Consumer complaint received 2025-07-25 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: TX

Complaint narrative:
Draft Complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB ) Regarding Equifax Note : This is a drafted template for your CFPB complaint submission. You can submit complaints directly via the CFPB website at https : //www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/. When submitting, select " Credit reporting '' as the product, " Equifax '' as the company, and " Incorrect information on your report '' or " Problem with a credit reporting company 's investigation into an existing problem '' as the issue. Copy and paste the description below into the " What happened? '' section, customizing with your personal details ( e.g., name, address, account numbers if applicable ). Attach any supporting documents, such as your credit report excerpts showing the inquiries. 

Consumer Information : 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 XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Company Complained About : Equifax Information Services LLC XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX Date of Complaint : XX/XX/XXXX Product : Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports Issue : Incorrect information on your report Sub-Issue : Information belongs to someone else / Old or incorrect information / Inquiry that shouldn't be there What Happened? 

I am filing this complaint against Equifax for inaccurately reporting multiple hard credit inquiries related to auto loan financing as separate entries on my credit report, even though they were all part of rate shopping within short time periods and should be treated as a single inquiry per shopping period under standard credit scoring practices and Equifax 's own policies. This has resulted in my credit report showing 12 individual hard inquiries instead of approximately 2 grouped inquiries, severely damaging my credit score and limiting my access to credit. Equifax has failed to properly categorize and report these inquiries, violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ) and their responsibility to ensure accurate reporting. 

All of the listed inquiries below were initiated for the purpose of shopping for auto loan financing. Multiple inquiries for the same type of credit ( auto loans ) within a 14- to 45-day window are supposed to be grouped and counted as one for credit scoring purposes, as outlined by XXXX, XXXX, and Equifax 's guidelines on rate shopping. However, Equifax is reporting them as distinct inquiries without proper grouping or coding as auto-related, causing them to be treated as 12 separate hard pulls in my credit score calculations. This is not only contrary to industry standards but also misrepresents the nature of these inquiries, leading to an artificially lowered credit score. 

The inquiries in question are as follows ( all hard inquiries for auto financing ) : XXXXXXXX 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 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 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 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 These inquiries cluster into a few short periods XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX which qualify for grouping under rate shopping rules. Equifax 's failure to code or report them appropriately as auto loan inquiries has caused them to be treated as separate in credit scoring models, inflating the negative impact on my score. This is not accurate reporting and has harmed my financial opportunities. 
If Equifax can not accurately report and group these inquiries as required, they should remove all of them from my credit report to prevent further harm. 
Violations : Failure to Assure Maximum Possible Accuracy Equifax did not follow reasonable procedures to ensure the inquiries are accurately coded as auto loan rate shopping, leading to them being treated as separate in credit scores instead of grouped. 
Inaccurate or Misleading Reporting of Inquiries Reporting multiple inquiries separately without proper context or coding, misrepresenting them as distinct credit-seeking events rather than rate shopping. 
Violation of Own Policies on Rate Shopping Equifax 's stated policy is to treat multiple auto inquiries within a short window as one for scoring, but this isn't reflected in practice.

Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices ( UDAAP ) Maintaining inquiries in a way that unfairly harms consumers by not allowing proper deduplication, despite knowing rate shopping is common.

Failure to Properly Handle or Categorize Inquiries If the inquiries aren't coded as " auto '' ( allowing grouping ), this could be seen as a systemic error in reporting.

FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 1681e ( b ) FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 1681 ( a ) ( 1 ) ( promoting accuracy and fairness ) Consumer Financial Protection Act ( CFPA ), 12 U.S.C. 5531 ( enforced by CFPB ) FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 1681i

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation