Consumer complaint received 2023-09-02
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: NV
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Old information reappears or never goes away

Complaint:
Three over 7 year-old accounts must be removed from my credit files in the absence of any proof of 'Date of Last Payment ' that has been arbitrarily & erroneously set by the creditors. 

XXXX, Equifax, and XXXX continue to allow unscrupulous creditors to move the goal posts of honest & accurate credit file reporting by giving said creditors free reign to manipulate the dates & remarks on my defaulted accounts in order to allow those accounts to remain reporting on my file beyond the standard 7 year deletion period.

For over 6 years, I've been reporting to & initiating disputes with the 3 bureaus regarding said 'Date ( s ) of Last Payment ' that is used by creditors to justify keeping a negatively reporting account on a consumer 's file for longer than the standard 7 year deletion period. I've also communicated that I defaulted on the following 4 loans almost immediately after opening them due to a job loss & homelessness : 1 ) InTouch Credit Union - Opened XX/XX/XXXX ( over 7 year-old account ) Immediately defaulted thereafter & the account should have been removed from my credit file by now as it has been over 7 years since the account has been opened. 

XXXX was reporting a Date of Last Payment of XX/XX/XXXX ( which is incorrect ) in order to cause further harm to my credit score, name, & reputation, by keeping the account on my file for an additional XXXX years. 

I'd been in contact with XXXX collections representative XXXX XXXX ( whom is a VERY nasty & mean-spirited person ), and she just threatened me that she would keep the account reporting on my files " for another 7 years '' when I asked her for a 1099C tax document that is customary for businesses to report to the IRS when accounts are charged-off. She took exception to that & refused to provide it to me. 

I found out today during a call with XXXX that XXXX moved the 'Date of Last Payment ' out another 7 more months, arbitrarily, to XX/XX/XXXX in order to attack me further by keeping the file reporting to my account until XX/XX/XXXX. She has a personal vendetta against because of my numerous disputes & complaints & she is literally stalking, harassing, and attacking me. This is unacceptable CFPB, I have rights, I know you don't stand for this kind of treatment, & the account must be removed immediately. 

2 ) Discover Loans- Same as in 1 ), 7 year-old account, also refused to provide me with a 1099C ; 3 ) XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, 7 year-old account, immediately defaulted. XXXX has added a 'Date of Status ' of XX/XX/XXXX, which is also incorrect. Also refused to provide a 1099C ; XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( student loan used while coming out of homelessness ) - Opened XX/XX/XXXX ( 6 years & 7 months old ), immediately defaulted. Has a Date of Last Payment ' of XX/XX/XXXX which is also incorrect. I also requested a 1099C & was refused. 

XXXX ) XXXX - Transferred this student loan ( which was transferred from XXXX XXXX  in XXXX ) back to the federal government under the Department of Education. Instead of this being a joyous occasion, I was instead harshly penalized through no fault of my own due to the transfer & because of how it was remarked on my credit file. When it was marked as 'Closed ', my score dropped XXXX points. XXXX points! The status must be changed to 'Transferred ', as is customary, so as to keep my oldest account reporting as such and to restore my score. One of the 5 main aspects of credit score is Length of Credit History, which amounts to 15 % of one 's score. 

As I've discovered, creditors will automatically add a 'Date of Last Payment ' of approximately 1.5 to 2 years after the opening of the account regardless of whether or not there's any proof of having received actual payment therein. Again, this is designed to cause maximum harm to the borrower by keeping the defaulted account reporting on a credit file for longer than the standard 7-year period. This is what has been happening to me, and it must stop. 

For the last round of disputes I initiated on XXXX, I'd asked the bureaus to reach out to the creditors in question to request *proof* of the 'Date of Last Payment ' in the form of account information ( transaction numbers, routing & account info, receipts, or card numbers ) on the official company letterhead of whatever business, bank, or card that was purportedly used to make those payments that contributed to the 'Date ', but no proof was provided. I've made the request many times previously as well to no avail. 

The bureaus again did not heed & instead asked the creditors once more to 'verify the date of last payment ' which I did not ask for because of course, they'll just add whatever date that they want to without providing a shred of proof of those payments, which is exactly what XXXX XXXX XXXX did to me ( Equifax also made the mistake of disputing XXXX XXXX a brand new account, instead of XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX They never seem to be able to handle even simple requests ). 

CFPB, you've helped me previously & I REALLY need your help this time in pushing the bureaus to delete the three 7 year-old accounts above, to get the 1099C from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX to correct the status of the XXXX account XXXX 'Transferred '. My livelihood, name, & reputation is at stake. 

I'm unable to rent where I want to live & am being denied jobs due to the negative credit history, & I'm a good person. No one is benefitting here. The accounts have been charged-off. They'll never be paid. They're considered uncollectible & no longer debt assets. The aforementioned creditors in question have all received tax deductions from the I.R.S. as well. They shouldn't be reporting to my files as they are all over 7 years old & no proof has been provided of the 'Date of Last Payment '. I'm certain that CFPB doesn't stand for the kind of targeted harassing, stalking, & discriminatory treatment I've faced. I've suffered enough. Help.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation