Consumer complaint received 2024-03-24
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem — Their investigation did not fix an error on your report
Company: EQUIFAX, INC. (MD)

On XX/XX/XXXX I pulled my Equifax credit report. A charged off account with XXXX XXXX showed the date of first delinquency as XX/XX/XXXX, scheduling deletion for XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I pulled my Equifax credit report again. The charged off account had not been deleted- it had been re-aged. Equifax was now reporting the date of first delinquency as XX/XX/XXXX. Simultaneously, they were reporting the date closed as XX/XX/XXXX. So on XX/XX/XXXX, I submitted a dispute stating that the account had been illegally re-aged & the information they provided conflicted itself ( an account can not become 1st delinquent XXXX years after an account is closed ), and requested the account be deleted from my credit report as it is too old to report. The results of their investigation were no changes made. I disputed the information again & on XX/XX/XXXX, Equifax completed its " investigation '' stating that " The information you disputed has been updated as well as other information on this item. Account # - XXXXXXXX  The results are : THIS CREDITOR HAS VERIFIED TO OUR COMPANY THAT THE CURRENT STATUS IS BEING REPORTED CORRECTLY. THIS CREDITOR HAS VERIFIED TO OUR COMPANY THAT THE PRIOR PAYING HISTORY IS BEING REPORTED CORRECTLY. THIS CREDITOR/AGENCY HAS VERIFIED TO OUR COMPANY THAT THE DATE OF LAST ACTIVITY IS BEING REPORTED CORRECTLY. THE FOLLOWING FIELDS HAVE BEEN MODIFIED : *ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. '' After this dispute, Equifax was still reporting the date of 1st delinquency as XX/XX/XXXX & the closed date as XX/XX/XXXX. So I disputed again, and on XX/XX/XXXX the results of the dispute Equifax provided stated " THIS CREDITOR HAS VERIFIED TO OUR COMPANY THAT THE CURRENT STATUS IS BEING REPORTED CORRECTLY. THE PRIOR PAYING HISTORY ON THIS ACCOUNT HAS BEEN UPDATED. THIS CREDITOR HAS VERIFIED TO OUR COMPANY THAT THE BALANCE IS BEING REPORTED CORRECTLY. THE FOLLOWING FIELDS HAVE BEEN MODIFIED : *ADDITIONAL INFORMATION *ACCOUNT HISTORY '' at which time they removed the closed date of the account from my credit report. So I disputed again on XX/XX/XXXX, and this time I provided supporting documentation from the District Court. This documentation was a copy of a legal filing XXXX XXXX filed to obtain a civil judgement. In the court filing, XXXX XXXX stipulated the last payment received on the account was XXXX, XXXX and the account was charged off on XX/XX/XXXX. Equifax completed their " investigation '' on XX/XX/XXXX, and responded " THIS CREDITOR HAS VERIFIED TO OUR COMPANY THAT THE CURRENT STATUS IS BEING REPORTED CORRECTLY. THIS CREDITOR HAS VERIFIED TO OUR COMPANY THAT THE PRIOR PAYING HISTORY IS BEING REPORTED CORRECTLY. WE HAVE VERIFIED THAT THIS ITEM HAS BEEN REPORTED CORRECTLY. THE FOLLOWING FIELDS HAVE BEEN MODIFIED : *ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called Equifax and asked them how they could still be reporting this information when it is not allowed after XX/XX/XXXX. They stated the court documentation ( which is publicly available to download from the court website ) was invalid. When I asked why, they stated that is a decision their investigation team made, but they were not informed of the reasoning and I could not speak to anyone regarding the reason for the invalidation of the legal document provided. I asked why the date of first delinquency had been altered to re-age the account- they stated they couldn't see the previous documentation showing it had been altered so they couldn't answer my question. I asked how they could report first delinquency as being XXXX years after the account was charged off. They stated that was the information they were given by XXXX XXXX  I asked what documentation XXXX XXXX submitted to prove the information was valid. They said that was confidential and I should call XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX is purposefully and willfully re-aging this account in an attempt to violate the FCRA. Equifax has been negligent in their reporting and investigation of the numerous disputes filed. Furthermore, the were willfully reckless in reporting information that couldn't possible be accurate or true ( Closed date of XXXX, Date of 1st Delinquency XX/XX/XXXX ) & all attempts to correct the information led to the accurate information being removed and the dishonest information remaining. XXXX XXXX  has a long history of violating FCRA regulations. Equifax has failed in their fiduciary duty to report accurate and truthful information, by reporting conflicting information that could not possible be accurate & by reporting whatever XXXX XXXX  tells them to, regardless of how much documentation is provided to show that information in contrary to the truth. They have made me file another dispute on XX/XX/XXXX & will not discuss it with me until the investigation is complete. The will not discuss the dispute that was completed on XX/XX/XXXX because the documentation provided is " invalid '', although they can not tell me why it is invalid. They will not get onto an internet browser and look up the court case, which is public record. XXXX XXXX XXXX Equifax are committing actual harm because I need to purchase a vehicle and their refusal to abide by the fiduciary duty they are bound to is preventing my ability to obtain a reasonable interest rate on an auto loan. Both companies should be fined and held liable for willfully and negligently violating FCRA regulations since XX/XX/XXXX.