Consumer complaint received 2020-04-15
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: GA
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with fraud alerts or security freezes

Complaint:
In XXXX of XXXX I Unfroze my EQUIFAX Credit Bureau report to switch internet providers. In XX/XX/XXXX I started asking EQUIFAX to unfreeze my report so I can sell my home, purchase a new home. Starting online, I was told that EQUIFAX did not know who I was and had no name or information on me. Over the following month, well into XXXX I was unable to access my account by name, open a new account, and by many phone calls to Customer Service, was unable to speak to a rep- after a month, I finally got a rep on the phone who said I must FAX a copy of my Mortgage company statement ( XXXX XXXX XXXX who had also been trying to get into Equifax but to no avail }. a copy of my Social Security Card and Driver 's License, and a written message stating why I wanted to unfreeze my account. XXXX XXXX. 
Because I had already spent well over 40 hours trying to contact Equifax, I decided to ask to have my information Unfrozen Permanently. I was told to write the letter of statement and FAX it with the other information. I did this and Equifax unfroze my account for about 14 days, the FROZE it up again. Along with all of the information that is not ever supposed to be asked for -- Social Security Card and Driver 's License- I sent the complete Credit Report that EQUIFAX had issued to me with the UNFREEZE in XX/XX/XXXX. All of these expensive faxes got Equifax to unfreeze the account for over a week, but they ignored my request for a permanent unfreeze status. 
I am still working with mortgage lenders, have nearly given up on being able to get anything done as EQUIFAX will not unfreeze my account. Again I have been online, and on phone, answered all of the questions correctly many times, but at the end of the automated call, the voice says, " Sorry, we can not access your information at this time- please try again another time ''. 
The last time I went online to try again, now in XX/XX/XXXX, a box popped up saying " check out EQUIFAX on XXXX, with a link to that site. I clicked on it to find a list of hundreds of people having posted the identical issue with Equifax of not being able to have their account unfrozen to transact business and real estate issues. EQUIFAX is holding up the Refinancing, and New Mortgage Applications of hundreds of people. On one of the Customer Service numbers that is posted in huge numbers on the EQUIFAX website, the call was a ROBOT that listed 8 different cheap options for Flat Tire Service, Cheap Auto insurance, Cheap {$1.00} Car detail cleaning, Auto repair and other services. Not one Financial Credit Report issue was addressed.. After 8 advertisements for useless services for a dollar, the call ended. 
There is something very wrong going on at EQUIFAX. I have no clue as to how to move forward in my life as ALL Mortgage lenders require a credit bureau report from all 3 agencies. When I started this, my Credit Score was XXXX. Now, because each time I go into any of the 3 bureaus for information, they now have reduced my score to XXXX, 50 points at a time. I am XXXX years old and have worked very hard to have no debt and to be able to buy a smaller home to retire in. Now, my credit score is lower, and EQUIFAX is not allowing me to transact any financial business. I am one of hundreds, maybe thousands of people having this problem. Please help me with this. Three mortgage lenders want to work with me, but can not move forward because of the incompetent, useless EQUIFAX agency. Since the EQUIFAX breach, I have been hacked a number of times, causing me many issues with my 18 year XXXX account. Surely this useless agency must be required to do their job and do it correctly and in a timely manner. Within minutes, I was granted Unfreeze status at XXXX  and XXXX and got reports easily within a couple of minutes. Please help me. XXXX XXXX XXXX email : XXXX Home phone : XXXX Home address : XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX, XXXX, Georgia, XXXX. I have lived here for nearly 12 years. My mortgage balance is {$38000.00} and I have an Equity debt of approx. {$7000.00}. My credit report was sterling until the bureaus started knocking my XXXX score down 100 points for no reason other than I have NO DEBT. Why am I knocked down for Not Owing Too Much Money? This is so wrong and unfair to someone who has worked a lifetime to be free of debt. Please fix this travesty of abuse by Equifax and stop the other 2 agencies from punishing me for having no debt in my old age. Thank you.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation