that I mailed the credit bureau as well as the responses that I received from them and then make a ruling based on the terms of the FCRA? Or is the CFPB going to do nothing and force me to go to the time and expense of filing a lawsuit that asks the Court to order the credit bureau to comply with the terms of the FCRA? Your response would be greatly appreciated. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation