Consumer complaint received 2017-08-23
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: LA
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Account status incorrect

Complaint:
At the beginning of XXXX XXXX upon closing on our new home, I discovered that XXXX XX/XX/XXXXwas inaccurately reporting information regarding a previous auto account that had been repossessed. We made arrangements to repay the outstanding amount on the loan and accidently missed a XXXX payment and called at the end of XXXX to inform them of our oversight and our intentions to provide a double payment in XXXX. To our shock, XXXX XX/XX/XXXX stated they had already sent it to garnishment. My husband and I had no choice but to file bankruptcy although the defaulted auto loan was about the only debt we had. We were advised by our attorney that only one of us should file since we lived in a community property account and had been married for over 10 years. My husband filed and the debt mentioned in this report was included it in my husband 's bankruptcy. 

For approximately a year after the bankruptcy XXXX XX/XX/XXXXcontinuously called and harassed me. I eventually reached out to our attorney and a cease and desist letter was sent to XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. In response to the letter they stopped calling but apparently turned thier attention to my credit history. In XXXX my husband and I began the process of purchasing our first home. Naturally our underwriter requested information regarding the account. I reached out to the special assets department of XXXX XX/XX/XXXX and was told to speak to a representative by the name of XXXX. I explained the situation regarding my husband 's bankruptcy and the fact that my debt was included under his bankruptcy according to community property state laws. My husband and I have been married for over 10 years and remain currently married as of today therefore my debt was included in his bankruptcy which was discharged in XXXX XXXX. XXXX would not give me any information and adamantly refused to give me anything in writing regarding my account. After speaking to XXXX on 2 different occasions and getting nowhere, I asked if I could speak to a supervisor. The supervisor told me that I was incorrect in my interpretation of community property laws however she would send me a letter stating the information regarding my account status with XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. This request was made on XXXX XXXX, XXXX. The supervisor told me on the phone that she would be sending me a hard copy, she also asked for my address and also if I would like an electronic copy sent as well. The letter never showed up so I began calling again to which I was told that I would only be able to speak to a different supervisor by the name of XXXX XXXX. XXXX informed me that I would never ever receive a letter from XXXX XX/XX/XXXXstating my account status and he had no record of my call with the previous supervisor or any of the previous failed dispute attempts. The supervisor I spoke to originally ironically did not give me her name. He then repeatedly told me to take it up with the credit bureaus. I explained that I have filed a total of six complaints towards XXXX XX/XX/XXXX regarding this issue, hired a law firm and spent multiple hours on the phone trying to get this corrected. 
The problem was each and every time I called to inquire about the account or ask questions, XXXX XX/XX/XXXX immediately would update my account with 120 days past due. As stated above, this account was included in the bankruptcy therefore I was unable to even pay on the account much less, all of a sudden be 120 days past due. Until XXXX this account was not reporting. The date of the first update was XXXX XXXX and the second update was on XXXX XXXX, XXXX which is the date of the letter promised by the other supervisor. The inaccuracies at this point included : foreclosure terminology instead of the correct repossession terminology, the account appeared open when it was supposed to be closed in XXXX, and numerous late payments after the date of my initial inquiry into the account. I stated for three months repetitiously then I will need all three of these inaccuracies corrected and documentation to prove that such inaccuracies were updated correctly. They refused to correct the information & repeatedly stated you will have to take that up with the credit bureau 's ; to which when I called the credit bureaus they told me that XXXX XX/XX/XXXX verified the information, the inaccurate information. I would then turn around and call XXXX XX/XX/XXXX and he would repeatedly state that I needed to take it up with the credit bureaus. 
This consumed over three months of a daily struggle, 6 to 8 hours a day desperately trying to get correct information reported to the credit bureau 's. We are in the middle of a house closing and the inaccuracies have caused this much strife and eventually cost us our house. XXXX XXXX  was made aware of all of this throughout the entire past four months however refused to budge on anything brought to their attention. 
As a last resort, on XXXX XXXX XXXX, I decided to walk into a local XXXX XX/XX/XXXX branch and ask for information regarding my account. The branch XXXX immediately pulled up my information and low and the hold the requested letter from XXXX XXXX was in my file. The branch XXXX printed it out and gave it to me however it only stated that the account has been charged off not closed as it should be reflected. I then attempted to call XXXX with the XXXX XXXX Department XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX back and hopes to get the correct information reported. He again defaulted to the statement you 'll have to take that up with the credit bureau 's and furthermore told me that the credit bureaus must be obtaining their information from the wrong address and I should provide them with the correct address so that the correct information would be reflected. As absurd as this actually was I followed through with his request and as expected the credit bureaus immediately told me that I could not provide such information it would have to be given by the bank self due to the fact that XXXX XX/XX/XXXX subscribes to their service therefore they must provide information to the credit bureau 's. 
After many phone calls to all three credit bureau 's on a regular basis it became apparent that XXXX XX/XX/XXXX was simply moving in accurate, illegal informati after many phone calls to all three credit bureau 's on a regular basis it became apparent that XXXX XX/XX/XXXX was simply moving in accurate information from one credit bureau to another does making it almost impossible to keep up with/and or correct. 
On XXXX XXXX, XXXX, after many persistent phone calls and threatening to report them to the FTC and to contact the president of XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX agreed to send me a letter stating they were in fact reporting inaccurately. On XXXX XXXX, XXXX they provided me with a copy of the universal dataform that was supposed to reflect a triveta update to each of the credit bureaus. 
The following information was to be corrected : no late payments past XXXX, no foreclosure terminology and no open account. The changes were accurate however they were only reflected on my credit report for approximately 48 hours. Upon further investigation of the submitted XXXX XXXX XXXX, it was brought to our attention that they also illegally change the responsibility from a joint account to an individual account and they also increased the total amount from {$9900.00} to approximately XXXX and one day later increased the amount owed to approximately 19,000. They also added 76 late payments to my 72 month term account after sending documentation stating all late payments were to be removed past XXXX. All of which is false and illegally being reported to all three credit bureau 's. XXXX XX/XX/XXXX has refused to correct the most recent inaccuracies and have defaulted back to staing that I need to contact the credit bureaus to which I called and supplied all of my letters however due to the time restraints of the situation it was in my best interest to contact CFPB. I can provide all documentation regarding the letters written to me from XXXX XX/XX/XXXX stating the fact that they were in accurately reporting, the copy of the universal dataform and many screenshots of their reporting over the past 4 months. This situation has cost my family and I our home and the opportunity to even purchase a home. We will not be able to ever purchase a home without XXXX XX/XX/XXXXcorrecting the information. As mentioned, I have spent approximately 6 to 8 hours daily to get this corrected. 

The following INACCURATE information is showing on multiple credit reporting agencies : Account open, amount past due of {$19000.00}, joint account now shows individual account responsibility and 76 late payments. 

The account should ACCURATELY reflect the account closed in XXXX, joint responsibility, and no late payments after XXXX. 

However, at this point, I would like the entire debt to be removed from all three credit bureau 's so that XXXX XX/XX/XXXX has no means of accessing my Social Security number or any of my information in the future due to multiple failed opportunities to accurately and legally handled the situation. They have changed the information they are reporting on a daily bases and I have no faith that any information reported by them will be reported correctly and will not be changed in the future unbeknownst to me.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation