Consumer complaint received 2020-09-13
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: MN
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:
I have been trying to fix grave, blatant errors on my Equifax credit report since early XXXX. The two other CRAs fixed my errors. Equifax has repeatedly failed to fix after multiple rounds of disputes where I have PROOF in the form of documentation submitted. I have been documenting all of these submissions and interactions, as there are multiple FCRA violations happening here. When I call for information, noone can answer any questions and they don't know how to help in any way. They often hang up on me. I have documented my cell service times spent calling into Equifax for help and sometimes these calls are upwards of 60 minutes each call, only to be disconnected or hung up on. There are currently 3 huge errors on my accounts STILL. Also, their online service has all kinds of errors ; they are not showing my disputes even though on the phone they can see them. There are three Equifax errors in process/ issues affecting my life : One is a public record that I have disputed multiple times and yet, the investigation comes back verified, even though it's a blatant public record that anyone in the world can see for themselves and verify it's wrong. Their continual verification that it is reporting correctly means they are not investigating at all. This is directly in violation of the FCRA, as any reasonable person could see the public record within 2 minutes. 

The second error is one that I've reported to them over the last YEAR as not my account, and it appears to be a fraudulent company or ID theft. I have tried repeatedly to resolve with the company but they don't know what I'm talking about. I have sent Equifax my FTC ID Theft filing twice already over 7 weeks. ( They confirmed I sent the right document but can't do anything ). They have yet to remove it, it is still pending, even though the other CRAs removed it and notified Equifax per the FCRA requirement to do so. I have also sent Equifax proof of this removal by XXXX. Equifax has told me there is no date when this will fall off. they said they are waiting for the furnisher to send them electronic correspondence. The furnisher won't be able to do that because it's fraudulent. So, does that mean Equifax is going to leave this on my credit report forever, even though official reports have been shown to them and they would be breaking the law then? Why can't anyone give me a date of removal? Why isn't Equifax following FCRA laws? It's been way over 30 days ( and should be 5 days for fraud ). 

The third is an old account that was closed. Equifax is listing it as open, after disputing this multiple times. They corrected one of the fields but failed to fix the most blatant item, marking it as closed. It's an old charge-off, which Equifax shows in the status, and obviously that means there is no possible way it is an active credit card. Because of this grave error, my FICO  scores have had a huge negative impact due to credit utilization, even though this should be closed. The other bureaus have it listed correctly, but Equifax refuses to fix it through their dispute process.Because FICO shows one CRA with it open, it's reported on all my FICO XXXX scores that way. 

I need to talk to someone with the authority to correct these items right away, NOT 30 days from now. I am not going to call customer service again only to have them not help me in any way. They have never been able to transfer me to anyone to help. I also want to understand how Equifax is going to make amends of the impacts and harm these FCRA violations have done to me personally, through significant documented and provable things such as higher interest rates, loss of homes I intented to purchase but have had to wait for these disputed, delays in home purchasing, and the time spent trying to fix it with Equifax to no avail. 

I find it strange that a for-profit entity in the business of selling consumer information is not found to be at conflict of interest here. I believe the intent is to drag these out for as long as possible as Equifax has no interest in fixing people 's errors ( EVEN when they affect that person 's entire life ), so they put zero effort into it. That's why there are so many lawsuits and complaints filed. It's a broken system, and I look forward to the new FCRA laws moving through congress to fix it. I have already written letters to the three senators across the US introducing the bill that will fix this through FCRA amendments, though Equifax seems to not care about laws, as they are violating them very clearly here. Additionally, I have reached out to the XXXX  and my attorney general in Minnesota, along with my local senator to tell my story with Equifax. In the meantime, I need to speak to someone at Equifax who is able to take action at that moment on my documented, proven correction that need to happen so I may move forward with my home purchase and life in general. 

The last 7 weeks have been the worst 7 weeks in recent memory, because of Equifax and their disregard for people 's entire lives. All I want is to have these items fixed, just as was done at the other CRAs. It seems pretty simple. Yet, I can't even talk to anyone. It's a broken process. And, the most ironic part about all of this is I was part of the Equifax data breach. So, the weird account that isn't mine could very well be a result of Equifax 's own failures from the past. Crazy stuff.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation