Consumer complaint received 2025-03-20 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: GA

Complaint narrative:
Dear Equifax Dispute Department, I am once again demanding the immediate removal of the inaccurate and unlawful reporting of the XXXX XXXX XXXX account from my credit report. Equifax has failed to properly investigate and correct this erroneous reporting despite my numerous formal disputes and FTC complaints. Your actions are in direct violation of multiple federal consumer protection laws, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ), Consumer Financial Protection Act ( CFPA ), Fair Credit Billing Act ( FCBA ), and Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act ( FACTA ). 

1. Pattern of Noncompliance and Deceptive Practices It has come to my attention that on XX/XX/year>, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB ) ordered Equifax to pay {$15.00} million for its unlawful credit reporting practices and sham investigations. The CFPB determined that Equifax engaged in the following violations that are directly relevant to my situation : A. Failing to Thoroughly Investigate Consumer Disputes Equifaxs dispute submission process limits consumers ability to fully and accurately describe their disputes and routinely ignores relevant consumer-provided evidence. 
I have submitted multiple FTC reports and documentary evidence proving the fraudulent and inaccurate nature of the XXXX XXXX XXXX account. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX has explicitly confirmed that it terminated collection efforts and is not reporting this account. Despite this, Equifax continues to report the account as valid, contradicting established evidence. 
Equifaxs failure to meaningfully review the evidence and blindly accepting a furnishers response without scrutiny are clear violations of FCRA 1681e ( b ) and FCRA 1681i. 

B. Ignoring Information Contradicting Furnisher Responses The CFPB found that Equifax routinely fails to consider whether a furnishers response makes sense or matches consumer-provided information. This pattern directly aligns with Equifaxs negligent handling of my dispute, as : XXXX XXXX XXXX stated they are not reporting the account, yet Equifax has not reconciled this contradiction or removed the account. 
Equifax has failed to provide a Method of Verification ( MOV ) despite repeated requests, violating FCRA 1681i ( a ) ( 6 ) ( B ). 
XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX have all deleted this account from my credit file, while Equifax persists in reporting false information. 

C. Reinserting Previously Deleted or Corrected Information The CFPB found that Equifax reinserted previously deleted errors without proper verification and failed to block identity-theft-related information. In my case : XXXX and XXXX both removed this fraudulent account, yet Equifax continues to report it without justification or valid evidence. 
Equifaxs failure to block previously disputed information violates FCRA 1681c-2 and FACTA 312.

2. Financial and Legal Consequences of Willful Noncompliance Due to the willful and reckless disregard of my rights, I demand the following actions within 5 business days : 1. Immediate deletion of the XXXX XXXX XXXX account from my credit report. 
2. Written confirmation that the account has been permanently deleted and will not be reinserted. 
3. Compensation of {$1000.00} per violation under FCRA 1681n and 1681o for : Failure to maintain accurate reporting. 
Negligent investigation and verification of disputes. 
Continued reporting of clearly disputed and unverified information. 
4. Written acknowledgment of liability for failing to conduct reasonable investigations and for violating multiple consumer protection statutes.

3. Legal Escalation and Media Exposure If Equifax fails to promptly resolve this matter, I will take the following steps without further notice : File formal complaints with the CFPB, FTC, and State Attorney General for continued violations of the FCRA, CFPA, FACTA, and FCBA.

Seek statutory and punitive damages through civil litigation for willful violations of my consumer rights.

Inform media outlets and consumer protection organizations about Equifaxs continued unlawful practices, including sharing documentation and proof of misconduct. 
Request a formal audit and investigation by the CFPB into Equifaxs ongoing practices regarding disputed accounts The CFPB found Equifax violated the FCRAs requirements for investigating and processing consumer disputes and assuring maximum possible accuracy of information on its consumer reports. The CFPB also found that Equifax violated the law by using ineffective systems and flawed processes, and excessively deferring to furnishers to address disputes. Specifically, the CFPB found Equifax harmed consumers by : Failing to thoroughly investigate consumer disputes : Equifaxs process for submitting disputes limits the ability of consumers to fully and accurately describe their disputes. 
In many cases, Equifax also failed to consider relevant information submitted by consumers, sometimes not looking at the information at all. Then, after Equifax forwarded information about a dispute to a furnisher, it did not meaningfully consider whether the furnishers response made sense, sometimes ignoring information it had that contradicted the furnishers response. Finally, the resulting letters Equifax sent to consumers sometimes contained confusing or contradictory statements, such as both this has been verified as accurate and this item has been deleted. 
Putting previously deleted errors back on credit reports and failing to block identity- theft related information : Equifax did not have systems to detect information that was previously removed and block that information from again appearing on the consumers credit report. In addition, Equifax also had no process to identify situations where a consumer is forced to send another dispute about the same inaccurate information because Equifax failed to correct the information the first time, or because Equifax reported information that had previously been corrected. Equifaxs policies limited consumers ability to dispute inaccurate information being put on their credit report. Finally, Equifax reported credit information that it should have blocked because the information resulted from identity theft. 
Sharing inaccurate credit scores and data about consumers with lenders : Coding errors in Equifaxs internal software caused the company to miscalculate and share inaccurate credit scores for several hundred thousand consumers. The company also reported the same credit accounts multiple times for more than 50,000 consumers. 
Enforcement Action Under the Consumer Financial Protection Act, the CFPB has the authority to take action against institutions violating consumer financial protection laws, including the FCRA, and the prohibitions on unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices under the CFPA.

Follow federal law on handling credit reporting data : Equifax must bring its dispute resolution processes into compliance with the FCRA and CFPA.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation