Consumer complaint received 2024-07-07
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Improper use of your report — Reporting company used your report improperly
Company: EQUIFAX, INC. (GA)

Dear Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, I am writing to submit a formal complaint against the Department of Education and any affiliated educational loan servicers for violations of my federally protected privacy rights pertaining to the handling and disclosure of my confidential educational loan records and data. I am also making this complaint against the consumer reporting agencies XXXX, XXXX, and Equifax, which are non affiliates of the Department of Education. This complaint pertains to account # XXXX Date opened : XX/XX/XXXX Balance : {$900.00}, which is shown on my XXXX report, on my Equifax report, it states account # XXXX Date opened : XX/XX/XXXX Balance : {$800.00}, on XXXX Account # XXXX Date opened : XX/XX/XXXX Balance : {$800.00} There is a lot of inaccurate inconsistent information which is a violation of XXXX. Congressional findings and statement of purpose [ XXXX U.S.C. 1681 ] ( a ) Accuracy and fairness of credit reporting. The Congress makes the following findings : ( 1 ) The banking system is dependent upon fair and accurate credit reporting. Inaccurate credit reports directly impair the efficiency of the banking system, and unfair credit reporting methods undermine the public confidence which is essential to the continued functioning of the banking system, which XXXX, XXXX, and Equifax have violated, resulting in falsely damaging my creditworthiness, which has damaged me mentally and caused me physical distress. ( 4 ) There is a need to ensure that consumer reporting agencies exercise their grave responsibilities with fairness, impartiality, and a respect for the consumers right to privacy. ( b ) Reasonable procedures - It is the purpose of this subchapter to require that consumer reporting agencies adopt reasonable procedures for meeting the needs of commerce for consumer credit, personnel, insurance, and other information in a manner which is fair and equitable to the consumer, with regard to the confidentiality, accuracy, relevancy, and proper utilization of such information in accordance with the requirements of this subchapter. Under the provisions of the The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ( FERPA ), which is a federal law enacted in 1974 that protects the privacy of student education records, FERPA applies to any public or private elementary, secondary, or post-secondary school. 20 USC 1232g ( b ), which means all educational loan information maintained by the Department of Education is considered a protected education record subject to strict privacy controls. Unlawful dissemination or release of these records constitutes a FERPA violation. It has come to my attention that there have been improper actions related to the treatment and sharing of my private educational loan details by the Department of Education. I am very saddened that my educational records have been mishandled, inaccurately reported, and wrongfully disclosed without my consent, which is in violation of the Privacy Act of 1974 ( 5 U.S. Code 552a ). ( b ) Conditions of Disclosure. - This law states that " No agency shall disclose any record which is contained in a system of records by any means of communication to any person or to another agency, except pursuant to a written request by, or with the prior written consent of, the individual to whom the record pertains. '' I have not given the U.S. Department of Education my written consent, nor have I given XXXX, XXXX, or Equifax my written consent to report this information. XXXX, XXXX, and Equifax are non-affiliates of The Department of Education, which is a violation of XXXX XXXX XXXX ( b ) ( c ), which states that " A financial institution may not disclose nonpublic personal information to a nonaffiliated third party unless the consumer is given an explanation of how the consumer can exercise that nondisclosure option. I was never informed of my right to exercise my nondisclosure option. Not only that, 15 U.S. Code 1681C ( a ) ( 5 ) states '' Except as authorized under subsection ( b ), no consumer reporting agency may make any consumer report containing any of the following items of information any other adverse item of information, other than records of convictions of crimes which antedates the report by more than seven years. '' This account is an adverse item they are reporting again without my permission, which is against the law. 15 U.S. Code 1681s-2 ( A ) ( 1 ) A states, " A person shall not furnish any information relating to a consumer to any consumer reporting agency if the person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the information is inaccurate. 15 U.S. Code 1681e states, " Every consumer reporting agency shall maintain reasonable procedures designed to avoid violations of Section 1681c of this title and to limit the furnishing of consumer reports to the purposes listed under Section 1681b of this title. XXXX, XXXX, and Equifax are not maintaining reasonable procedures. Therefore, I demand that the above account be deleted due to the fact that they are illegally reporting.Such actions would not only breach XXXX 's confidentiality requirements for education records but also run counter to the XXXX intent behind the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This is my second attempt to get this situation resolved. I sent a dispute letter to XXXX, XXXX, and Equifax on XX/XX/XXXX, but received no response at all in any form, effectively being disregarded, which violates 15 U.S. Code 1681n Civil liability for willful noncompliance and 15 U.S. Code 1681o Civil liability for negligent noncompliance. I'm entitled to monetary compensation under FCRA 15 U.S.C. 1681i ( 6 ) Notice of Results of Reinvestigation. ( A ) In general. A consumer reporting agency shall provide written notice to a consumer of the results of a reinvestigation under this subsection not later than XXXX business days after the completion of the reinvestigation, by mail or, if authorized by the consumer for that purpose, by other means available to the agency. ( B ) Contents. As part of, or in addition to, the notice under subparagraph ( A ), a consumer reporting agency shall provide to a consumer in writing before the expiration of the 5-day period referred to in subparagraph ( A ) ( I ) a statement that the reinvestigation is completed. Pursuant to the FCRA. I am requesting the CFPB to immediately open an investigation into this apparent violation of my statutory student privacy rights by the Department of Education and any involved educational loan servicers and non-affiliates, which are the consumer reporting agencies XXXX, XXXX, and Equifax. Failure to safeguard my protected records is unacceptable. Please ensure accountability and prevent any future infractions against lawfully-required student data privacy and confidentiality standards. Thank you for your timely attention to this serious matter of protecting student privacy rights.