Consumer complaint received 2025-07-23 00:00:00
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report — Information belongs to someone else
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: WA

Complaint narrative:
In XX/XX/year>2025, I got an alert that XXXX, a collection agency hired by XXXX XXXX XXXX, was reporting a debt of {$2100.00} on my Equifax, XXXX  and XXXX  profiles. I previously submitted a complaint about XXXX connected to this issue ( XXXX ), which has been forwarded to the FTC. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I submitted a request to XXXX to validate this alleged debt. Then, on XX/XX/year>2025, I submitted an online dispute to Equifax ( as well as XXXX  and XXXX  ) asking them to validate the alleged debt. That dispute confirmation # is XXXX. 

On XX/XX/scrub> 2025, I received a response from Equifax stating : >>> We have researched the collection account. Account # - * XXXX The results are : THIS ITEM HAS BEEN DELETED FROM THE CREDIT FILE. If you have additional questions about this item please contact : XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, TX XXXX Phone : ( XXXX ) XXXX. 

I also received a letter from XXXX dated XX/XX/scrub> 2025, reporting that they had canceled the account and requested deletion from all 3 credit bureaus. 

On XX/XX/year>2025, I purchased an updated credit report and noted that the account still had not been deleted from my Equifax profile. It was, however, removed from XXXX  and XXXX. I called Equifax and spoke with an agent who assured me he was submitted it for deletion again, and it should be removed within an hour. He gave me a confirmation # ( XXXX ) then asked me why I had canceled my paid Equifax monitoring service. I was actually still enrolled in a {$4.00} per month monitoring serivce, but I told him I wasn't interested in the service anymore. ) A few hours later, the account was still showing ( I paid for yet another updated credit report to ensure it was refreshed ), so I submitted a second online dispute ( confirmation # XXXX ) reporting the 2 prior promises of deletion. 

I then called Equifax last week to inquire about the status and was told they can't delete the item because my second dispute is still under investigation, and essentially told me it was my fault that it was still there because I should have waited a full 30 days for them to delete the account after telling me in writing that it had already been deleted. ( Nothing in their letter which said the item " HAS BEEN DELETED '' indicates that it could take up to 30 days to be removed from my credit report. ) I called Equifax again today to inquire about the status again. The call was supposedly escalated to the highest team possible, and they told me it was " a complicated situation '' and I " shouldn't have disputed it again when it wasn't removed the first time. '' I'm now being told it could take up to 30 days to get a response from my second dispute, and up to another 30 days to remove the account after that response comes back. I've offered to provide them with a copy of the letter from XXXX, because they claim they never received any communications from them, but they didn't give me an avenue to provide that.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation