Consumer complaint received 2023-08-05
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: IN
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Information belongs to someone else

Complaint:
The disputed item was initially disputed on XX/XX/23 and denied. I spent months working with Wells Fargo to investigate this hard inquiry, as I knew it was not mine. I have never had or applied for any Wells Fargo account. Eventually, Wells Fargo determined the hard inquiry that is on my report was due to a fraudulent credit application that used my information. After that investigation, Wells Fargo issued me 2 letters, dated XX/XX/23 and XX/XX/23, respectively. The first letter stated that Wells Fargo is sending the update to the credit bureaus to remove the hard inquiry and that should take 4-6 weeks. The second letter specified that an investigation determined the application was fraudulent and reiterated that updated information to remove the hard inquiry from my report was being sent to the credit bureaus and it may take 60 days to complete. When I pulled my XXXX credit report on XX/XX/23 and still saw the hard inquiry from Wells Fargo, almost 8 weeks after the 1st letter was sent, I filed a dispute to have this hard inquiry removed again, this time armed with the letters that Wells Fargo provided to me. I spent 1.5 hours with Wells Fargo attempting to verify whether XXXX reached out to them to verify the accuracy as they state in the dispute denial. I was transferred 5 times and no one could even determine who handles disputes. The last person I spoke to, I'm not sure what position or dept she was in because she mumbled so much, but she kept reiterating that the letter says it could take up to 60 days. Yes, one letter indicated it could take up to 60 days and the other letter, also from Wells Fargo, indicated it could take 4-6 weeks. I disputed this information almost 8 weeks after the letter indicating 4-6 weeks and 55 days after the letter that indicated up to 60 days. I said I needed to know explicitly if XXXX contacted Wells Fargo to verify this information in the less than 24 hours the dispute was open because if they did dispute it and Wells Fargo denied the accuracy of my dispute simply based on the fact a full 60 days had not yet passed, even though they themselves deemed it fraudulent activity to be removed, then Wells Fargo is not abiding by the FCRA. However, if XXXX is stating they reached out to Wells Fargo and did not and decided to close the dispute without investigation, then THEY are not abiding by the FCRA. Whether Wells Fargo was refusing to provide me with this information or simply could not, I do not know, so since I can not tell which company did not abide by the law under the FCRA and the duty to fully investigate all claims and remove all inaccurate information upon notification by the consumer that it is inaccurate, then I have to file complaints against both and let the agencies sort this out. Either way, SOMEONE did not do their job.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation