Consumer complaint received 2025-03-25 00:00:00
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report — Personal information incorrect
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc.
State: MA

Complaint narrative:
i had an up and coming business with my XXXX started in XXXX we rented a store and started selling, & servicing appliances. we had started as 2 and ended up having 12 employees. business was great. after our first 5 years we ended up grossing 1 XXXX dollars. plans were starting to come together in expanding our company and renting out another store front with even bigger location when my father passed away on XX/XX/XXXX. it was a very tough time but the business was still on top. the next year in XXXX we got an enormous shock. rt XXXX ( XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX were our business was located ) was going to be reconstructed. this meant XXXX XXXX our business was located on was closing for the immediate future. the detour kept anyone from coming to my store. the service side of the company was strong but i new the sales were going to come to a stand still. hundreds of thousands of dollars in appliances were going to be collecting dust while the reconstruction was going on. i had to lay off our sales team for the immediate future. through the next three years i was struggling to keep the store open. i went to my bank for a small business loan and was shocked when i found out i was turned down for lack of credit. i always had a great credit score. purchasing several vehicles, a mortgage, and credit cards. i tried to go to the city of XXXX but got no support at all there either. they said to move the store to another location. this wasn't possible without a loan from the bank. three years with no customers and not being able to get a loan meant the end was coming. i had to lay off everyone and sold the remaining appliances lower than cost. with out a loan to keep me above water meant the end of my dreams. so instead of going bankrupt i closed the store and worked from my home by myself. i fell into a deep depression of failure, but i have a family and had to keep fighting. in or around XXXX my XXXX blew out its transmission. i went to buy a new vehicle and was turned down for no credit again. i was stuck buying a used XXXX for {$2500.00}. a few months later our family car broke down and was time to get a new one. again i was turned down for no credit. the dealer even told me your score looks like your dead. non of this made any sense to me because i always had credit cards and never missed a single payment on anything i owned. my mother in law had to purchase the vehicle for us. of course i paid it off early and never missed a payment. i was explaining my situation td bank in XXXX and they had a start up credit card where i could use my own money as a collateral for a credit card to gain credit. i was told in 6 months a can apply for normal card. six months later i was denied. i tried again a year later still no credit. i had the card for 3 years and still no credit. at this point the bank manager couldn't figure out why this kept happening. when she ran my credit at Experian again and this time it came up as being i was deceased. she told me my social security number was wrong. this was the first time i had heard about this. she ran it through trans first and XXXX and there i was. with credit and the correct social security number. i immediately tried to call Experian but they wouldn't allow me into there system with out a social security number. neither by phone or internet. i called trans first and XXXX and they both stated my social security was active. even they tried to help me to get in touch with Experian but with no luck. so i went back and printed out a complaint form that i could mail in to them. about a year and a half later and several mail letters i finally got a response. i received a phone call from Experian asking me to send them proof that i am alive. i gathered everything they asked for. my license, social security card, my passport, 2 forms of mail with my name and address and a response letter asking them to, basically make me alive again in there eyes. so i emailed everything to Experian three times. each time they stated they never received it. so finally i mailed it to them and in XXXX of XXXX i was told everything was corrected. Several years of heartache, depression and failure seemed to be finally going away. i was told that when my father passed they made a mistake and my social security was erased instead of his. so a month went by and my daughter was turning 16 and i wanted to buy her a car. well guess what same issue. i had no social security number with Experian again. again i had to make a dispute so i contacted Experian again and i was told they had fixed the issue and i was giving an Experian daily account where i receive emails of my report when anything happens. once again my mother in law had to purchase the vehicle while i made the payments. i was told by multiple bank officials and auto dealers that they rely on Experian over trans first and XXXX, that's why i keep getting denied. so a month later i went to get a car loan from XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX and was denied again. the bank manager told me that Experian is still denying me. she stated that my credit with XXXX and XXXX go down every time someone makes a hard inquiry on my and when its denied my credit goes down with it. even when there is a soft inquiry it hurts my score. so not only has Experian saying i have passed away but they are also hurting my credit with the other companies. that day i went and called Experian again telling them i was denied again and the person on the phone tells me " well your problem is you have 2 social security numbers ''. i sat there to let him think about what he just said and i asked him " how can i have 2 social security numbers? '' his response was " yes i see your problem now let me fix it ''. so a month later i reapplied for a loan and it went through. i finally have credit through this company. i never did anything wrong to deserve what they have put me and my family through. just when i though it was finally over i get a report from Experian saying my credit has deceased. when i looked up my information from there web site it still lists a different social security number ( i think was probably my fathers though i don't know ) and it lists my mother as my spouse, it claims i have lived in over several properties, most i never heard of. it lists my name being spelled over a dozen different ways. Experian obviously doesn't care who they hurt or are affecting nor do they try to make it right. this company changed my life in so many different ways. i could never purchase a home for me and my family, we have had to live at my mother in laws my children 's entire life. i have tried to get a line of credit at my bank for years and have always been denied for my business. for years the td bank tried to help me but couldn't do to Experian. being self employed i am never going to be able to retire because of this company. i am XXXX XXXX XXXX and have to try to make a fresh start now for what they did to me when i was young. i had know idea what one person can do to your life by not paying attention to detail. Experian hired this individual and no one supervised there work or my previous 3 claims i had to make because its still wrong in there system. nearly everyday i get a report saying my credit has decreased and i have never missed or been late for any payment. my mind is shot from having to deal with this. i hope this never happens to anyone else. the financial hardship it has cost me and my family. the growing business i lost. the worthless feeling of depression from having to live this way. having to take medication to deal with it. now i have to try to build up my credit score with them all over again, if i even can.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation