Consumer complaint received 2024-09-28 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: NY

Complaint narrative:
On or around XX/XX/year>, an unverified collections account appeared on my XXXX  consumer credit report ( among other credit reporting bureaus ) as a result of incorrect and incomplete information furnished by an entity appearing to be a debt collection business called " XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX ''. I was notified of this materially harmful change to my credit profile by XXXX XXXX, and I submitted a first dispute request to Equifax, which Equifax 's automated system confirmed receipt of also on XX/XX/year>. Only 10 days thereafter, on XXXX XX/XX/year>, I was notified that my dispute was " completed '' as defined by Equifax, with the only information given being " WE VERIFIED THAT THIS ITEM BELONGS TO YOU. '' No other details were provided. At this time, I sent XXXX XXXX mail to XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX at the address provided on the account Equifax placed on my credit report, given Equifax 's refusal to conduct a proper investigation of the incorrect ( a ) amounts, ( b ) dates ( c ) itemization, and most importantly ( d ) obligation [ allegedly by me ] of this debt. As written on my credit report, every single one of these account details is inaccurate. There has been no response or incremental information provided from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  at all since then, and in fact I am not able to independently verify that entity is a legitimate and licensed debt collector. That correspondence from me ( which again received absolutely no response from the alleged creditor ) is attached for the CFPB 's reference, along with proof of delivery as provided by the XXXX. Included in my information requests are details so fundamental that even a cursory investigation, if anything was done at all by Equifax, would necessitate these answers to verify the legitimacy of an account on a consumer credit report ( especially one as harmful as a nearly {$1000.00} alleged collection account like this ). As Equifax has refused to share any details, it is clear they have conducted no proper investigation of the account and rather opted to simply " rubber stamp '' the information this uncontactable debt collector is reporting. Exasperated by Equifax 's sham so-called " online dispute '' process, I have given up on my fruitless attempts at getting Equifax to XXXX as clearly required by the FCRA - conduct a reasonable and actual investigation into this disputed collection account. Therefore, with no other recourse, I am submitting this complaint to the CFPB explicitly requesting that Equifax finally fulfill its long overdue FCRA-required obligation to conduct a reasonable investigation into disputed accounts and more importantly to provide the EXPLICIT DOCUMENTATION USED TO VERIFY THESE DISPUTED ITEMS ( as thus far, neither Equifax nor the creditor named on the wrongful account have provided any such information ). In the interim, with each passing day, Equifax 's incorrect credit report is causing material financial harm to me and limiting my access to financial products because of unverified and incorrect information Equifax continues to furnish to financial institutions ( which is tantamount to defamation as well ). Finally, it is worth noting that less unscrupulous consumer credit reporting agencies, XXXX specifically, did in fact conduct proper investigations into this matter and were reasonable enough to remove the incorrect and unverified information from my credit report.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief