Consumer complaint received 2025-02-23 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: OH

Complaint narrative:
I have been a victim of identity theft and fraudulent activity, which has led to multiple inaccurate and derogatory accounts being reported on my credit file. Despite submitting multiple disputes with substantial supporting evidence, the credit reporting agencies ( CRAs ) Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion have repeatedly failed to conduct reasonable investigations, correct inaccuracies, or comply with federal law.

Fraudulent Accounts & Inquiries Persist Despite Disputes Several accounts tied to identity theft and fraud remain on my credit report, even after filing FTC Identity Theft Reports and submitting police reports.

The CRAs have ignored the legal requirement to block fraudulent information under 15 U.S.C. 1681c-2 ( FCRA ).

Failure to Conduct a Reasonable Reinvestigation Per 15 U.S.C. 1681i ( a ), credit bureaus must conduct a reasonable reinvestigation when a consumer disputes an item. Instead, the CRAs blindly relied on furnisher responses without validating supporting documentation.

No tangible evidence was ever provided by the creditors verifying the debts as legitimate, yet the CRAs upheld the reporting.

This violates the CFPBs enforcement actions against sham investigations by CRAs.

Failure to Ensure Maximum Possible Accuracy Under 15 U.S.C. 1681e ( b ), CRAs are required to maintain accurate reporting standards.

Despite multiple disputes, the CRAs continue to report outdated, incorrect, and unverifiable negative information.

The CFPB has already sanctioned CRAs for violating these accuracy standards, yet these errors remain.

Unauthorized Hard Inquiries Damaging My Credit Score Unauthorized hard inquiries related to fraudulent accounts remain on my report, despite the fact that I never applied for credit with these institutions.

Per 15 U.S.C. 1681b ( f ), CRAs must ensure that only permissible purpose inquiries are recorded.

By refusing to remove these inquiries, the CRAs are in direct violation of the law.

Failure to Properly Investigate & Validate Information from Furnishers The CRAs have rubber-stamped inaccurate information provided by creditors without conducting independent verification.

Under 15 U.S.C. 1681s-2 ( b ), creditors must provide verifiable evidence upon reinvestigation.

The CRAs have continued reporting fraudulent, unverifiable, or misattributed accounts without requiring proper validation.

Failure to Remove Obsolete & Charged-Off Accounts Several accounts that have been charged off and/or securitized remain improperly reported, violating FCRA time limitations ( 15 U.S.C. 1681c ).

Certain accounts that were legally transferred and discharged via securitization should no longer be reported.

Failure to Properly Respond to Prior CFPB Complaints Previous CFPB complaints resulted in generic template responses.

No real investigation or compliance action was taken.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation