Consumer complaint received 2024-10-15
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report — Account information incorrect
Company: EQUIFAX, INC. (AZ)

My Father is a homeowner with no mortgage. He is retired from the XXXX XXXX and the XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX. My father has an XXXX XXXX score and has never missed or has been late paying his credit obligations. I just established my own XXXX ; previously, I had bad/no credit with a total balance due reflecting on XXXX, Equifax, and XXXX credit reports of no more than {$3500.00}. In XX/XX/XXXX, a car lender, XXXX XXXX, garnished my wagesXXXX XXXXXXXX in Arizona. XXXX XXXX gave me three different car loans after I defaulted on the first Loan in XXXX. XXXX XXXX gave me two car loans back to back. The first car was a XXXX, The second was a XXXX, and the third loan was for a XXXX. I was allowed to be a cosigner for my brother 's loan at XXXX XXXX even after defaulting on the two previous loans. All three vehicles were repossessed, and I thought that was the end of XXXX XXXX and the predatory loans. However, in XXXX, XXXX XXXX began garnishing my wages. The court clerk told me that " XXXX XXXX does this all the time, '' as I explained to her that the statute of limitation on those three loans is done, and it's been over 14 years. In XXXX of XXXX, XXXX XXXX was garnishing my wages, and at the time, I only made {$14.00} an hour. They got {$250.00} every two weeks from my paycheck and refused to stop. I tried talking with them and was told the garnishment would stop if I filed for bankruptcy and got an attorney. 
I was homeless at the time and newly employed. As of XXXX, neither loan was listed on my credit report, and 14 years passed. I paid a document processor {$250.00} to prepare my documents, and on XX/XX/XXXX, I was forced to file bankruptcy. My total debt was XXXX ; XXXX was for the car loan on a XXXX XXXX XXXX factory model. I never received any other document besides the initial loan documents, and neither of the three defaulted loans from XXXX XXXX was on my credit report. XXXX XXXX sold that XXXX for {$14000.00}, and I was still on the hook for over {$26000.00} per XXXX XXXX predatory lending and unethical business practices. 
My bankruptcy was discharged in XX/XX/XXXX. At that time, I had a balance due totaling {$3500.00} or less on my credit report. There were no mortgages or auto loans. The majority of the negative accounts on my credit were medical bills and utility accounts. The accounts were small-dollar accounts, and they were beginning to fall off my credit report. 
I have explained my financial situation regarding bankruptcy filing and why I was forced to file. My credit journey is different than most. Most individuals who file for bankruptcy do so after a foreclosure, multiple vehicle repossessions, a divorce, medical bills accumulation, and defaulted student loans. Individuals who file for bankruptcy usually file once they're overwhelmed with debt and {$500000.00} or more in debt and can no longer sustain themselves or their families financially. I was only {$29000.00} in debt and was forced to file bankruptcy ; again, {$26000.00} of that was for the vehicle judgment alone. The debt was too old to be on my credit file. At this time, I did not have a credit score. I stopped utilizing credit options, and the small balanced past due medical and utility bills were falling off my credit file. After filing for bankruptcy, I found it difficult to find any literature about rebuilding credit specific to my financial situation. I never had a home loan or mortgage that was foreclosed on or a defaulted student loan. I've never owed anyone that much money, so to file bankruptcy the way that I did put me in a different situation than most borrowers who seek bankruptcy protection. 
So, I am researching and reading literature related to my particular situation and the fact that I didn't have a credit score and never had one until I was almost XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
Before I filed for bankruptcy, I had no established credit, no foreclosure, no {$800000.00} debt, no established credit or credit score, and no information on improving or establishing credit per my specific financial challenges. 
My father, who has never defaulted on his financial obligations, has a credit score of XXXX and has paid off two houses. The latest house was paid off in XXXX XXXX. Reading the information on the credit reporting agencies and even the CFPB 's websites offers no guidance on my particular financial situation. I finally got a credit score in XX/XX/XXXX. 
Fast forwarding to XX/XX/XXXX, I finally asked my father, who has an almost perfect credit score and is extremely responsible financially, If I could be added as an authorized user on one of his credit cards because I lack the utilization and the credit history. I have low credit card limits, so my utilization is very high, and due to a dispute with my employer, I inadvertently had to get a student loan, and that was appearing on my credit report in the forbearance status as of XXXX of XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, my father agreed to add me as an authorized user on his XXXX XXXX credit card with a {$25000.00} credit limit and {$0.00} balance. No past due or collections have ever been reported on that credit card, which was opened in XXXX of XXXX. The literature I'm reading from the credit reporting agencies and other government agencies websites is that to help you build credit or establish credit, one of the options is to be added as an authorized user on someone's credit card who is responsible financially. The literature suggested that this strategy can help me improve my credit score if implemented correctly according to the instructions provided. The XXXX XXXX credit card hit my credit report on XX/XX/XXXX, and reflects that fact on all three credit reporting agencies ' credit reports. However, these agencies do not recognize that I'm an authorized user and that my utilization has gone from 99 % to 11 %. My credit history now says twenty-one years instead of three and seven months. With the added account, my utilization is now excellent at 11 %. My credit or credit history length is 21 years. My overall debt is showing positive because of the {$25000.00} credit limit on the XXXX XXXX credit card, no past due balances, no collections, and no inquiries. As of XXXX, the only new accounts were student loans, so the credit mix is also excellent, even though I have no mortgage or car loan. 
When I received the alert that a credit card was added to my credit file, I immediately logged on to experian.com to check my XXXX score ; despite all the positive factors added thanks to the XXXX XXXX  credit card, my credit score decreased. I once again went on the websites and began to read additional literature about building your credit, rebuilding your credit, or establishing credit, and nothing in the literature that I'm reading says that when all factors are presented positively, your credit score decreases. 
After reviewing my credit files, I discovered that XXXX had ignored the claim line altogether. Even though the XXXX XXXX credit card was added to my credit file as an authorized user account, my credit file still reflects the same data as if the card was not added. The data on all three credit reporting agency sites shows that the XXXX XXXX credit card is not considered and is ignored as if it was never there. 
How does my credit history or age of oldest account increases from three years seven months to twenty one years, my pecentage of available credit has decreased from 97 % to 11 %, and my available credit increases from {$96.00} to {$25000.00}, with no inquiries, no collections or past due marks, and my XXXX credit score decreases? 
I spoke to XXXX a few times, and I was not satisfied with the answers that I received because they were different. The first answer I received was that XXXX does not recognize authorized users ' accounts even though the website has pervasive literature and instructions on becoming an authorized user. It lists that strategy as a means of boosting one 's credit score. The second answer I received from XXXX is that because the XXXX XXXX  card was opened in XXXX and not reported on my credit file immediately, it does not count and will not be considered. If it does, it will have an open date, not XXXX. I explained to the XXXX representative that that was ludicrous, and my student loans were done in XXXX but did not hit my credit file until XXXX, so what he told me did not make sense. I checked XXXX, Equifax, and XXXX, and the only thing that increased was the XXXX score, which no one uses to establish if you are credit-worthy. As a matter of fact, my XXXX Score increased by XXXX points on XX/XX/XXXX, and my XXXX score decreased. 
My complaint and concern is regarding the algorithms that are used to establish if someone is creditworthy or not because algorithms that are being used to determine my creditworthiness are seriously flawed. The system is racist and has been taught to implement barriers automatically and omits information that it should be considering, and it is because of my race and other systemic factors. 
The information provided that I have been reading for years does not pertain to my particular situation because I never had credit to begin with, and I am a XXXX woman. When I filed for bankruptcy. I never had a house loan. I never had established credit. It is a proven fact that white women can reestablish credit much easier after bankruptcy if they are XXXX in debt, which includes a foreclosure, car loan that has defaulted credit card debt over XXXX, and defaulted student loans. After the bankruptcy is discharged per the algorithm, white women can walk into a bank the next day and get a mortgage and credit cards from the same back they added to their bankruptcy. 
Looking at all the factors, my credit score should not have dropped. It may not have significantly increased my credit score, but it should have increased it. I tried to use the Boost feature on the XXXX website. Again, it shows me all my recurring payments in the finance section and even breaks them down per category. I have linked all my financial accounts, but their site does not recognize anything that can be boosted. What a joke. I am convinced, and there is no other explanation, that the credit system is racist. I need to know how I can correct this and why I can not get a correct answer as to why there is a discrepancy with how the credit reporting agencies consider authorized users ' accounts. I requested to speak to supervisors. I'm still waiting to talk to a supervisor. No one calls me back. If you recognize my reoccurring payments, you should also attach that to the boost, as I understood it per the literature on the XXXX website. 
Also, after speaking with the XXXX representative today, I noticed that my personal information is now incorrect. My name is now misspelled, and my Social Security numbers are transposed and not in the correct order. The XXXX credit file is the only one that has added incorrect information, and I do not know where the information came from or who reported it to my file. I check my credit files every day, and this change has occurred. I shared with the XXXX representative that the California address that was listed is not my address ; it's my father 's, and I never lived there, but when I checked the dispute, I saw that a Minnesota XXXX XXXX had been removed. I never saw that address and did not know it was there, as it did not show when I refreshed my credit file on XX/XX/XXXX. The dispute results do not show the California address at all. XXXX has manipulated my credit file and allowed others to add incorrect data and should not have access to my credit file, period. The system is creating racial barriers so that I do not increase my credit score or any factors that would increase my score. XXXX has made it to decrease my score because my name is XXXX XXXX, indicating that I'm an XXXX woman. 
I have asked several times to speak to a supervisor because nothing makes sense, and maybe there's some glitch in the system. Every time I have been refused, I have been told that I will be put on a list and have a supervisor call me back within 72 hours. I am still waiting to receive that call. 
I demand that XXXX show the formula of the algorithm that was used to create my credit file and all the activities that have transpired thus far because I am convinced that the algorithm that they are using is racist against XXXXXXXX XXXX. It's systemic racism and racial boundaries that have been plaguing our communities will never be remedied if the credit reporting agencies do not address the apparent problems with their reporting system. If I were a white woman who has {$800000.00} in debt, which includes foreclosure, and I filed for bankruptcy, once it's discharged, I can get another mortgage. I can go get a car loan. I can get a credit card, and my credit score will increase to XXXX ; there would be no problem obtaining credit again. 
Unfortunately, I'm an XXXX woman. I'm in my late XXXX, and I'm still seeing these racist barriers that are created to ensure I never get a house and achieve my overall goal of home ownership. I want XXXX to explain why my XXXX score decreased and why the XXXX XXXX credit file is not being considered. I also have the call with XXXX recorded.