Consumer complaint received 2017-07-13
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: OH
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:
In XX/XX/XXXX, I mistakenly overlooked completing the filling of my State tax return. In XX/XX/XXXX, I saw that a tax lien was placed on my credit report in the amount of {$2000.00}. I contacted the XXXX of Ohio Attorney General 's Office, and was informed of my options. They informed me that I could pay the lien, or I could complete my XX/XX/XXXX tax return which would satisfy the delinquency that caused the lien. I completed the tax return and had to pay a fine for the late filing in the amount of {$500.00}, of which was unrelated to the lien itself, but instead for the late filing of the tax return. I then received a letter from the Ohio Department of Taxation notifying me of my Satisfaction of Judgement. Within this letter, I was instructed to personally visit the Clerk of Common Pleas in XXXX County, OH. While at the clerk 's window, I paid the filing fee, and the clerk made XXXX copies of the original letter I had received from the Department of Taxation, and placed her stamp on each of them, then instructed me to send one of the stamped copies to each of the credit reporting agencies to have the lien entry removed from my report. Upon receipt of the stamped copies of my Satisfaction of Judgement, the entries had been removed from my XXXX and XXXX credit reports, but Equifax refused to remove the entries. I contacted Equifax and was told I needed to contact the clerk of common pleas in XXXX County. Upon contacting the Clerk 's office, I explained my issue, and was informed that the stamped copies of the letter I obtained from them is all that is needed to have the entries removed from my reports, and that they had previously run into issues with Equifax not removing the same entries. The clerk referenced a previous case in which she faxed to Equifax the same letter I had forwarded to them with a handwritten note on the letter, and the entry was then removed from the consumer 's credit report, but the clerk could n't remember the wording required by Equifax to have the items removed. I contacted Equifax again, under instruction of the clerk, to obtain their fax number and specifically what information needed to be included on the fax in order to have the entry removed. I was told I needed a " Statement of Withdrawal After Release '', or it needed to be indicated on the fax that the entry should otherwise be " deleted or removed '' from my credit report. Another call back to the clerk with the information resulted in the clerk informing me she was unaware of any " Statement of Withdrawal After Release '' forms and they do n't exist in their system, however she would fax to them the required information. After receipt and review of the faxed material from the clerk 's office, Equifax continues to refuse the removal of the entry, stating that their policy is that " paid '' liens remain on their reports for 7-10 years after the date that they are paid. I did not " pay '' my lien. Instead, I satisfied the requirements for the cause of the lien, which would indicate that the lien was withdrawn and the entry on my credit report should be removed, as indicated by the clerk that processed my filing.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation