Consumer complaint received 2025-04-25 00:00:00
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem — Investigation took more than 30 days
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: MD

Complaint narrative:
Follow-Up Complaint Equifax FCRA Violations and Improper Delay Tactic To the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB ) : EQUIFAX FCRA VIOLATIONS AND METRO 2 VIOLATIONS CFPB Complaints and Responses from Equifax : XXXX Date of Complaint : XX/XX/XXXX Equifax Response Date : XX/XX/XXXX XXXX Date of Complaint : XX/XX/XXXX Equifax Response Date : XX/XX/XXXX XXXX Date of Complaint : XX/XX/XXXX Equifax Response Date : XX/XX/XXXX This is a formal rebuttal to Equifaxs XX/XX/XXXX response to my complaint regarding inaccurate reporting and FCRA violations. I filed my original CFPB complaint on XX/XX/XXXX, which clearly identified the legal grounds under the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ) and Metro 2 Compliance Guidelines for correction or deletion of certain accounts. Equifax has failed to lawfully respond within the 30-day requirement mandated under 15 U.S.C. 1681i ( a ) ( 1 ) and is now attempting to justify a non-response by claiming an inability to verify my identity.

1. Violation of FCRA 30-Day Response Window 15 U.S.C. 1681i ( a ) ( 1 ) Equifax 's response arrived more than 30 days after the dispute was submitted, in direct violation of federal law. The FCRA mandates that a consumer reporting agency must complete its reinvestigation and notify the consumer of the results within 30 days unless the consumer submits additional relevant information during the 30-day period ( which I did not ).

Their failure to meet the statutory deadline renders their reinvestigation invalid, and under the FCRA, any information that can not be verified within the statutory period must be deleted from the credit file.

2. Illegal Identity Verification Excuse Contradicts Prior Verified Complaints Equifaxs response attempts to deflect their responsibility by claiming I must resubmit identity documentation. This is completely unfounded and improper. I used the official CFPB complaint portalthe same secure federal platform I have used three ( see above references ) other times without issue. Equifaxs claim is inconsistent with their previous actions, where they acknowledged and responded to prior complaints under the exact same submission method. 

This is a bad-faith tactic and an unlawful non-response intended to evade their legal responsibilities under the FCRA. The FCRA contains no provision that allows a CRA to extend its 30-day reinvestigation window by retroactively asserting ID concerns without evidence of irregularity or fraud.

3. Ongoing Violations of FCRA and Metro 2 Standards Equifax continues to violate several federal requirements by failing to : Provide documentation showing how the disputed items were verified a violation of 15 U.S.C. 1681i ( a ) ( 7 ) Correct or remov
e inaccurate charge-off accounts that still reflect a past-due balance violating both 15 U.S.C. 1681e ( b ) and Metro 2 standards Delete unverifiable or unvalidated items violating 15 U.S.C. 1681s-2 ( b )

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation