Consumer complaint received 2024-02-13
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. (CA)

Back in XXXX of 2023, I received several letters from multiple creditors claiming I was being denied credit. I even received letters denying me new bank accounts. The problem is that these inquiries were not initiated by me. For full disclosure, I am a business man that uses my credit for many business endeavors as I am constantly building new tract homes and making large purchases. My credit is excellent and in the XXXX 's. I am also a XXXX  that deals in real estate transactions and credit extensively. In other words, I am very familiar with credit and how it works or with whom I do business with. 

Upon receiving these letters I called the creditors involved in the illegal inquiries and attempts to open up bank accounts. Many of them informed me that they had not extended credit to anyone. I thought that was the end of it, but as time passed, more inquiries began to appear on my report and more notices came to the house. Since I was afraid that someone would begin to eventually succeed in opening a credit line or account under my name, I decided to file a police report and fill out an FTC approved Identity theft victim 's complaint and affidavit. I submitted the affidavit, police report, and notices from creditors to the XXXX credit bureaus. I also provided the credit bureaus with a copy of my California Driver 's license showing my current address and social security card. 

After a while, I received notices from XXXX and XXXX XXXX, but not from Equifax. 
XXXX XXXX did what they were supposed to, and placed a security freeze on my report and deleted all the fraudulent inquiries. XXXX had placed a security alert on my profile, but only deleted one of the inquiries I had challenged which was XXXX of XXXX XXXX, but not the XXXX XXXX Bank from XX/XX/year> nor the XXXX from XX/XX/year>. On top of that, a new inquiry from XXXX  XXXX XXXX had also appeared on my report. That was not the worst part about it. The worst part is that Equifax didn't do anything. 

Yesterday, I received another fraudulent inquiry from XXXX  XXXX which I did not initiate, so I figured it was time to ask a buddy of mine who is well known in XXXX for helping people with credit problems. He saw my issues and said we should call Equifax together to see if they would answer my issues. We called them today and spent over half an hour with Equifax on a conference call to which they said they were going to check for correspondence submitted to them regarding the fraud claim. Sure enough, he admitted to us that they had in fact received my correspondence, but for whatever reason, the dispute department had deemed my police report invalid. He said he double checked the paperwork and there was no reason for it to be deemed invalid and therefore he would begin the disputes to remove the inquiries himself. That sounded great until he told us that he could only do so for the inquiries which were on the police and fraud report but not for the XXXX XXXX which was conducted yesterday. He even acknowledged that he was aware that the inquiry was obviously after I did the police report and fraud affidavit, but due to Equifax 's rules, there was nothing he could do. I could either submit another written dispute, or I could go to the creditor directly so they could send me a notice saying it was going to be removed. Then I could submit that letter to Equifax for removal. 

The weird part is that it gets even worse than that. Because of the new XXXX XXXX Inquiry from yesterday appeared on XXXX as well, I tried to log in to my XXXX account and found that I could not. It said that my password was incorrect. When I then tried to change my password, it said that it could not find an account profile for me. Beyond annoyed, I decided to call XXXX so they could remove the inquiries which they hadn't removed as well as the new one. XXXX really made my head explode with frustration in how they responded to me. They said that because this was a fraud or identity theft dispute, they could not assist me because it had to go to the fraud department and they were closed for the day. When I then asked if I could initiate a regular dispute, I was told that they couldn't because for disputes on inquiries which are not deemed fraud I would have to contact the creditor directly and then he started quoting the F.C.R.A and the C.F.P.B which I know are the credit reporting laws and yourself. It was very telling that he would cite and quote the law and your agency to disregard my plea for assistance. But by that point, I had had enough. 

During the phone call with the XXXX representative I informed him that under the F.C.R.A. and under the supervision of you, the C.F.P.B., XXXX had 30 days to conclude an investigation on my disputes and send me results on said disputes. Why hadn't they done so? The representative acknowledged that he understood my concerns and then mentioned that it was my right to file this complaint. After some more banter which I won't get into as I don't want this to become a dissertation length complaint, he asked if I would like the number to a different complaint department to which I simply said no and ended the call. 

All of this is being given to you in hopes that you can make XXXX and Equifax do what they are supposed to according to what XXXX 's rep stated was their policy under the F.C.R.A. and C.F.P.B. rules and regulations. I don't see why I, nor anyone else for that matter, should have to jump through unnecessary hoops and hurdles to get something this serious done. This is no simple thing, and the constant inquiries and notices from creditors are worrying to the point where I am unable to sleep at night because I don't know if someone will gain access to loans or bank accounts under my name and ruin what I have strived for over 20 years to maintain. For someone who is less educated than I or at the very least less versed in credit to go through this would be enough for them to simply give up or pay someone absurd amounts of money since the credit bureaus are so difficult to deal with, or so it seems.