Consumer complaint received 2025-09-24 00:00:00
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.
State: GA

Complaint narrative:
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX This account exhibits multiple willful and negligent violations of the FCRA, UCC, Metro 2 standards, and fair lending laws. The reporting is so fundamentally inaccurate and contradictory that it qualifies as unverifiable per se, warranting immediate deletion from the consumer 's credit file. Statutory and punitive damages are applicable.

1. Mathematically Impossible Credit Utilization ( Willful FCRA 1681e ( b ) Violation ) Violation : Reporting a {$740.00} balance on a {$500.00} credit limit ( 148 % utilization ) is a physical and logical impossibility. A balance can not exceed the high credit/credit limit on a revolving account.

Legal Basis : FCRA 1681e ( b ) : Requires CRAs to follow " reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy. '' Metro 2 Credit Reporting Resource Guide, Rule 4.3 : Explicitly states the " Balance '' field can not exceed the " High Credit '' or " Credit Limit '' field.

Case Law : Guimond v. Trans Union LLC, 404 F.3d 676 ( 9th Cir. 2005 ) : Held that patently impossible or contradictory information on its face violates the FCRA 's accuracy requirement. A 148 % utilization rate is patently impossible.

Cortez v. Trans Union , LLC, 617 F.3d 688 ( 3d Cir. 2010 ) : Found that a CRA 's failure to correct obviously inaccurate information can constitute a willful violation under 1681n.

2. Fraudulent Payment History & Contradictory Status Codes Violation : The account reports a " Last payment '' of XXXX XXXX, XXXX, yet shows continuous " Warning '' ( delinquent ) statuses for XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX. An account can not be delinquent for four years after the last payment was made. This indicates illegal re-aging of the delinquency date.

Legal Basis : FCRA 1681s-2 ( a ) ( 1 ) ( A ) : Prohibits furnishers from reporting information they know or have reasonable cause to believe is inaccurate.

FCRA 1681c ( f ) : Specifically governs the reporting of charged-off accounts, implying accurate dating.

FDCPA 1692e ( 2 ) ( A ) : ( If reported by a collector ) Prohibits the false representation of the character of a debt.

Case Law : Saunders v. Branch Banking & Tr. Co. ( BB & T ), 526 F.3d 142 ( 4th Cir. 2008 ) : Affirmed that furnishers have a duty to not only provide information but to ensure its accuracy.

McLaughlin v. Phelan Hallinan & Schmieg, LLP, 756 F.3d 240 ( 3d Cir. 2014 ) : Upheld that misrepresenting the status or timeline of a debt is a violation.

3. Inaccurate " Open '' Status for a Charged-Off Account ( Metro 2 Violation ) Violation : The account status is listed as " Open '' while the payment status is " Charge-off ''. Per Metro 2 guidelines, a charged-off account must be reported with an " Account Status Code '' of 9 ( Charged-off as Bad Debt ) and a " Payment Status Code '' reflecting the charge-off. Reporting it as " Open '' is materially misleading.

Legal Basis : Metro 2 Guidelines, Status Codes : Code 9 is mandatory for charged-off accounts.

FCRA 1681e ( b ) : Reporting an account as " Open '' when it has been charged off is fundamentally inaccurate.

Case Law : Seamans v. Temple University, 744 F. App ' x 715 ( 3d Cir. 2018 ) : The court emphasized that furnishers must use correct status codes to avoid misleading creditors.

4. Invalid " Amount Past Due '' on a Charged-Off Account Violation : Reporting an " Amount past due '' of {$740.00} on a charged-off account is improper. Upon charge-off, the entire balance becomes immediately due. Reporting a " past due '' amount implies ongoing, periodic payments, which is false for a charged-off, stagnant debt.

Legal Basis : Metro 2 Guidelines : The " Amount Past Due '' field is for delinquent accounts still accruing payments, not for charged-off accounts where the full balance is the obligation.

FCRA 1681s-2 ( a ) : Furnishing this misleading information violates the duty of accuracy.

5. Missing and Incomplete Data Fields ( Failure of Reinvestigation ) Violation : Critical fields are blank : " Monthly payment, '' " Remarks, '' and " Closed '' date. The " Times 30/60/90+ days late '' code of " XX/XX/XXXX '' is highly suspect and likely unverifiable. The absence of a " Date of First Delinquency '' ( DOFD ) prevents calculation of the 7-year reporting period.

Legal Basis : FCRA 1681i ( a ) ( 1 ) ( A ) : Requires CRAs to reinvestigate incomplete or unverifiable information.

12 CFR 1022.41 ( Regulation V ) : Mandates that furnishers provide complete and accurate data.

Case Law : Gorman v. Wolpoff & Abramson, LLP, 584 F.3d 1147 ( 9th Cir. 2009 ) : Held that a furnisher 's investigation in response to a dispute must be reasonable, which includes verifying the core data points of an account.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation