Consumer complaint received 2018-04-17
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: MO
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:
In a phone call on XX/XX/XXXX inquiring about some recent activity on my credit report, I discovered that Equifax had listed XX/XX/XXXX as my date of birth ( DOB ) in their records. I informed Equifax that DOB was incorrect. Equifax refused to tell me the name, address and telephone number of the lender/creditor who furnished the incorrect DOB. Equifax instructed me to fax or mail a copy of my drivers license and birth certificate to get my DOB corrected in their records and to contact all my lender/creditors to determine who furnished the incorrect DOB. I have been reluctant to comply with Equifaxs instructions for several reasons : 1 ) Faxing or mailing my sensitive personal information in an environment ripe of hacking and fraudulent behavior, of which Equifax records were victim to only a short while ago, is unsafe. Equifax should already have that information in my records. 

2 ) Providing the requested material will get my DOB corrected in Equifaxs records but will not address and correct the more concerning problem that Equifax allowed a lender/creditor to submit an incorrect DOB for me, accepted it as accurate and true, and then changed my DOB in my records, without first contacting me for confirmation. Furthermore, this change in data was made while my credit was locked. A locked credit report should have no activity! Equifax was failing to protect my credit report by allowing any changes to be made to my records. I know that my DOB was correct in Equifaxs records prior to locking my credit on XX/XX/XXXX, as I was required to provide my DOB to access my credit records online, in order to lock my credit. In a response to my complaint on another portal, Equifax stated, we are unable to determine how long her date of birth has been reporting incorrectly. Equifax records all kinds of dates in my credit report ( dates when accounts are opened and closed, reporting dates, dates of payments ). How does Equifax not know when my DOB was changed? 

3 ) I have confirmed with the other two credit reporting companies, XXXX and XXXX, that my DOB is correct in their records. An XXXX representative told me that if XXXX had received information from a lender/creditor indicating a DOB that was different than what was in their records, XXXX would view that as suspicious and would contact me for confirmation before making any changes. Furthermore, XXXX records the names of lender/creditors with the information that they submit. That allows follow-up investigation of the lender/creditor providing the incorrect information. On my credit report provided by Equifax, the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of lender/creditors are listed for each of my accounts along with the dates the information is reported. In a response to my complaint on another portal, Equifax stated, We are unable to determinewho creditor is reporting the date of birth, even though Equifax credit report documents state that it is my right to requestthe business name, address and telephone number of the furnisher of the disputed information, ( see the attached document, page 2 ). If it is my right to request that information from Equifax, should not Equifax retain that information in order to provide it upon request? Equifax is violating my rights by not providing that information to me. 

4 ) In a response to my complaint on another portal, Equifax stated, We are unable to determinewhat the correct date of birth could be. How can Equifax not have record of my correct DOB which has been in my records for 30 years? Credit reporting agencies keep data for at least 10 years. Equifax still lists my previous home address ( which is over 10 years old ) on my credit report. If Equifax still has record of my former address, how can Equifax not have record of the former ( and correct ) DOB that was in my records as of XX/XX/XXXX? 

For the reasons listed above, I have some major concerns about the security of my credit report that is in the hands of Equifax. First, it is apparent that Equifax is mishandling my records by not taking the precautions that are followed by XXXX  and by not keeping records of all data submissions. Secondly, Equifax is overlooking a very serious possibility that this change in my DOB is a part of identity fraud or a mixed-file case. How has Equifax ruled out those possibilities? I need to be able to contact the lender/creditor who submitted the incorrect DOB in order to determine why or how they have the wrong DOB. It is not as if the incorrect DOB is off by one digit. It is a completely different month, day and year. This is not a case of a simple typographical error and it must be thoroughly investigated. Since Equifax claims they are unable to determine who the lender/creditor is who reported the incorrect DOB, how can Equifax investigate this issue at all? Equifax has suggested that I contact all my lender/creditors to confirm they have my correct DOB. Why isnt Equifax contacting all my lender/creditors to investigate this problem? 

The way that Equifax is mishandling my information and the fact that Equifax wants to dismiss this problem by simply requiring me to provide proof of DOB is unacceptable. I need the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to help me get this problem resolved properly. Equifax needs to : 1 ) Change the current incorrect DOB of XX/XX/XXXX back to my correct DOB, WHICH SHOULD BE IN EQUIFAXS RECORDS. My correct DOB was in Equifaxs records as of XX/XX/XXXX. 

2 ) Provide me the name, address and telephone number of the furnisher of the incorrect DOB. If Equifax is unable to determine the lender/creditor who reported the incorrect DOB, then EQUIFAX SHOULD CONTACT ALL MY LENDER/CREDITORS TO DETERMINE WHO IS THE FURNISHER OF THE INCORRECT DOB. That should be a part of Equifaxs investigation into Equifaxs incompetent handling of my records.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation