Consumer complaint received 2022-02-03
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: NY
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: Problem with personal statement of dispute

Complaint:
This complaint was originally submitted mid XX/XX/XXXX ; I have re-entered the complaint after calling your office ( XX/XX/XXXX ) and being told original complaint could not be found in your database?? 
To date, instead of trying to honestly respond ; I believe that Equifax, in its infinite arrogance, continues to only given frivolous and useless responses and resists improving a now known and proven flawed methodology for handling replaced credit cards that make good sound financial sense while penalizing the consumer by having them pay higher rates based on erroneous drops in credit scores reported after updates. 
I am asking CFPB to pursue a resolution and barring that ; CFPB should take actions ( including opening a class action suit ) against Equifax and the 2 other Big Credit Reporting Bureaus for failing to respond to consumer complaints other than sending back meaningless, boiler-plate and useless responses that basically says to everyone complaining, that regardless of what they do neither individuals nor government agencies can make the big XXXX credit bureaus fix their problems. 
Currently the CFPB appears to only be able to write reports ; but has no apparent interest or intent of pursuing any additional legal actions. If you can publish this and do find a legal firm willing to pursue class action- I will join. 

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -ACTUAL COMPLETE EMAILS -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ATTACHED AS PDF PLEASE DO NOT PUBLISH WITHOUT REMOVING MY NAME & EMAIL from pdf file -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- HISTORY -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- On Thu, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX PM I sent the following message to CEO of Equifax XXXX XXXX ) with Subject : A comment from a fellow orange ( class of XXXX ) -- -- Am I missing something?? 
In the email I basically asked XXXX, as a fellow graduate of XXXX University, to please pass this on to his XXXX  or whomever he believed could look into what appears to be a " flaw or error '' in the Equifax methodology used to upgrade the FICO scores provided after new information is inputted ( e.g. recalculated FICO score if credit card ( s ) are open, closed & /or replaced ) Attached are excerpts from the email ( CFPB was cc on original email ) " Hi XXXX... .I send you this note... ..over the fact that good credit practices get you bad / lower FICO scores '' and I suggested based on my experience that ( he ) ... " look into the sanity, validity and accuracy of ( his ) Equifax secret/ proprietary algorithm for FICO scores. The algorithm seems to sometimes work in reverse? '' I apologized for the amount of information ; but hopefully it was worthwhile to person assigned the task of evaluating my concern. I included my educational & work experience. 
I reiterated that I only ' .... took advantage of s recent XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX credit card offer ( 2 % cash back on everything ). Since I pay all my credit cards .... off in total each month ( I pay zero interest to CC companies ) ; So I cancelled our 2 ( XXXX 1 % cash back ) credit cards and replaced them with a new 2 % cardas far I was concerned this was a No Brainer right? 
Well it seems that my FICO score ( based on your Equifax data ) dropped?? 
When I checked into it, I found out that the Key factors affecting my score changes were : A LACK OF RECENT INSTALLMENT LOAN INFORMATION o Seems your FICO Score considers recent non-mortgage installment loan ( such as auto or student loans ) information on a persons credit report.

o AND my score was impacted because my credit report shows NO recent non-mortgage installment loans or insufficient recent information about your loans. 
o THIS IS because I HAVE NO LOANS! No Mortgage, No student loans ( did put 2 daughters : a RN / nurse and a HR Manager for major casino chain in NJ through parochial & private schools Plus 2 very nice XXXX weddings ) also THE TIME SINCE THE MOST RECENT ACCOUNT IS TOO SHORT. 
o Seems your FICO Score considers how recently a person opened a new credit account as shown on their credit report. 
o AND my score was impacted because of the time since I opened the new account. 
o Seems your FICO score doesnt consider that it was also notated by the issuer ( Key Bank ) that This NEW CARD is a REPLACEMENT for 2 Lower Limit & Lower Reward credit cards. 
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -Response from Equifax XXXX -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Between Thu, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX and Fri, XX/XX/XXXX XXXX am I received what I considered to be a meaningless, " boiler-plate '' and useless response .... it stated : " Please be advised that there are several different scoring models a company may use. The credit score that Equifax provides, called the Equifax Risk Score, may vary from other scores you obtain from other companies or sources. Many companies may use and provide a FICO score. " ( does not address complaint ) " Your Equifax Risk score is calculated by a mathematical formula that evaluates the content of all account data on your credit report. If the account data contained on your credit report is correct, then the credit score is correct. ( Useless since my concern was that someone at either XXXXXXXX XXXX or XXXX XXXX or Equifax failed to CLEARLY INPUTTED & IDENTIFIED, as they agreed to do, THAT THIS WAS NOT A CANCEL & NEW CARD ISSUE BUT A FINANCIAL INSTITUTION OFFER TO REPLACE A LOWER PAYING 1 % CASH BACK CARD WITH A 2X HIGHER PAYBACK CARD ).

I was also told " Please be advised that your credit score can not be updated or changed by anyone. This is an automated calculation based upon the credit report.

If you have obtained your score, you may wish to review the reason codes provided along with the score. The reason codes will give you an indication of the key factors that may be impacting your overall credit score. ) This was addressed in original complaint & never responded to ) If you have reason to believe information reporting on your Equifax credit report is incorrect, you may dispute the information by contacting us using one of the three methods listed below. That included phone, online, mail. 
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- WHAT HAS HAPPENED -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - I have tried multiple times to call ( XXXX ) to BOTH open a dispute ; and also try to get my Equifax credit report. 
It appears that each time Equifax, as a last check list item, asks you to answer 4 questions about your account dealing with loans you have. If your answer is NONE OF THE ABOVE for all 4 questions, you are told we can not help you ( at this time ) ... try again on line or by mail.

I ordered my CREDIT REPORT FROM annualcreditreport.com and it will arrive in 30 days ....

I responded to CEO & Equifax on XX/XX/XXXX to XXXX XXXX, ( CEO Equifax and to CFPB Ombudsman ) Since receiving the Equifax Customer Care ( ECC ) response ( the group apparently selected by XXXX XXXX or his representative to address my concern ) ; I have tried contacting/calling Equifax, at the number given, on several occasions. The last two calls, before today, were earlier ( XX/XX/XXXX ).. 
I originally sent my concern to the CEO of Equifax, as an friend & alumni from our college, but apparently whomever he selected to respond to me was not aware of the recent XX/XX/XXXX Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB ) report ( a copy CFPB report was also attached ). Maybe it should be required reading for Equifax ECC...

I continue to express concerns that this damages the most vulnerable people including the poor, senior citizens, minorities and immigrants ) ; these individuals have less time, resources and therefore the ability to get meaningful responses and results from the oligopoly ( the CFPB used description for Big 3 Credit Reporting Companies ) that Equifax is part of.

If Equifax can not seriously address our concerns and respond to the fact that the algorithm or methodology that they deliberately choose ( and continue to chose and use ), can be meaningfully improved ; then I suggest that CFPB consider as a next step, a formal complaint & /or some additional disciplinary/remedial actions including initiating a class action suit.

Based on the increasing numbers of recent new complaints and the corresponding lack of Equifax 's ( and other credit bureau 's ) meaningful responses ; it seems just a matter of time before other, harsher, actions, ( including governmental & /or private class actions ), need to be pursued.

I believe that making " good '', " sensible '', " logical '' and " prudent '' financial decisions should be rewarded and not penalized. These are well established and accepted industry wide accepted best practices.

If this is not a flawed systemic methodology or algorithm then it is a failure in execution ; and again it is Equifax 's ( as the user ) responsibility to correct.

Either way, instead of Equifax ( in their formal response ) explaining how the making of these good, sensible, logical and prudent financial decisions were penalized ; they apparently and openly admit that that ( and I quote from the attached response ) " Your Equifax Risk score is calculated by a mathematical formula that evaluates the content of all account data on your credit report. If the account data on your credit report is correct then the credit score is correct '' " Please be advised that your credit score can not be updated or changed by anyone. This is an automated calculation based upon the credit report.

THEN, we can only assume, it MUST be PERFECT & FLAWLESS, ( just the way Equifax protected there data last class action law suit ) ; so it will NEVER need improvements NO MATTER HOW POORLY IT FAILS to FUNCTION & /or TRACK with good financially accepted practices ; even after someone tells them about it .... ) Apparently neither XXXX XXXX nor his designated responders bothered to offer any response as to why my credit score was reduced? Something changed right? 
I believe I did address, in my original email, the key factors that were mentioned as the reason for my lower Equifax score. ( see original email below ) and still no meaningful response To XXXX XXXX ( and CFPB ), I simply ask : Was it your mathematical formula? or " was it XXXX XXXX XXXX  failure to correctly input the reason for replacing the credit cards? or was it Equifax 's overall system that failed to allow or execute the handling of replacement credit cards? or Some or all of the above? 
Instead in Equifax 's infinite arrogance, I was given a frivolous and useless response. 
Would you ( as CEO ) accept this as an answer, if you asked the question? ( A question a lawyer might ask you ) When I asked XXXX XXXX, Sir- Please advise, if and what I ( and CFPB ) should expect - if anything? and when to expect it? Your response for the last XXXX weeks is NOTHING MEANINGFUL The reason I ask is because Equifax has often promised to open investigations and send the results to the consumers at later dates, but it has failed to provide the CFPB with the outcomes of the investigations ; and I fear this may again happen.

I reminded Equifax that this most recent Equifax faux pas has dropped my score from Exceptional to Very Good ; and thereby raising, in part, the cost of my recent auto & home insurance renewal policies ( both acknowledge they use Equifax FICO scores to calculate their premiums ). I also would consider absorbing this if Equifax can satisfactorily resolve this concern quickly ...... Still nothing I no longer trust Equifax and have a " freeze '', with all 3 credit reporting entities ; especially after Equifax 's inability to protect their data. ( Reference - XX/XX/XXXX, Equifax finally admitted to being hacked, after six weeks ; and loosing data ( for ultimately almost 150 Million individuals ). Additionally, having a multi-state investigation found that Equifax failed to implement an adequate security system, despite knowing about a critical vulnerability in its software. ) Sound familiar someone finds a problem, Equifax is told. Does Nothing, Gets Sued Remember XXXX XXXX XXXX Blowing up? Is this a matter of paying a penalty because it is cheaper and nothing gets fixed Only time will tell

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation