Consumer complaint received 2023-08-17
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: CT
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Account information incorrect

Complaint:
I am writing to request your assistance in removing unauthorized hard inquiries from my credit report. I have the right to privacy under the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ) and my rights have been violated multiple times under various USC codes. According to USC 1681b, a credit reporting agency can only provide information to a party with a " legitimate business need '' for the information. However, in my case, I did not give any written permission to the credit reporting agencies, to furnish my accounts to any third party. Additionally, USC 1681g requires that a credit reporting agency must obtain written authorization before releasing any credit report to anyone. In my case, I did not give the credit reporting agencies written authorization to release my credit report to the parties who made these unauthorized hard inquiries. I did not consent to, or authorize nor benefit from any of the following inquiries. Please Block and remove it. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( Finance ) XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX ( Bank ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  ( Bank ) XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( Finance ) XX/XX/XXXX Additionally, all Promotional Inquiries must be removed as well as Account Review Inquiries because I've opted out. Under 15 U.S. Code 6805 the cfpb must enforce these codes that 've been violated. 16 CFR 313.7 - Form of opt out notice to consumers ; opt out methods. - ( f ) Continuing right to opt out. A consumer may exercise the right to opt out at any time. Every discrepancy I mentioned herein is also a violation of the Privacy Act of 1974 FCRA Permissible Purpose The FCRA protects consumer privacy in multiple ways, including by limiting the circumstances under which consumer reporting agencies may disclose consumer information. For example, FCRA section 604, entitled Permissible purposes of consumer reports, identifies an exclusive list of permissible purposes for which consumer reporting agencies may provide consumer reports,8 including in accordance with the written instructions of the consumer to whom the report relates and for purposes relating to credit, employment, and insurance. The statute states that a consumer reporting agency may provide consumer reports under these circumstances and no other. In addition, FCRA section 607 ( a ) requires that [ e ] very consumer reporting agency shall maintain reasonable procedures designed to... limit the furnishing of consumer reports to the purposes listed under section 604. And FCRA section 620 imposes criminal liability on any officer or employee of a consumer reporting agency who knowingly and willfully provides information concerning an individual from the agencys files to an unauthorized person. In addition to imposing permissible purpose limitations on consumer reporting agencies, the FCRA limits the circumstances under which third parties may obtain and use consumer report information from consumer reporting agencies. FCRA section 604 ( f ) provides that a person shall not use or obtain a consumer report for any purpose unless the consumer report is obtained for a purpose for which the consumer report is authorized to be furnished under [ FCRA section 604 ] and the purpose is certified in accordance with FCRA section 607 by a prospective user of the report through a general or specific certification. FCRA section 619 imposes criminal liability on any person who knowingly and willfully obtains information on a consumer from a consumer reporting agency under false pretenses. The FCRAs permissible purpose provisions are thus central to the statutes protection of consumer privacy. Consumers suffer harm when consumer reporting agencies provide consumer reports to persons who are not authorized to receive the information or when recipients of consumer reports obtain or use such reports for purposes other than permissible purposes. These harms include the invasion of consumers privacy, as well as reputational, emotional, physical, and economic harms. The Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission ( FTC ) have collectively brought numerous enforcement actions to address violations of the FCRAs permissible purpose provisions. For example, in a case that resulted in a 2006 settlement with a consumer reporting agency, the FTC alleged that the agency violated the FCRAs permissible purpose provisions by providing consumer reports to persons without a permissible purpose, resulting in at least 800 cases of identity theft. More recently, in 2020, a group of companies and individuals settled Bureau allegations that they obtained consumer reports without a permissible purpose when they obtained consumer reports for use in marketing debt relief services. Also in 2020, a mortgage broker settled FTC allegations that it used consumer reports for other than a permissible purpose when, in response to negative reviews on a website, it publicly posted information it had obtained from a consumer report about the reviewer.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation