Consumer complaint received 2019-03-21
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: MD
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Information belongs to someone else

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX : Divorced from my now ex-wife, she was ordered to close all joint accounts within 10 days of the decree being signed, and all accounts were paid from an escrow account through the lawyer. I have the statement showing the balance paid. I attempted to close the account with XXXX XXXX and I was told I could not because I was only an authorized card holder. 

XXXX : XXXX XXXX associated the credit card with a new account number but my name remained on the account. ( I did not find this out until XXXX XXXX sent me all of the credit card statements from XX/XX/XXXX to present ). 

XXXX XXXX : Realized that the XXXX XXXX  account was never closed, my ex wife had continued to use the card ( against court order-proof in the decree ), and that she had then gone delinquent in payments in excess of 180 days. I attempted to call XXXX XXXX to have the issue fixed and then was told that it was a joint account and I was responsible for the debt as well. This is in direct conflict to what I was told when I had attempted to close the card in XXXX. My ex wife had her lawyer draft a statement that she was solely responsible for the debts incurred after the original balance had been paid off, and all charges were without my knowledge or consent. I filed a complaint with XXXX XXXX and all credit report agencies. The dispute showed up on my credit, even though XXXX XXXX denied the dispute and kept the account history on my account. My credit score at least improved and the dispute showed up on my reports. 

late XXXX : I received notification that my credit score dropped by over 100 points. Upon inspection of my credit report, it showed the dispute had been removed from my account. This is contrary to the letter I had received from XXXX XXXX stating the dispute would remain on my report until I asked for its removal. I never authorized the removal of the dispute. 

Early XXXX I sent a second dispute to XXXX XXXX, again requesting that all account history from XX/XX/XXXX to present be removed from my credit report. I received no response even though I sent the letter via certified mail, and received confirmation that they signed for the package. What DID happen, was my ex wife 's name then became associated with my new address and we now receive her collection correspondence and credit card offers to our address. She has never lived here and her name should not be associated with my address in any way, shape, or form. I also only see the payment history for that account on all 3 credit report agencies from XX/XX/XXXX ( when I made the original dispute ) to present. 

This continues to negatively affect my credit, having gone from a low-mid 700s to a low 600s. I hold a high security clearance and if I can not get this issue resolved, I could potentially lose my security clearance, and my job that it is associated with. Additionally, my wife and I are unable to buy a house, as my ex-wife has gone severely delinquent AGAIN on this account and not only is not paying, but the payments that are auto-paying are being returned. I have attempted several times to resolve this issue with XXXX and they refuse or flat out ignore me. 

I have included the same documentation I sent to XXXX XXXX. The divorce decree, the lawyer letter, and the credit card statement.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation