Complaint sub-issue: Personal information incorrect

On XX/XX/2021 I received a letter of denial for credit from XXXX XXXX. This was for a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX credit application. It is important to note that I maintain credit scores between 820 and 835 with both XXXX and XXXX. I work hard to maintain my credit and pay off all credit cards monthly ( except those with 0 % interest ).

My issue is that the letter notes the credit was denied based on information from Sagestream LLC ( whom I had never heard of ). According to the denial letter the reason form the denial was : 1. Date of issuance of applicant 's SSN does not match date of SSN of peers - Never heard of this, not sure what it means and my SSN has not changed 2. Applicant associated with multiple phone numbers - Not sure where this came from as I have had the same home and cell phone numbers for over 15 years.

3. Distance between applicant 's address and area code of phone number - Again, not sure where this comes from as my phone number starts with XXXX area code and I have lived in the XXXX, FL near XXXX from 20 years ). The area codes in XXXX are XXXX ( original area code and XXXX new area code ). 
4. Total account balances - My credit card utilization is 6 % and as mentioned previously all balances are paid month, except 0 % balances. 

The letter further states that they used Sagestream 's credit score of XXXX ( out of 999 ) and that in addition to the above items, " Inquiries did adversely affect the score '', where I have had only 2 inquiries in the last 3 years. The credit score system is NOT explained on their website and not sure how I could score in the 800s with every other credit reporting agency and yet score so poorly with Sagestream, this makes no sense.

I attempted to reach out to Sagestream with the number provided in the letter to find out who they are and to dispute the items ( although not sure how to dispute 1,2 & 3 above ). That directed me to their website as NO ONE answers the phone and there are no options to get to a live person. I went to the website, and while it states you can dispute online, the only way to dispute, and to freeze further inquiries with them, is to either mail or fax them all of your personal information ( PPI ) and A COPY OF YOUR DRIVER 'S LICENSE to verify your identity. Not sure how my driver 's license helps them as they certainly do not have a picture of me to match up to? Other credit reporting agencies use alternative methods to confirm your identity and allow you to dispute or freeze credit without you giving up all of your personal information.

It appears that Sagestream is spreading false and misleading information about myself ( and others when I did a search online ) and making it difficult to correct.

The CFPB needs to investigate the use of non-credit information such as the date my SSN was issued ( which I have no control over, as I am XXXX years old and when I was young the hospital did not apply for the SSN immediately, as a child I do not remember when my parents applied for my SSN, but I know my younger brother and I have numbers that are in sequence so they must have applied for both of us at the same time ), and phone number location ( not true in my case but irrelevant in a time of portable phone numbers, for example my daughter lives in FL and has a PA area code ), in any score calculations. The company should also clearly what factors are scored. They need to MAKE SURE ALL INFORMATION IS ACCURATE before using it or publishing it.