Consumer complaint received 2025-09-11 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: GA

Complaint narrative:
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXX/XX/XXXX SSN ( Last 4 ) : XXXX Email : XXXX Phone : XXXX Account Number : XXXX Reported Balance : {$1700.00} Background Dispute Timeline with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX letter sent to XXXX ( Debt Validation Letter ). 
Response received : XXXX  for {$760.00} XX/XX/XXXX XXXX letter sent to XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ). 
Response received : XXXX for {$1400.00} XX/XX/XXXX Certified letter sent to XXXX. 
No response received. Ref. # XXXX XX/XX/XXXX Direct dispute filed with credit bureaus. 

XX/XX/XXXX Bureaus responded as verified, but did not specify what was verified. 

XX/XX/XXXX Email filed with XXXX XXXX. 
Response : Account is still owed, referred to XXXX XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX XXXX CFPB complaint filed. 

For the past XXXX months, I have made repeated and documented attempts to obtain proper validation of this alleged XXXX account. These attempts included certified mail, email, and telephone calls to the recovery team. In response, I received only copies of invoicesone showing XXXX balance, another showing a different balance. This contradictory information is confusing, misleading, and inadequate under the law. 

I then filed formal disputes with the credit bureaus, who are required under the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ), 15 U.S.C. 1681i to conduct a reasonable reinvestigation. Instead, the bureaus merely transmitted my dispute to XXXX and parroted back the creditors response of 'verified as accurate. ' What did you verify? A bill or invoice alone is not legally sufficient to validate a debt. Both XXXX and the bureaus failed in their statutory duties. 
Legal Standards FCRA 1681s-2 ( b ) : Once notified of a dispute, furnishers must conduct a reasonable investigation and delete information that can not be verified. Simply regurgitating an invoice without reviewing contracts, IMEI/device identifiers, applications with signatures, or the chain of account ownership does not satisfy this requirement. 
FDCPA 809 ( 15 U.S.C. 1692g ) : Debt collectors must cease collection until proper validation is provided. This applies to third-party recovery teams attempting to collect on XXXX behalf. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX : Courts held that furnishers must provide objectively verifiable proof and can not simply rely on bare system responses or bills. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  : Established that credit bureaus can not blindly rely on the furnishers wordthey must ensure disputes are investigated in good faith. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  : Reinforces that credit bureaus must do more than 'rubber stamp ' a creditors response. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  : Furnishers who fail to conduct a proper investigation and continue reporting disputed information may be liable for damages. 
Violations XXXX. XXXX failed to provide contract, IMEI/device data, or signed applicationsinformation necessary to validate the debt. Supplying conflicting invoices is not validation. ( XXXX violated FDCPA 1692g ( b ) and FCRA 1681s-2 ( b ) ( 1 ) ( A ) - ( D ). 
XXXX Credit Bureaus failed to conduct a meaningful reinvestigation and instead relied solely on XXXX say-so, despite my evidence. ( The Credit Bureaus violated FCRA 1681i ( a ) ( 1 ) ( A ), 1681i ( a ) ( 2 ) ( A ), 1681i ( a ) ( 4 ), and 1681e ( b ). ) XXXX. These failures violate my rights under the FCRA and FDCPA, exposing XXXX and the bureaus to statutory and actual damages. 
Harm Suffered As a direct result of this inaccurate and unverifiable reporting : I have been denied favorable credit terms and interest rates. 
My creditworthiness has been unfairly tarnished. 
I have suffered both financial harm and reputational damage. 
Bottom Line : ( FCRA gives me rights to accurate reporting, proper reinvestigations, and the ability to seek damages for willful/negligent violations ) Request for Transmission Systems and Data Integrity 1. e-OSCAR ( Electronic Online Solution for Complete and Accurate Reporting ) : Primary system used by Experian, Equifax, TransUnion , and XXXX for consumer XXXX. Disputes are transmitted as ACDV forms. Furnishers often respond by clicking 'verified ' without reviewing original contracts or documentation. This reduces disputes into short codes and strips away evidence submitted by consumers. 
XXXX. XXXX XXXX Format : Standardized data format created by the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ). Creditors and collectors furnish bulk data monthly. It does not include source documents, making errors common. Disputes are frequently checked against the same flawed Metro 2 data. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Forms : XXXX is the bureau-to-furnisher form for verifying disputes ; AUD is the furnisher-to-bureau update form to correct, delete, or modify information. Both are electronic shortcuts rarely tied to original documents. 
XXXX. Direct Interfaces : Some large creditors like XXXX use direct bureau interfaces built on Metro 2/ACDV standards. These suffer from the same lack of documentary evidence. 
XXXX. Transmission Log Request : I hereby request a full transmission log of all XXXX XXXX, Metro 2, and e-OSCAR communications between XXXX and the credit bureaus regarding the following : Account Number : XXXX Invoice Number : XXXX Reported Balance : {$1700.00} This log will confirm what was actually 'verified ' and by what method. 
XXXX. Data Breach Concerns : TransUnions XXXX data breach raises serious questions about the reliability and integrity of its systems. If bureaus already fail to comply with FCRA reinvestigation duties, consumers can not trust the accuracy of information transmitted post-breach. 
XXXX. Legal Support : Case law including XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  confirms that both furnishers and bureaus must do more than rely on invoices or internal datathey must produce verifiable proof and conduct a meaningful reinvestigation.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief