Consumer complaint received 2025-01-15 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: Experian Information Solutions Inc.
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
The Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ) requires that consumer reporting agencies take steps to ensure consumer reports are accurate and to conduct investigations of information disputed by consumers. The FCRA provides people multiple ways to dispute inaccurate information on their consumer reports, including by contacting consumer reporting agencies directly. The FCRA also requires that consumer reporting agencies follow certain procedures before reinserting into consumer reports information that has previously been removed as the result of a dispute. 

The CFPB alleges that Experian has violated the FCRAs requirements for handling consumer disputes in numerous ways. Specifically, the CFPB alleges that Experian is harming consumers by : Conducting sham investigations that fail to properly address consumer disputes : When handling disputes, Experian uses faulty intake procedures and does not accurately convey all relevant information about disputes to the original furnisher. Experian routinely and uncritically accepts the original furnishers response to the disputed information, even when that response was improbable or illogical on its face, or when Experian has other information available that suggests the furnisher is unreliable. At the conclusion of the investigation, Experian sends consumers notices that fail to inform them of the investigation results, and instead provides information that is confusing, ambiguous, incorrect, or internally inconsistent. 
Improperly reinserting inaccurate information on consumer reports : Experian has failed to implement basic matching tools that prevent or greatly reduce the likelihood of reinsertion by a new furnisher of a previously deleted tradeline. Instead, Experian improperly reinserts inaccurate information into consumer reports because it fails to match newly reported information with records of previously deleted information. Consumers who have disputed the accuracy of an account and thought that their consumer report had been corrected, instead see the same inaccurate information reappear on their consumer report without explanation under the name of a new furnisher. 
In addition to alleging violations of the FCRAs requirements, the CFPB alleges that Experians faulty dispute intake procedures and failure to provide furnishers with consumer-submitted documentation, uncritical deference to furnishers responses to disputed information, and failure to prevent improper tradeline reinsertions also violate the Consumer Financial Protection Acts prohibition on unfair acts or practices.

Enforcement Action Under the Consumer Financial Protection Act, the CFPB has the authority to take action against institutions violating consumer financial protection laws, including the FCRA and the prohibitions on unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices in the CFPA. The CFPBs lawsuit seeks to stop the companys unlawful conduct, to provide redress for harmed consumers, and the imposition of a civil money penalty, which would be paid into the CFPBs victims relief fund.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation