Consumer complaint received 2025-09-04 00:00:00
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Other personal consumer report
Issue: Incorrect information on your report — Public record information inaccurate
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: OK

Complaint narrative:
I am filing this complaint against Equifax for its reckless, negligent, and willful violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ), the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( FDCPA ), and related consumer protection statutes. Equifax is currently publishing a XXXX  XXXX Bankruptcy, Reference # XXXX, allegedly filed on XX/XX/XXXX. 

This reporting is false, incomplete, unverifiable, and materially misleading, and it is causing ongoing, measurable harm to my credit, my financial standing, and my livelihood. 


Court Notice Proof of Unverifiability On XX/XX/XXXX, the U.S. Bankruptcy XXXX for the XXXX XXXX of Oklahoma issued an official notice, signed by Deputy Clerk XXXX XXXX, explicitly stating : The Clerks Office is not a reporting agency for the credit bureaus. We do not actively report information to any of the credit reporting agencies. 
Our office does not control the actions of credit reporting agencies and their accessing or maintaining this information. 

This means that Equifax can not lawfully verify this bankruptcy. The custodian of record the only entity with legal authority over these records has expressly confirmed that it does not furnish or verify bankruptcy information for credit bureaus. Equifaxs claim that this bankruptcy has been verified is knowingly false, deceptive, and unlawful. 


Specific Violations by Equifax 1. FCRA 1681e ( b ) Failure to Assure Maximum Possible Accuracy Equifax has a statutory duty to follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum accuracy in its reporting. By continuing to publish a bankruptcy that the custodian of record does not verify, Equifax has violated this duty. The entry is also incomplete, since Equifax failed to even report the discharge date, unlike the other bureaus. Reporting an incomplete, unverifiable record constitutes gross negligence.

2. FCRA 1681i ( a ) Failure to Conduct a Reasonable Reinvestigation I previously disputed this bankruptcy with Equifax. Equifaxs response falsely stated that the item had been verified. This is impossible given the courts notice that it provides no verification to credit bureaus. Equifaxs reinvestigation was therefore unreasonable and unlawful, in direct violation of 1681i ( a ).

3. FDCPA 1692e Misrepresentation of Legal Status By publishing this bankruptcy as active, valid, and verified, Equifax is misrepresenting the legal status of my financial obligations. This deception creates the false impression that I remain legally obligated when no such verified obligation exists. This misrepresentation violates the FDCPAs prohibition against false and misleading collection or reporting practices.

4. Systemic Negligence Reliance on Third-Party Vendors Equifax has a well-documented practice of outsourcing bankruptcy data to unreliable vendors such as XXXX or XXXX. These third parties scrape public record databases and deliver incomplete, error-prone data to credit bureaus. They are not recognized furnishers of information under the FCRA. Courts have ruled that credit reporting agencies can not blindly rely on such vendors during disputes ( Cushman v. Trans Union Corp., 115 F.3d 220 ( 3d Cir. 1997 ) ). Equifaxs reliance on these vendors, even after disputes, is systemic misconduct.

5. Contradictions Across Credit Bureaus XXXX  reports Bankruptcy # XXXX with a discharge date of XX/XX/XXXX. 
XXXX  reports Bankruptcy # XXXX with a discharge date of XX/XX/XXXX. 
Equifax reports Bankruptcy # XXXX with no discharge date at all. 
These discrepancies are proof that none of the credit bureaus are using the official custodian of record. Instead, each is reporting inconsistent, unverifiable data from unreliable sources. 


Harm to Consumer As a direct result of Equifaxs unlawful reporting, I have suffered significant and ongoing harm, including but not limited to : Credit Denials I have been denied mortgage pre-approval, auto loans, and personal credit lines due to the false bankruptcy. 
Inflated Interest Rates On the rare occasions where I was approved, the bankruptcy resulted in artificially high interest rates, costing me thousands of dollars in finance charges.

Housing Denials Landlords who relied on Equifaxs reports denied me rental opportunities because of the bankruptcy listing. 
Employment Barriers Some employers who pulled my Equifax report factored this false bankruptcy into hiring decisions, harming my career prospects. 
Reputational Damage and Emotional Distress Equifaxs publication of an unverifiable bankruptcy has branded me as financially irresponsible, causing humiliation, stress, and emotional harm. 

This is not an isolated error. It is a systemic violation of my consumer rights and a failure of Equifaxs duty under federal law. 


Legal Precedent Supporting My Complaint Cushman v. Trans Union Corp., 115 F.3d 220 ( 3d Cir. 1997 ) CRAs can not simply parrot unverifiable sources when a consumer disputes accuracy.

Dennis v. BEH-1, LLC, 520 F.3d 1066 ( 9th Cir. 2008 ) Reporting unverifiable information violates FCRAs accuracy requirement.

Guimond v. Trans Union Credit Info. Co., 45 F.3d 1329 ( 9th Cir. 1995 ) Consumers can recover damages for negligent and willful violations of the FCRA.

Equifaxs conduct falls squarely within these precedents and represents a willful disregard of federal consumer protection law.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation