Consumer complaint received 2025-07-25 00:00:00
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Improper use of your report — Credit inquiries on your report that you don't recognize
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
Equifax is currently reporting several hard inquiries on my credit file that I did not authorize, initiate, or consent toeach of which represents a violation of my rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. These inquiries appeared without my knowledge and without any corresponding credit application or transaction on my part. Specifically, Equifax is showing hard inquiries from XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX, and TRUIST dated XX/XX/XXXX. These entries were not prompted by any request I made for credit, loans, or financial services and have no legitimate basis for appearing on my file. 

Equifax has a legal obligation under 15 U.S.C. 1681b ( f ) to ensure that only those with a permissible purpose may access a consumers credit report. None of these entities had such a purpose in my case. I did not submit any credit applications to these companies, did not establish any business relationship with them, and received no pre-inquiry notice or communication regarding any intent to access my credit profile. The inclusion of these inquiries on my report reflects a complete breakdown in Equifaxs gatekeeping function and a disregard for the protections granted to consumers under federal law. 

In addition, Equifax failed to uphold its duty under 15 U.S.C. 1681e ( a ), which mandates that consumer reporting agencies must maintain strict procedures to ensure that credit information is disclosed only for permissible purposes. These inquiries occurred outside of any context that would justify Equifax granting access to my credit file. Whether these inquiries were the result of faulty system logic, unauthorized reseller activity, third-party error, or improper data handling, the responsibility lies with Equifax to prevent such entries from ever appearing in the first place. 

When I disputed these unauthorized inquiries with Equifax, I received a canned response stating that the inquiries were accurately reported. That is not a reinvestigation. That is a failure to investigate at all. Under 15 U.S.C. 1681i ( a ), Equifax is required to conduct a reasonable reinvestigation of any disputed item. Simply restating that an inquiry exists in the system is not the same as verifying that it was lawful. At no point did Equifax provide documentation from XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX proving that I authorized the inquiry or that a permissible purpose existed. No signed application, no date-stamped loan request, no digital consent formnothing. That is a blatant violation of the FCRAs reinvestigation requirement and a disservice to every consumer who expects factual integrity in their credit file. 

The impact of these unauthorized inquiries has been both financial and emotional. Ive experienced unnecessary score drops, been flagged by lenders for excessive inquiries, and lost access to credit products that I otherwise qualified for. These inquiries give the false impression that Ive been actively applying for credit when I have not. That misrepresentation has real consequences in automated lending systems and manual underwriting reviews alike. Moreover, the stress of dealing with unauthorized access to my private financial profileonly to be dismissed with empty verified responseshas left me feeling powerless and ignored.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation