Consumer complaint received 2017-10-20
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: GA
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Improper use of your report
Sub-issue: Credit inquiries on your report that you don't recognize

Complaint:
After receiving a credit report from Equifax in XXXX XXXX, XXXX, I noticed inquiries on my report that I was not aware of. I sent over a Multiple Inquiry Removal Letter every month thereafter, by certified facsimile regarding the 6 inquires and asking that they be removed because I had no knowledge of them. I sent letters in writing to Equifax address and by fax to XXXX which included, a cover letter, name, address, SSN, ATTN : Equifax with a full explanation as to what I was requesting and why. The request that I submitted each time included 6 hard inquiries that were not factual and I received the same response for ALL inquiries back in 7 days or less, every month which was " Inquiries are a factual record of file access. If you believe this was not authorized, please contact the creditor. After trying for months by letter and fax since XXXX XXXX, on XXXX XXXX, XXXX, I decided to contact Equifax by phone, spoke with 3 different reps. The first rep had me to verify each inquiry I was not aware of and the date on the report for each inquiry. After verifying the info, he ( XXXX ) asked me to hold and he would provide me with a confirmation number for the removal of each inquiry that I verified. XXXX XXXXl with an inquiry date of XXXX/XXXX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX/XXXX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX/XXXX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX/XXXX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX/XXXX/XXXX and XXXX Credit Bureau ( which has since been removed ). That rep never came back to the line with the confirmation number but routed my call to another rep that I had to explain the entire reason for my call again and the inquiries in question. After verifying the information for the 2nd time, to the 2nd rep, she advised of the same verbiage from the letters, " Inquiries are a factual record of file access and can not be deleted. If you believe this was not authorized, please contact the creditor. '' After advising her that I had no knowledge of the accounts and the previous rep was in the process of giving me a confirmation number for the removal of each inquiry in question and another rep hung up as I was speaking, she stated that she could only remove one inquiry which was XXXX Credit Bureau. She removed it and provided me a confirmation number. It has been deleted from my report. However, According to the FCRA Rules, FCRA 623 ( b ) ( 2 ) and 611 ( a ) ( 1 ), it states that any information can be disputed and MUST be investigated and if you do not investigate and respond, the CRA must delete the disputed information from its files. The fact that I received a response at that moment regarding one inquiry being removed, and from my prior requests each month by certified facsimile and getting a response within 7 days and also the rep 's refusal to remove the others in question, one can assume that there was no investigation into the matter at all. I plan to purchase a home later this year and I also work for a federal government agency where my credit score affects me in each situation. Having this many inquiries on my credit display a sign of financial trouble, when this is not the case. I am submitting this complaint due to lack of investigation into my original disputes for hard inquiries that does not belong to me. I did not sign anything. This is unfair practices by a credit reporting agency with no concern for the creditworthiness of me, a consumer.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation