Consumer complaint received 2018-03-06
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: CA
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Personal information incorrect

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX I began working with a Realtor so that I could find a house to purchase here in XXXX XXXX, CA. 

XX/XX/XXXX I began working with a mortgage company to begin processing the paperwork to secure funding for a house. 

XX/XX/XXXX Loan officer called me to let me know that they were unable to pull my Equifax consumer report due to incorrect information being submitted on the request. At this point, my XXXX  and XXXX   reports had already been received. 

XX/XX/XXXX Called Equifax to report this problem and to obtain details so that I could work on a resolution. I explained the problem that my loan officer was reporting to the Equifax representative. She informed me that the request for my consumer report was not able to be completed because Equifax had the incorrect address, an address that I had not lived at for about 4 years. The representative told me that I would need to submit a copy of my driver 's license, W2, and paystub, all showing my current address, before they could assist me so I thanked her for her help and ended the call, after obtaining the correct fax number. I faxed the requested documents to Equifax and called back to obtain a confirmation number so that I could track my request online thorugh Equifax ' website. The representative told me that he could not assist me because their system had not yet processed the information I submit. I explained to the representative that I could not track the request online, because their system had outdated information and the website told me to contact customer service for assistance. Each time I would attempt to explain that I was aware that it would take up to 48 hours for their dispute team to process my request, but that their website would not allow me access to my information and prompted me to call customer support, he reverted right back to the script that he was undoubtedly provided by Equifax, stating that I must fax the information and allow 48 hours for processing. I attempted to explain that because my loan officer required this third consumer report prior to finalizing my funding documents and that a delay may result in my not getting the house that I had been attempting to purchase, but he became agitated. He proceeded to tell me that I was " not listening '' to him and " what part of fax your documents to us do you not understand? ". I told the representative that I was done with the call and would be noting my frustration be answering questions on the phone survey that I was asked to participate in at the beginning of the phone call, but I was placed on hold. After quite some time and some frustration I finally decided to allow 48 hours for them to process my request and ended the call. 

XX/XX/XXXX My loan officer attempted to pull my consumer report again, but received the same error message. 

XX/XX/XXXX I called Equifax to check the status of my request. Customer service informed me that they received the fax with my pay stub and XXXX, but did not receive the copy of my driver 's license. I informed the representative that all documents were sent on the same page, and that they should have received it. I was told that if the copy is not legible, they would disregard it. I explained my predicament about how I was on a time crunch and that any further delay may result in my not getting the house that I wanted. I was told that Equifax has 48 business hours, and not 48 regular hours, to meet any request and that I should count myself lucky that two of the documents were already processed earlier than expected. I explained that this does me no good, if the document not received was the only document that required in order to change my current address in their system. I was told that I should wait a " few more days '' and call back after faxing over the copy of my driver 's license again. I reiterated that I was in a time sensitive situation and that I may not have 3 days to wait for my own information to be released, only to be told that the information was theirs and that they provide a service to me at no cost. I ended the call without saying another word. at XXXX XXXX, I faxed over three copies of my driver 's license and did this two separate time, including notation on the cover page that I was faxing multiple copies through two different fax transmissions in the event that the second fax of my driver 's license was not received again. I called back at the end of the day to check the status of my request and was told that I would have to wait an additional 48 hours  for their dispute team to verify my 2nd and 3rd fax  containing my driver 's license. After many attempts to explain my situation and ask for a supervisor I was told that I would have to wait and that there were nothing more they could do for me. 

XX/XX/XXXX I called back and let the customer service representative know that I wanted to get the status of my request to update my current address. I was told that I could check the status online. I let the representative know that there was a problem logging into their website with my information, with the system stating that the information I was using to access my account was incorrect. I let her know that I called previously and that my information was not fully received and that I was calling to see if this had been completed so that I could finalize my mortgage documents. She told me that 48 hours after my faxing the required document would be tomorrow and I was told to call back tomorrow afternoon.

-The home buying process can already be incredibly stressful without having issues such as the one listed  above. Equifax has my consumer report hostage and I have yet to receive a resolution. I am hoping that intervention from an outside agency is not required in order to reach a resolution to Equifax ' system issue, but I wanted my situation to be reported to those out there in hopes that others will come forward to report any problems they have experienced with Equifax as to prepare others for a possibly time consuming situation. Check with each of the credit bureaus to verify your information if you are even slightly considering purchasing a home. I can not believe how such a life changing decision, such as home buying, can be severely impacted and potentially thwarted by a credit reporting agency.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation