Consumer complaint received 2024-01-27
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Credit monitoring or identity theft protection services — Didn't receive services that were advertised
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc. (CA)

This case is a followup to cases XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX. The credit reporting company has once again taken steps they were not only NOT AUTHORIZED to take, but were also explicitly told not to. Further, the credit reporting companies refusal to comply with section 605b of the Fair Credit Reporting Act has and is preventing the consumer from securing housing, which has resulted in severe and irreparable harm and potential homelessness. That said, should the credit reporting company not take action to properly remove/block the information that has been repeatedly reported to them as being the result of identity theft by close of business Tuesday XX/XX/year>, a TRO will be sought to have the courts force Experian to do as its legally required to do. 

PREVIOUS COMPLAINTS DETAILS : Recently I discovered a new negative piece of information on my Experian credit report that was furnished by XXXX XXXX. On information and belief, the furnished information indicated the account was past due and charged off with a balanced owed around $ XXXX. Initially, since I am a customer of XXXX XXXX, with XXXX accounts, all of which are active and in good standing, I thought that maybe the information was submitted incorrectly, or to the wrong file, so I initiated a dispute. A few days later Experian came back and stated the information was accurate. Next I contacted XXXX XXXX and confirmed my four accounts with them were and are still active and in good standing. They were also unable to find where the negative information was coming from thus they could not provide me any further details. Having spent the last 6 years recovering from what seems like the never ending battle that comes with being the victim of identity theft, I knew the furnished information must have been the result of identity theft. Since I am a paid member of Experians, which comes with identity theft protection and a fraud resolution specialist whos with you every step of the way, my next call was to them. The agent I spoke with opened a case for me and a few days later XXXX a Fraud Resolution Specialist got in contact with me to discuss the situation. Having gone through this before, when she called I was prepared with my FTC Identity Theft Report and proper forms of Identification, which I uploaded to Experian.com through a link provided my XXXX. At the end of my call with XXXX, I was left believing that Experian would fully comply with the Law and block the information within the short time they have to do so. Boy was I wrong. Instead, 2 days later I received and email telling me the dispute I requested was now open, however I DID NOT ASK FOR THE INFORMATION TO BE DISPUTED AGAIN, NOR DID I GIVE MY PERMISSION TO ANY ONE AT EXPERIAN TO ACCESS AND SHARE MY CREDIT REPORT TO DO SO. Less then twelve hours later I received another email telling me my dispute was completed and the information was verified as valid by the furnisher ( Of course the furnisher believes its valid. Someone pretended to be me and open an account with them, so in their eyes the information is valid, when it is not. By initiating this dispute without consent, Experian caused my credit score to drop 6 points. Over the court of the next 10 days, I left no less than 35 voicemails for XXXX, at her extension, as well as in her teams general mailbox. To date ZERO of my messages have been returned. I then spent 2 pain staking days arguing, sitting on hold, being hung up on, and transfered to so many different departments at Experian, yet not a single one wanted to take ownership of the problem and help guide me to a resolution. My last call during that 2 day period, I landed at the desk of XXXX in disputes. First XXXX tells me he could not find the FTC ID Theft Report and Identification I submitted but then proceeds to tell me it doesnt matter, because in his opinion the information was valid and that he would not do anything else to assist me. When I asked for a supervisor, he first refused, then said fine and put me on hold for 45 minutes, at which time he came back on the line and ended our call. 10 minutes after he hung up on me I reviewed an email from Experian that reads : In response to the request we received to remove certain items from your credit report, we have examined the identity theft report you provided to us and have confirmed that it is a fraudulent document. Pursuant to Section 605B ( c ) ( 1 ) ( B ) and Section 611 ( a ) ( 3 ) ( A ) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, we have not blocked any items from your credit report or initiated disputes of any items on your behalf due to the fraudulent nature of the documentation we received. Deliberately providing fraudulent identity theft reports to Experian is a serious matter. Experian security personnel actively work with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies on cases involving fraudulent identity theft reports that were submitted to Experian in an effort to alter or remove data for credit repair purposes. Please be aware that Experian reserves the right to report this incident to law enforcement, creditor security personnel or the appropriate government agency listed on the identity theft report, and to request criminal prosecution of the individual ( s ) who submitted the fraudulent document. First, how can he claim he doesnt have the documents, then 10 minutes later make such egregiously false accusations about said documents. My response is simple, go right ahead and contact the authorities, would you like me to dial the number for you? I maintain the same position today, simply because I know which of us is being truthful and which is not. The following Monday, I spent another 6 hours being transferred, put on hold, and hung up on, until I finally got a supervisor who actually helped me. Since XXXX was being unresponsive, they created a new case so it could be assigned to a different specialist, and a few days later a specialist named XXXX reached out to discuss my identity theft issuers. While on the phone with him he sent me another link to upload documents and I once again sent in my FTC ID Theft Report and appropriate IDs. The next day I received an email stating that they were unable to block the information because they did not received the exact documents I uploaded the day prior. THey then once again WITHOUT MY CONSENT disputed the information, which caused my credit score to drop another XXXX points ( so thats now a 12 point reduction in my score due to Experian taking action on my credit file I did not ask for or give them consent to do ). I then began to reach out to XXXX, which I have now done more than 25 times and just like XXXX he has not responded to a single one of my messages. 

Update on complaint XXXX - Experian has now initiated two more disputes without my knowledge or consent. They have also sent me an email stating : We are responding to your request that information in your personal credit report be blocked due to identity theft. Based on our review of your request and the information available to us, we have determined that either : your request to block was made in error, or, your request to block information was based on a material misrepresentation, or, you knowingly obtained or should have known that you obtained possession of goods, services, or moneys as a result of one or more of the transactions that you are seeking to block. Therefore, we are declining your request to block one or more of the items of information. If you have additional relevant information that indicates that the disputed item ( s ) resulted from identity theft, please contact us again and provide this information. If you still believe the disputed item ( s ) is inaccurate, then we will add a statement of continued dispute to the credit report at your request. According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, our role in the dispute process is to review the accuracy and completeness of any disputed item which may include contacting the furnisher of the information or the vendor that collected the information from a public record source, and notifying them of the dispute and disclosing all relevant information regarding your dispute. When we contact the furnisher or vendor, we ask that they verify all of the information regarding the item you disputed and report back within 30 days of the date that we received your request ( 21 days for Maine residents ). To help resolve the dispute, we will review all relevant documents submitted with the dispute and will forward them to the furnisher if we are unable to resolve the issue. We review and consider the furnishers or vendors response to determine whether to accept it, reject it, or follow up for additional information. If, after processing, we find that the disputed information is inaccurate, incomplete or can not be verified, we then delete or modify that information, as appropriate. If we do not receive a response from the furnisher or the vendor within the required period, we update the item as you have requested or delete the information, and send you the results. In some instances we are able to determine whether the disputed information should be changed or deleted without having to contact the furnisher or the vendor. After we complete our processing, we send you the results. If you question the results of our dispute process, you may also contact the furnisher of information directly. Please refer to your credit report for the furnisher or public records office name, address, and phone number ( if available ). For more details, please visit Experian.com/disputeprocess.