Consumer complaint received 2018-04-08
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: GA
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 want to briefly state that I have had a decline in my income over the past three months. I now have a second job. I work seven days a week. I want to try as best I can to ensure that I do not have another month like the month of XXXX. My original issue is with the company XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX reported me as being thirty days past due. They reported this on XX/XX/XXXX. My payment is due on the XXXX day of every month for this account. If XXXX reported me as 30 days past due on XX/XX/XXXX and my payment is due on the XX/XX/XXXX then how can I possibly be thirty days past due on the XXXX day of the month. I first tried to dispute the negative reporting with XXXX. They said that I must pay within the calendar month to avoid negative reporting. This is not true because I have bills due on the XXXX and the XXXX of the month. Im not thirty days past due if I do not make the payment for those accounts within the calendar month. I then tried to dispute with the credit bureaus. I know that the credit reporting system operates on the honor of the creditor. I know that although the three bureaus purport to be independent information gathering and reporting agencies they are really extensions of the creditors. I also know that the credit reporting system is one of the most un-American parts of the American financial system. Consumers are literally guilty until proven innocent. I naively thought that this particular case was so obvious that the bureaus would have to be fair. I was unfortunately wrong. I received word from one of the bureaus ( XXXX ) that their investigation was complete. The negative information would remain because the creditor responded that the information was correct. I called the number on the bottom of the dispute response and I eventually spoke with a supervisor. She all but admitted that XXXX is not an independent reporting agency. I asked the supervisor a few questions. The exchange went as follows. I asked, ma'am the three bureaus report information in 30 day increments correct? She responded yes. I asked ma'am is there a mechanism provided by the bureaus that would allow a creditor to report a consumer as say 5 days past due or anything other than at least 30 days past due? She replied no. I said XXXX XXXX XXXX reported me as 30 days past due on the XX/XX/XXXX correct? She said yes. I asked when is my payment due. She replied I don't know. I asked when did I make the payment? She replied, I don't know. I then asked what was the purpose of the so called investigation. She actually said that the investigation was simply asking the creditor if the information was valid. WOW. She admitted that the investigation was not a fact finding mission it was to verify with the creditor if the information reported was correct. How can the consumer win in a system such as this. I explained to her that I merely wanted her company ( XXXX ) and the other bureaus to adhere to their own standards. Thirty day increments are the reporting standard. Not the standards set by me but by the reporting agencies. My payment was due on XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX  reported me as thirty days past due on the XX/XX/XXXX. This is the very definition of an impossibility. I know that I was late and if XXXX wants to keep record of my delinquency for consideration in the future then they are free to do so. However, as it relates to credit reporting if the three bureaus are supposed to be independent non biased information gathering and reporting agencies then they must at the very least force creditors to adhere to the standards set by the credit reporting industry. Again my payment is due on the XXXX of the month. XXXX XXXX XXXX reported me as 30 days past due on the XXXX day of the month and my payment posted on the next business day. I have never paid XXXX 30 days late, never, ever.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation