Consumer complaint received 2016-11-30
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: AR
Product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on credit report
Sub-issue: Reinserted previously deleted info

Complaint:
I, XXXX XXXX XXXX, have an active, in good standing, VISA card from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX , XXXX ( XXXX ) I received this card XX/XX/XXXX, some 16 months ago, to rebuild my credit after years of XXXX & medical problems. On XX/XX/XXXX, a company named XXXX placed a fraudulent charge on my VISA card of {$70.00}. I contacted XXXX & demanded my money back & they laughed. I immediately contacted ( XXXX ) in XXXX, Oklahoma & spoke to Customer Service first. I told them the XXXX illegal charge on my VISA. I asked what this was going to do to my credit scores & they gave me the phone numbers to all XXXX credit bureaus & suggest that once I had talked to the fraud department at ( XXXX ), to call the Bureaus & place an alert. Transferred to the fraud department & took down all my information & told me NOT to pay the {$70.00} on my upcoming monthly VISA bill, until after they investigate XXXX & the charge on my account. About a week later, ALL of my FICO scores dropped due to the {$70.00} XXXX illegal charge I was told not to pay by ( XXXX ). This {$70.00} was not even due or late but ( XXXX ) had issued out the monthly statement & reported my VISA activity to all XXXX credit bureaus. The {$70.00}, that I was told not to pay until after the investigation was concluded, caused my credit usage to increase up to about 18 % instead of the 10-12 % credit of XXXX credit limit I have on the VISA. I was upset about this & decided to pay the illegal XXXX charge of {$70.00} to avoid another hit to my FICO scores. Time was of the essence & the pressure of buying from the landlord was great. He said, " buy or be evicted ''. We were ready & about to get a pre-approval letter from XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX. Then a major disaster happens to my EQUIFAX FICO score. While my XXXX & XXXX FICO scores were good enough for a home loan, & my wife 's XXXX scores were even better. XXXX said he could approve the loan but there was a N/A on my EQUIFAX score & that had to be fixed before he could approve the loan. What happened? Around XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX, my EQUIFAX FICO score dropped from the mid XXXX to N/A. My VISA card & its complete 12 month plus history was gone from my EQUIFAX Credit report. I called the fraud department at. ( XXXX ) & they asked if I had called the credit bureaus as instructed. I did but was only able to get ahold of a person at XXXX. The XXXX person took my complaint & put code XXXX on my XXXX report stating " Fraudulent charge made on account. '' After I complained that I could not get a human being but only machines at EQUIFAX & XXXX, the XXXX person also told me that she would contact XXXX & EQUIFAX for me. XXXX report had the same Consumer statement as XXXX, " Fraudulent charge made on account ''. Most importantly, I suffered no loss of FICO scores & /or removal of VISA card & its total credit history. BUT, at EQUIFAX, the XXXX XXXX & its history was gone & code XXXX stating " account fraudulent opened '' which IS NOT TRUE & NEVER stated by me. This destroyed all chances of receiving a mortgage for a new home.I spent the next few weeks calling back & forth to ( XXXX ) & EQUIFAX, always climbing the ladder to as high up the chain of command as I could get. Always the same answers. ( XXXX ) would say it was EQUIFAX 's fault & EQUIFAX would say it was. ( XXXX ) 's fault. I RECORDED nearly every telephone conversation. I called ( XXXX ) & asked to talk to the highest officer. I was transferred to XXXX XXXX XXXX. He said he knew our situation with EQUIFAX & then he called in the Vice-President XXXX XXXX XXXX, Office : XXXX Cell : XXXX & she stated in a RECORDED conversation & two e-mails that the N/A no FICO score, no VISA card & ... PLEASE SEE ATTACHED

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation