Consumer complaint received 2018-08-15
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: CA
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:
On XX/XX/2018, I mailed my initial letters to all three credit reporting agencies ( XXXX, XXXX, and Equifax ) via certified mail disputing a dismissed Ch.XXXX bankruptcy that appears on my consumer reports. I asked them to provide 1 ) their method of verification, and 2 ) to provide me proof of any documentation that bears my signature in relation to the item in question. On XX/XX/2018, I placed a freeze on my XXXX XXXX consumer information. After 30 days had passed, all three bureaus claimed the entry as " verified '' and that they " verified the information by contacting the court. '' These statements are a lie. All three bureaus use a third-party data mining firm ( XXXX ) to obtain their information. I sent a letter to the U.S. Bankruptcy court asking them to provide their procedures for reporting information to the credit reporting agencies. The Clerk of the Court returned a letter stating the court does not report any information to any credit bureau. Fast forward to XX/XX/2018. I requested a re-investigation into item, this time submitting not only an escalated letter, but a copy of the letter I obtained by the U.S. Bankruptcy court. Again, all three bureaus came back with the item as verified, claimed they contacted the court directly and obtained the information, and again did not provide me any documentation bearing my signature that proves its ' validity. 

According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Section 609 ( a ) ( 1 ) ( A ), they are required by federal law to verify - THROUGH THE PHYSICAL VERIFICATION OF THE ORIGINAL SIGNED CONSUMER CONTRACT - any and all accounts you post on a credit report. Otherwise, anyone paying for the credit reporting services could fax, mail or email in a fraudulent account. Despite my written requests, the UNVERIFIED item remained on my credit report in violation of Federal Law. They are required under the FCRA to have a copy of the original creditors documentation on file to verify that this information is mine and is correct. In the results of their investigations, they stated in writing that they verified that this item is being reported correctly, yet who exactly " at the court '' verified this account? All three bureaus have NOT provided me a copy of ANY original documentation ( a consumer contract with my signature on it ) as required under Section 609 ( a ) ( 1 ) ( A ) & Section 611 ( a ) ( 1 ) ( A ). Furthermore, they have failed to provide the method of verification as required under Section 611 ( a ) ( 7 ). Please be advised that under Section 611 ( 5 ) ( A ) of the FCRA you are required to promptly DELETE all information which can not be verified. The law is very clear as to the Civil liability and the remedy available to me ( Section 616 & 617 ) if you fail to comply with Federal Law. I am a litigious consumer and fully intend on pursuing litigation in this matter to enforce my rights under the FCRA. I demand the bankruptcy account be deleted immediately.

Attached you will find my initial dispute requests mailed to all three credit reporting agencies, my XXXX and XXXX consumer report freeze letters, my escalated dispute letters to all three bureaus, the result letters from XXXX  and XXXX ( Equifax continues to this day to have issues for checking dispute results on line, but they verbally told me the item was " verified '' on XX/XX/2018 ), as well as my letter from the United States Bankruptcy Court.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation