Consumer complaint received 2023-10-20
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: CT
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Account status incorrect

Complaint:
In 2016, I spent the year battling XXXX XXXX as a single mom. I ran up my credit cards in the process trying to handle copays, for hospital visits out of state for my XXXX, and basic living expenses. I ended up with deductibles from XXXX year within XXXX months of a second one because of the timing of my diagnosis and treatments. 

XXXX credit card impacted is XXXX. XXXX maxed out on it and was unable to pay for a bit. The card went to collections, and I received a court summons. 

I called the debt collection agency and spoke with an attorney there. We agreed that I would adhere to a monthly payment plan of {$50.00} until the debt was paid in full. This attorney told me that because I had agreed to a settlement through his firm, he was canceling the court appearance, and there was no need for me to show up. I believed him. 

A couple months later, I received a letter in the mail from the XXXX, Connecticut XXXX system noting that I had not appeared for my court date and was found liable for failing to settle this debt. The judge ordered me to make the {$50.00} a month payment to which I had already agreed, but it was now a legal summons. I briefly tried contesting it, but I didnt have the time or energy to do so in consideration of my health. 

I attempted to contact the attorney first, but he said that the negative credit ratings were solely the decision of XXXX. Ive then reached out to the XXXX company, was given the runaround, and then was told that there was nothing they were willing to do to change the situation. 

For more than XXXX consecutive months, I have made that monthly payment in full and on time. I plan to continue to do so until the debt is paid in full. 

I have regularly tracked my credit scores over the years, and, after a while, this one dropped off those reports except as a settled account. I thought the negative ratings were a short-term situation that had concluded. 

Nevertheless, I did not understand why, despite the reality that I have paid all of my debts on time over the last more than XXXX years, I continue to show a very low credit rating of between XXXX and XXXX points. 

I recently looked at my credit ratings using a different service than XXXX XXXX, which is what I have historically used. This new service showed me that XXXX has been filing monthly negative credit reports against me during the majority of this period. 

I contacted XXXX and the attorney who represented them to make sure they knew that I have been paying on time for well over 60 months and ask them to stop filing these negative reviews. 

I received a report by mail shortly thereafter in which I was told that they are entitled to continue doing so and, in an extra show of animosity, they retroactively filed late credit reports for some of the months they had previously skipped, causing my score to again fall. 

It seems to me that what they are doing is illegal, punitive in a completely unacceptable manner, and totally lacking in any empathy for someone who is a XXXX survivor not to mention a single parent. 

Is there any way to hold these people accountable and expunge all of these negative ratings from my credit report? I am almost XXXX XXXX XXXX and have horrendous credit scores because of them.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation