Consumer complaint received 2025-03-03 00:00:00
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.
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB ) Complaint Complainant Information : Name : XXXX XXXX Address : XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, CA Email : XXXX Preferred Contact Method : Email or Mail Only Complaint Against : Company Name : Dept of EducationXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX Phone : ( XXXX ) XXXX Credit Reporting Agencies Involved : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, TX XXXX Equifax XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, GA XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, PA XXXX Complaint Details I am filing this complaint against Dept of Education/Nelnet and the three major credit reporting agencies ( XXXX, Equifax, and XXXX XXXX for erroneous reporting of late payments on my student loan accounts that are currently in deferment. 

1. False Reporting of Delinquent Payments on Deferred Student Loans My federal student loans are currently deferred until XX/XX/XXXX under an approved deferment program. Despite this, Dept of EducationXXXX has reported inaccurate late payments on multiple accounts, which have negatively impacted my credit history. The affected accounts include : Account Number : XXXX ( Balance : {$1900.00} ) Account Number : XXXX ( Balance : {$4300.00} ) Account Number : XXXX ( Balance : {$1900.00} ) Account Number : XXXX ( Balance : {$4200.00} ) Account Number : XXXX ( Balance : {$1800.00} ) Account Number : XXXX ( Balance : {$4300.00} ) Account Number : XXXX ( Balance : {$3800.00} ) Account Number : XXXX ( Balance : {$3200.00} ) Account Number : XXXX ( Balance : {$2500.00} ) Account Number : XXXX ( Balance : {$2600.00} ) Account Number : XXXX ( Balance : {$4900.00} ) Account Number : XXXX ( Balance : {$4900.00} ) Account Number : XXXX ( Balance : {$4900.00} ) Account Number : XXXX ( Balance : {$6900.00} ) Under 20 U.S.C. 1083a of the Higher Education Act ( HEA ), student loans in deferment or forbearance can not be reported as delinquent. Despite this law, the loan servicer has inaccurately reported missed payments, violating federal regulations.

2. Failure to Conduct a Reasonable Reinvestigation by Credit Bureaus I disputed these inaccuracies with XXXX, Equifax, and XXXX under my rights established in XXXX U.S.C. 1681i ( a ) ( 1 ) ( A ) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ), which requires credit bureaus to conduct a reasonable reinvestigation within 30 days. Instead of conducting an independent review, the credit bureaus blindly accepted the information from XXXX without proper verification, violating : 15 U.S.C. 1681e ( b ), which mandates that credit bureaus ensure maximum possible accuracy.

15 U.S.C. 1681i ( a ) ( 5 ) ( A ), which requires that unverified information be deleted. 

Federal case law, including XXXX v. XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX Cir. 1994 ), states that credit bureaus must conduct more than a cursory review and can not solely rely on the furnishers word.

3. Use of Insufficient Evidence for Verification XXXX and the credit bureaus failed to provide any legally sufficient documentation proving the validity of the reported late payments. 
15 U.S.C. 1681i ( a ) ( 4 ) of the FCRA and CFPB guidance explicitly state that a mere account statement or automated system check is not sufficient verification. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX Banking XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX Cir. XXXX ) established that data furnishers must provide direct, verifiable documentation to validate disputed information, not just an internal report. 

4. Harm Caused by the False Reporting The inaccurate delinquency reporting has caused : Significant damage to my credit score, limiting my ability to obtain housing, credit, and other financial opportunities. 
Emotional distress, as I am being wrongfully penalized for alleged late payments that never occurred. 

Prior Attempts to Resolve the Issue I disputed these errors directly with XXXX and the credit bureaus, but they failed to remove the incorrect reporting. 
I requested documentation proving the validity of the alleged late payments, but none was provided. 
The credit bureaus ignored their responsibility under the FCRA and continued to report inaccurate data.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation