Consumer complaint received 2017-10-14
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: FL
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:
On XXXX/XXXX/XXXX I received an alert from my credit monitoring company the a new collection account had been added to my credit report. I was unaware of any collection accounts as I pay all my bills in full every month. I obtained a copy of my credit report from Equifax and discovered that 4 collection accounts were added to my credit file totaling over {$3600.00} XXXX XXXX XXXX {$900.00}, XXXX XXXX {$450.00}, XXXX XXXX {$1500.00}, and XXXX XXXX XXXX {$640.00} ). I also discovered that my credit score had dropped 50 points because of this. I immediately submitted a dispute online with Equifax notifying them that these accounts did not belong to me. I also called all 4 companies to try to figure out what was going on, and all 4 companies advised me that they did have accounts with the name XXXX XXXX, however the address was different than mine and they also had no social security numbers in their records, all 4 confirmed no social security number. I was told to file the dispute with Equifax and that since there was no social security number Equifax must have added these account to my file just based on the same name which they are not supposed to do. The address on all 4 accounts is XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, FL XXXX which I do not live at, nor have I ever lived, nor do I know anyone that has ever lived there. Upon further review I realized that Equifax had also added that address as being my address on my credit report, which is not so. At this time I am unable to access my credit file with Equifax online, I receive a message stating that my personal information does not match their records. So I have called multiple times, waiting on hold in excess of 20 minutes each time, last time being on hold for an hour and half, only to be told that their investigation is ongoing and it will take 30 days to resolve. That even though this information was added to my credit file erroneously I have to wait 30 days for Equifax to decide if it is correct or not. They also  refuse to remove the erroneous address from my file even though I have faxed them copies of my drivers license, utility bills, and my social security card. I was simply told that I would need to contact all of the companies and resolve the issue with them directly. I advised Equifax I had already contacted the companies and that they do n't have y social security number so how could this be added to my credit file. The explanation was that I would need to contact them again. I have since filed a police report with the XXXX XXXX police department for identity theft and placed a fraud alert on my credit reports with all reporting agencies, but despite all of the information I provide to Equifax they still have not ( refuse to ) updated my credit report accordingly. This has been a great inconvenience on me, we recently had hurricane Irma hit us in Florida and sustained damages to our home and vehicle, we were in the process of replacing the vehicle when all of this came up and now my credit is such that I can not obtain a new loan. Equifax is not doing anything to help rectify the issue, only acting as if it is my fault.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation