Consumer complaint received 2025-04-08 00:00:00
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report — Old information reappears or never goes away
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: GA

Complaint narrative:
3RD REQUEST Re : Dispute of Violations of the CARES Act Full Name : XXXX XXXX Social Security # XXXX Date of Birth : XX/XX/XXXX Current Address : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX GA XXXX Legal Department , This credit dispute is being submitted as a notification to creditors who are in violation of the CARES Act during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The accounts that are being disputed are either in violation of the CARES Act or do not belong to me. Policy states... 

Statement on Supervisory and Enforcement Practices Regarding the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Regulation V considering the CARES Act The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection ( Bureau ) recognizes the serious impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the financial well-being of many consumers and on the operations of many supervised entities, including actors in the consumer reporting system, and the challenges of this unique and rapidly evolving situation. The President signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act ( " CARES Act ), which provides critical emergency assistance to consumers and businesses affected by COVID-19 and includes provisions addressing consumer reporting requirements. 

Consumer report information is critical to consumers and industry in determining who obtains credit, insurance, and housing, and at what price, and who obtains employment in many cases. Consumer reporting has enormous reach, as evidenced by the over XXXX XXXX consumers in the United States who have credit files and trade lines furnished by over XXXX providers. The continued operation of the consumer reporting system will play a critical role in the functioning of the consumer financial services market, promoting fair and efficient access to credit and benefiting consumers and creditors alike. The Bureau understands that the current crisis impacts the financial well-being of consumers and poses operational challenges for consumer reporting agencies and furnishers, including staffing challenges, that could temporarily impede their ability to timely comply with their statutory and regulatory consumer reporting obligations. 

The Bureau is therefore issuing this policy statement ( Policy Statement ) to highlight furnishers ' responsibilities under the CARES Act and inform consumer reporting agencies and furnishers of the Bureau 's flexible supervisory and enforcement approach during this pandemic regarding compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ) and Regulation V. The Bureau intends to consider the circumstances that entities face because of the COVID-19 pandemic and entities ' good faith efforts to comply with their statutory and regulatory obligations as soon as possible. The Bureau believes that this flexibility will help furnishers and consumer reporting agencies to manage the challenges the current crisis poses. It also will enable consumers, as well as lenders, insurers, employers and other consumer report users, to maintain confidence in the consumer reporting system.

Below are examples of the flexibility the Bureau intends to provide in the consumer reporting system.

Furnishing Consumer Information Impacted by COVID-19 : The Bureau reiterates its prior guidance encouraging financial institutions to work constructively with borrowers and other customers affected by COVID-19 to meet their financial needs. While companies generally are not legally obligated to furnish information to consumer reporting agencies, the Bureau encourages them to continue furnishing information despite the current crisis. Furnishers ' providing accurate information to consumer reporting agencies produces substantial benefits for consumers, users of consumer reports, and the economy.

The CARES Act, a section of which amends the FCRA, generally requires furnishers to report as current certain credit obligations for which furnishers make payment accommodations to consumers affected by COVID-19 who have sought such accommodations from their lenders. ' The Bureau expects furnishers to comply with the CARES Act and will work with furnishers as needed to help them do so.

Many furnishers are or will be offering consumers affected by COVID-19 various forms of payment flexibility, including allowing consumers to defer or skip payments, as required by the CARES Act or voluntarily. Such payment accommodation will avoid the reporting of delinquencies resulting from the effects of COVID-19. The Bureau supports furnishers ' voluntary efforts to provide payment relief, and it does not intend to cite in examinations or take enforcement actions against those who furnish information to consumer reporting agencies that accurately reflects the payment relief measures they are employing.

Disputes : The FCRA generally requires that consumer reporting agencies and furnishers investigate disputes within 30 days of receipt of the consumer 's dispute. The 30-day period may be extended to 45 days if the consumer provides additional information that is relevant to the investigation during the 30-day period.

The Bureau is aware that some consumer reporting agencies and furnishers may face significant operational disruptions that pose challenges for them in investigating consumer disputes. For example, some consumer reporting agencies and furnishers may experience significant reductions in staff, difficulty in taking disputes, or lack of access to necessary information.

Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, Pub. L. No. 116-136, S 4201 ( 2020 ) ( stating that, with certain exceptions, " if a furnisher makes an accommodation with respect to 1 or more payments on a credit obligation or account of a consumer, and the consumer makes the payments or is not required to make I or more payments pursuant to the accommodation, the furnisher shall- ( I ) report the credit obligation or account as current ; or ( II ) if the credit obligation or account was delinquent before the accommodation- ( aa ) maintain the delinquent status during the period in which the accommodation is in effect ; and ( bb ) if the consumer brings the credit obligation or account current during the period described in item ( aa ), report the credit obligation or account as current '' ). In addition, section 3513 of the CARES Act addresses the furnishing of certain student loans for which payments are suspended.

rendering them unable to investigate consumer reporting disputes within the timeframes the FCRA requires. Furnishers include a wide variety of businesses that vary in size and sophistication and can range from small retailers to very large financial services firms, each of which will face unique challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In evaluating compliance with the FCRA as a result of the pandemic, the Bureau will consider a consumer reporting agency 's or furnisher 's individual circumstances and does not intend to cite in an examination or bring an enforcement action against a consumer reporting agency or furnisher making good faith efforts to investigate disputes as quickly as possible, even if dispute investigations take longer than the statutory timeframe.

The Bureau reminds furnishers and consumer reporting agencies that they may take advantage of statutory and regulatory provisions that eliminate the obligation to investigate disputes submitted by credit repair organizations and disputes they reasonably determine to be frivolous or irrelevant. The Bureau will consider the significant current constraints on furnisher and consumer reporting agency time, information, and other resources in assessing if such a determination is reasonable.

Regulatory Requirements This Policy Statement is a non-binding general statement of policy articulating considerations relevant to the Bureau 's exercise of its supervisory and enforcement authorities. It is therefore exempt from the notice and comment rulemaking requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act pursuant to 5 USC 553 ( b ). Because no notice of proposed rulemaking is required, the Regulatory Flexibility Act does not require an initial or final regulatory flexibility analysis. See 5 USC 603 ( a ), 604 ( a ). The Bureau has determined that this Policy Statement does not impose any new or revise any existing recordkeeping, reporting, or disclosure requirements on covered entities or members of the public that would be collections of information requiring OMB approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 USC 3501 3521.

The trade lines listed below are items currently within my credit file, and none of these are related to any transaction that was made by me. It is my official statement that someone and/or several people have opened these accounts and made transactions on these accounts without my knowledge or authorization, my personal information has been used to obtain goods, services, or money : and the person ( s ) responsible for creating these accounts.

I have filed a report with the Federal Trade Commission, which I have enclosed within this dispute package. I have reached out to all these creditors and have made them aware that these accounts were fraudulently opened, and they have known this for several months, but have yet to remove these accounts from my credit reports. Some of the creditors have been cooperative and have removed the accounts, but others have refused to remove the fraudulent accounts. Therefore, I have come to you, the credit reporting agencies, to resolve these issues. The law says that you must block these accounts while being investigated, and I expect that you will do so.

I tried to file a police report, but I was informed by my county that it did not constitute as an emergency, and that they would not file the report because I didn't have any information on the person who used my information, nor did I know how my information was obtained by this person.

The listed accounts by the Original Creditors, who have reported these accounts within my credit reports, were not opened by me. I also did not give my authorization for anyone else to open these accounts. Someone else who did these that I did not know.

Therefore, these below disputed accounts must be deleted ....

These original creditors are being reported incorrectly, and/or the accounts do not belong to me. 



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 Policy states... 

According to the FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT " FCRA '' 611 ( 15 U.S.C. 1681 ), Procedure In Case of Disputed Accuracy...

( a ) Reinvestigations of Disputed Information ( 1 ) Reinvestigation Required ( a ) In general. Subject to Subsection ( f ), if the completeness or accuracy of any item of information contained in a consumer 's file at a consumer agency is disputed by the consumer and the consumer notifies the agency directly, or indirectly through a reseller, of such dispute, free of charge, conduct a reasonable reinvestigation to determine whether the disputed information is inaccurate and record the current status of the disputed information, or delete

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation