Consumer complaint received 2018-03-03
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: AZ
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Account information incorrect

Complaint:
I am preparing to purchase my first home and in preparation for applying for a loan I have been working with XXXX XXXX since XX/XX/XXXX to ensure my credit reports are as squeaky clean as possible. All has been taken care of to my satisfaction with the exception of an item reported by XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ). 

With the help of XXXX XXXX, I have sent ~24 challenges to all 3 credit reporting agencies regarding this item and ~3 letters directly to XXXX XXXX XXXX . 

The latest dispute results letters from Equifax, XXXX, and XXXX state, " We have verified that this item has been reported correctly. If you have documents that release you from this obligation, please forward a copy to us.... If you have additional questions about this item please contact : XXXX XXXX XXXX [ address and phone ]. '' I sent a letter to XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX asking for a " Goodwill Adjustment '' to this item and received a letter back on XX/XX/XXXX saying they, " ... couldn't process your request because it didn't include a valid account number ... '' and provided a phone number for me to call. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I called the number provided and ended up speaking with 2 people in two different departments, neither of which could locate the account using the account number reported to the credit bureaus. They looked under my name, social security number, and old maiden name and found nothing. The second person filed a report with their " back office '' which was supposed to follow up with me after doing any additional investigation necessary. I have not received a phone call or email, despite providing both to the person I spoke with and being very clear that this is a time sensitive issue because of my pending start to the loan application process and that I required a response immediately. No response has been received and it's now XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX my husband spoke with a XXXX representative at our local branch. That representative, after also looking for the account and not finding it, said if XXXX can't find the account, we are owed a letter stating that fact and should call the card services department and request it. He provided a phone number. 

This morning, XX/XX/XXXX, I called the number given by that representative and went through the same process of trying to locate this phantom account with the new person I was speaking with. No luck - he could not find the account. I told him that since XXXX couldn't find this account that they'd reported about to the credit bureaus, I was owed a letter stating that fact so that I could push back against the 3 bureaus to get it removed from my report. He refused citing " process '', " my supervisor '', " I'm not a credit analyst '' and other excuses. I was extremely strong with him, to no avail. 

Equifax, XXXX, & XXXX have stated ( as I noted above ), " ... if you have documents releasing you from this obligation ... '' I could send the document ( s ) to them and this would be resolved. But XXXX XXXX XXXX refuses to provide those documents. 

Equifax, XXXX, & XXXX  also state, " The information you disputed has been verified as accurate ... '' yet how can it be verified as accurate when XXXX can not locate the account number in question ANYWHERE in its system? 

My personal credit is being held hostage by these bureaus and by XXXX XXXX XXXX. PROOF that information reported about me DOES NOT EXIST OR CAN NOT BE LOCATED is my right to have from the institutions that are reporting it. It is MY information and when I ask for a simple document stating that fact I should absolutely not be denied that.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation