Consumer complaint received 2021-03-17
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: MA
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Their investigation did not fix an error on your report

Complaint:
I am currently trying to get a mortgage. In XX/XX/XXXX, I checked my credit reports and my credit reports from XXXX and Equifax showed that I had a collection under my name for a debt that I did not owe. 

According to my credit report, I owed the original creditor " XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX '' a debt of {$450.00} dollars, created in XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX sold the debt to a collection agency, XXXX XXXX, in XX/XX/XXXX. 

Prior to me checking my credit report, neither the original creditor nor the collection agency sent me any communications informing me that I owed a debt. 

Once I found out about the collection on my credit report, I contacted the credit agencies to dispute the collection. I filed an online dispute with Equifax on XX/XX/XXXX, and I reached out toXX/XX/XXXXin early XXXX. I did not, however, receive any updates to my dispute from either Equifax or XXXX. 

In an effort to follow up, I reached out to the original creditor, XXXX XXXX XXXX, on XX/XX/XXXX. They told me that they would have to check their databases to determine whether the original debt was mine. I did not receive any follow-up from XXXX XXXX XXXX, so on XX/XX/XXXX, I called XXXX XXXX XXXX again. On the XX/XX/XXXX call, XXXX XXXX XXXX confirmed that the birthdate and the passport number associated with the debt/collection do not match with mine. XXXX XXXX XXXX told me to contact XXXX XXXX with my birtdate and passport number to clear the debt. 

After confirming that the debt was not mine, I reached out to the collections agency, XXXX XXXX, on the same day ( XX/XX/XXXX ). I informed them that the debt was not mine, and they requested that I send a copy of my passport over email, which I did on the same day ( attached to this complaint ). They did not respond to my XX/XX/XXXX email. On XXXX XXXX, I sent a follow-up inquiry ( attached to this complaint ). They did not respond to my XX/XX/XXXX email. 

I called XXXX XXXX again on XX/XX/XXXX. A XXXX XXXX agent told me that they had investigated my debt and contacted the credit report agencies ( Equifax, XXXX, and XXXX ) on XX/XX/XXXX to remove the collection from my credit reports. They provided me with a reference number. 

I continued checking my credit report, and by XX/XX/XXXX, my XXXX and Equifax credit reports still reflected the erroneous collection. I called Equifax on XX/XX/XXXX to inquire about my dispute ( which is still listed as pending on the Equifax website ). The Equifax representative told me that my dispute was resolved on XX/XX/XXXX. This was the first time I learned of this information. I never received any email or correspondence telling me this. In fact, at the date of this complaint, the Equifax website still lists my first dispute as pending. The Equifax representative told me that Equifax had contacted XXXX XXXX XXXX, and that XXXX XXXX XXXX had confirmed that the debt was mine. The Equifax agent told me that the dispute was considered resolved, refused to send me a report of the investigation, and that I would have to open another dispute to remove the collection from my account. 

I also called XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. The XXXX representative told me that my dispute was still under investigation, and that they had not received any communications from XXXX XXXX or XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted XXXX XXXX XXXX to ask for a letter confirming that I did not owe a debt and emailed them all the information again ( attached ). On XX/XX/XXXX, I called again and XXXX XXXX XXXX informed me that it had contacted XXXX XXXX and would not issue a letter until XXXX XXXX finished investigating my inquiry as part of their internal procedure. XXXX XXXX XXXX told me that it had received no communications from XXXX XXXX since my XX/XX/XXXX inquiry. Soon afterwards, XXXX XXXX called my personal phone number seeking to collect on the improperly assigned debt ( despite the fact that XXXX XXXX confirmed on XX/XX/XXXX that the debt was not mine ). When I asked about my XX/XX/XXXX inquiry, the XXXX XXXX agent told me that XXXX XXXX XXXX had not received any communications from RP XXXX XXXX. 

It has been over 3 months, and despite multiple attempts to resolve this issue with Equifax, XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, and XXXX XXXX, my credit report still reflects a collection for a debt that is not mine.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation