Consumer complaint received 2017-09-29
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: CO
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:
My credit reports from XXXX, XXXX and Equifax all show an attempt by XXXX XXXX XXXX to collect close to {$4000.00} that I do not owe. They claim that I owe the money for damages done to an apartment in which I lived in 2012. I have been disputing this debt with all three credit reporting agencies for some time ( since I first realized it was on my credit ). It is still on every single report, and is currently preventing me from renting an apartment in which to live. I have attached a letter from an apartment complex that I applied to the day before yesterday that states that it is this specific debt on my credit report that is preventing them from allowing me to lease an apartment in their community. 

I contacted XXXX XXXX XXXX today to dispute the debt and ask them to remove it from my report. They were extremely rude, refused to offer any evidence in favor of their case, and showed no willingness to get to the bottom of my complaint, or to even remove the debt from my credit report temporarily until my complaint could be resolved. They went so far as to say that I needed to prove that I did n't owe the money in the first place. I 'm not sure how to do this, since proving a negative is a logical impossibility. Plus, asking me to, in essence, prove my innocence flies in the face of one of the most fundamental notions on which our country was founded, namely the notion that we are innocent until proven guilty. 

The fact that they offer no evidence whatsoever that I owe the money is very disturbing, since this item on my credit has had, and is still having, very negative repercussions for my life. In addition, the notion that anyone with my social security number could invent a debt and then proceed to report the debt as unpaid to one of the credit reporting agencies, thereby damaging my credit, my potential job opportunities, and my living situation is scary to say the least. It seems to me to be a breach of the credit reporting agencies ' fiduciary duty to consumers to report debts as owed with no proof other than the word of the entity claiming to be owed. 

In essence, XXXX XXXX XXXX is committing extortion, and all three credit reporting agencies are knowingly complicit. XXXX XXXX XXXX is attempting to force me, by actively damaging my credit, to pay them thousands of dollars before they will remove a negative item from my credit. An item for which they have no proof that I actually owe, other than that they say I owe it. When I contacted the credit reporting agencies directly to complain that I do not owe the debt, their response was that I should pay it, and then they would remove it from my credit. 

Moreover, none of the dispute investigations that the credit reporting agencies say they carried out can have been carried out in good faith or with due dilligance, since any thorough investigation would demand that XXXX XXXX XXXX provide proof of the debt beyond a letter claiming that I owe the money. Adequate proof that I owe the money would consist of, at minimum, documentation of the debt, including, but not limited to, pictures of the damage to the apartment that they claim I damaged, and invoices detailing the dates and charges for work performed to fix the alleged damage. 

The credit reporting agencies should have a fiduciary duty to consumers to verify the validity of any debt they report as owed. No one should be allowed to report anything negative on anyone 's credit without first providing proof that the debt is owed, and that the person who owes the debt is actively refusing to pay. Just because some company with access to my social security number claims that I owe them money should not be enough to justify listing the debt as unpaid on my credit report. In addition, the credit reporting agencies should keep a record of, and be able to furnish to any affected consumer any proof offered on behalf of the creditor that the debt is actually owed by the consumer they claim owes the debt. Furthermore, disputed debts should be removed from all credit reports until the dispute is resolved.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation