Consumer complaint received 2024-03-25 00:00:00
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem — Their investigation did not fix an error on your report
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: AZ

Complaint narrative:
XX/XX/XXXX Consumer Financial Protection Bureau XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX Equifax XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX  XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
XXXX, IL XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, MO XXXX My name is XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX I am writing you about how the above companies have violated my rights. I have notified each named company above of this and neither company has provided any remedy to this matter in any way. The referenced account is XXXX. The current statement balance is XXXX USD. As of XX/XX/XXXX I have yet to receive a refund of the statement balance. Per 15 U.S. Code 1666d - Treatment of credit balances Whenever a credit balance in excess of {$1.00} is created in connection with a consumer credit transaction through ( 1 ) transmittal of funds to a creditor in excess of the total balance due on an account, ( 2 ) rebates of unearned finance charges or insurance premiums, or ( 3 ) amounts otherwise owed to or held for the benefit of an obligor, the creditor shall ( A ) credit the amount of the credit balance to the consumers account ; ( B ) refund any part of the amount of the remaining credit balance, upon request of the consumer ; and ( C ) make a good faith effort to refund to the consumer by cash, check, or money order any part of the amount of the credit balance remaining in the account for more than XXXX months, except that no further action is required in any case in which the consumers current location is not known by the creditor and can not be traced through the consumers last known address or telephone number. I have yet to receive a refund or any reimbursement of the credit balance of the statement, even though I have notified XXXX  about this error. 

Instead their response was that I owed a debt to pay them which is inaccurate. 
Per 15 U.S. Code 1666b - Timing of payments ( a ) Time to make payments A creditor may not treat a payment on a credit card account under an open end consumer credit plan as late for any purpose, unless the creditor has adopted reasonable procedures designed to ensure that each periodic statement including the information required by section 1637 ( b ) of this title is mailed or delivered to the consumer not later than 21 days before the payment due date. An open end consumer credit as we know is a credit account with more than XXXX installment payments, which this is. I have notified XXXX  of this error, as of today they have yet to address this issue and still shows adversely on my credit report. 

Not only did XXXX fail to comply with the above, after notifying them of this issue, the account credit amount was restricted without notice. 
Per 15 U.S. Code 1666 - Correction of billing errors ( d ) Restricting or closing by creditor of account regarded by obligor to contain a billing error Pursuant to regulations of the Bureau, a creditor operating an open end consumer credit plan may not, prior to the sending of the written explanation or clarification required under paragraph ( B ) ( ii ), restrict or close an account with respect to which the obligor has indicated pursuant to subsection ( a ) that he believes such account to contain a billing error solely because of the obligors failure to pay the amount indicated to be in error. Nothing in this subsection shall be deemed to prohibit a creditor from applying against the credit limit on the obligors account the amount indicated to be in error. 
( e ) Effect of noncompliance with requirements by creditor Any creditor who fails to comply with the requirements of this section or section 1666a of this title forfeits any right to collect from the obligor the amount indicated by the obligor under paragraph ( 2 ) of subsection Per 15 U.S. Code 1681n - Civil liability for willful noncompliance ( a ) In general Any person who willfully fails to comply with any requirement imposed under this subchapter with respect to any consumer is liable to that consumer in an amount equal to the sum of ( 1 ) ( A ) any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure or damages of not less than {$100.00} and not more than {$1000.00} ; or ( B ) in the case of liability of a natural person for obtaining a consumer report under false pretenses or knowingly without a permissible purpose, actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure or {$1000.00}, whichever is greater ; ( 2 ) such amount of punitive damages as the court may allow ; and ( 3 ) in the case of any successful action to enforce any liability under this section, the costs of the action together with reasonable attorneys fees as determined by the court. 
( b ) Civil liability for knowing noncompliance Any person who obtains a consumer report from a consumer reporting agency under false pretenses or knowingly without a permissible purpose shall be liable to the consumer reporting agency for actual damages sustained by the consumer reporting agency or {$1000.00}, whichever is greater. 
( c ) Attorneys fees Upon a finding by the court that an unsuccessful pleading, motion, or other paper filed in connection with an action under this section was filed in bad faith or for purposes of harassment, the court shall award to the prevailing party attorneys fees reasonable in relation to the work expended in responding to the pleading, motion, or other paper. 

( d ) Clarification of willful noncompliance For the purposes of this section, any person who printed an expiration date on any receipt provided to a consumer cardholder at a point of sale or transaction between XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX, but otherwise complied with the requirements of section 1681c ( g ) of this title for such receipt shall not be in willful noncompliance with section 1681c ( g ) of this title by reason of printing such expiration date on the receipt. 

I would say this is willful non compliance on XXXX. 

I included the XXXX credit reporting agencies on this matter as well because I also have contacted them in reference to this matter and how they are violating my rights by reporting adverse action and negative payment history, and late payment history as well as transaction history by showing a credit utilization. These XXXX credit reporting agencies have yet to comply with my request to correct this information. 
Per 15 U.S. Code 1681a - Definitions ; rules of construction ( d ) Consumer Report.
( 1 ) In general.The term consumer report means any written, oral, or other communication of any information by a consumer reporting agency bearing on a consumers credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living which is used or expected to be used or collected in whole or in part for the purpose of serving as a factor in establishing the consumers eligibility for ( A ) credit or insurance to be used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes ; ( B ) employment purposes ; or ( C ) any other purpose authorized under section 1681b of this title.

( 2 ) Exclusions.Except as provided in paragraph ( 3 ), the term consumer report does not include ( A ) subject to section 1681s3 of this title, any ( i ) report containing information solely as to transactions or experiences between the consumer and the person making the report ; ( ii ) communication of that information among persons related by common ownership or affiliated by corporate control ; or ( iii ) communication of other information among persons related by common ownership or affiliated by corporate control, if it is clearly and conspicuously disclosed to the consumer that the information may be communicated among such persons and the consumer is given the opportunity, before the time that the information is initially communicated, to direct that such information not be communicated among such persons ; ( B ) any authorization or approval of a specific extension of credit directly or indirectly by the issuer of a credit card or similar device ; ( C ) any report in which a person who has been requested by a third party to make a specific extension of credit directly or indirectly to a consumer conveys his or her decision with respect to such request, if the third party advises the consumer of the name and address of the person to whom the request was made, and such person makes the disclosures to the consumer required under section 1681m of this title ; or ( D ) a communication described in subsection ( o ) or ( x ). [ 1 ] ( 3 ) Restriction on sharing of medical information.Except for information or any communication of information disclosed as provided in section 1681b ( g ) ( 3 ) of this title, the exclusions in paragraph ( 2 ) shall not apply with respect to information disclosed to any person related by common ownership or affiliated by corporate control, if the information is ( A ) medical information ; ( B ) an individualized list or description based on the payment transactions of the consumer for medical products or services ; or ( C ) an aggregate list of identified consumers based on payment transactions for medical products or services Reporting credit utilization is transaction history and a violation. 
Per 15 U.S. Code 1681e - Compliance procedures ( a ) Identity and purposes of credit users Every consumer reporting agency shall maintain reasonable procedures designed to avoid violations of section 1681c of this title and to limit the furnishing of consumer reports to the purposes listed under section 1681b of this title. These procedures shall require that prospective users of the information identify themselves, certify the purposes for which the information is sought, and certify that the information will be used for no other purpose. Every consumer reporting agency shall make a reasonable effort to verify the identity of a new prospective user and the uses certified by such prospective user prior to furnishing such user a consumer report. No consumer reporting agency may furnish a consumer report to any person if it has reasonable grounds for believing that the consumer report will not be used for a purpose listed in section 1681b of this title. 

( b ) Accuracy of report Whenever a consumer reporting agency prepares a consumer report it shall follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information concerning the individual about whom the report relates. 

I provided all XXXX credit reporting agencies with the above US codes in reference to the late payment reporting, and credit utilization reporting and as of today still has not been addressed of corrected.

Please investigate this matter and restore my rights per the US Codes.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation