Consumer complaint received 2025-08-13 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: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: PA

Complaint narrative:
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX, PA XXXX DOB : XX/XX/XXXX SSN : XXXX Email : XXXX Phone : XXXX Date : XX/XX/XXXX To : TransUnion LLC XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX, PA XXXX Equifax Information Services LLC XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX, GA XXXX Subject : Failure to Respond Within 30 Days / Failure to Provide Method of Verification XXXX XXXX Acct # XXXX To Whom It May Concern, On XX/XX/XXXX, I submitted a formal dispute via CFPB.gov regarding the XXXX XXXX account ( # XXXX ) reported on my credit file. This dispute was sent to TransUnion and Equifax. Both credit reporting agencies received the dispute on XX/XX/XXXX. 

TransUnion : As of today, XX/XX/XXXX, you have failed to respond at all. 

Equifax : You responded on XX/XX/XXXX stating, XXXX XXXX XXXX EQUIFAX VERIFIED THAT THIS ITEM BELONGS TO YOU. THIS ACCOUNT HAS BEEN UPDATED THE FOLLOWING FIELDS HAVE BEEN MODIFIED : ADDITIONAL INFORMATION however, you failed to provide the Method of Verification ( MOV ) I requested in my original dispute.

Violation of the FCRA 30-Day Investigation Requirement The Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. 1681i ( a ) ( 1 ) ( A ) is clear : If the completeness or accuracy of any item of information contained in a consumers file is disputed by the consumerand the consumer notifies the agency the agency shall, free of charge, conduct a reasonable reinvestigation and record the current status of the disputed information, or delete the item before the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date on which the agency receives the notice of the dispute.

By failing to complete your reinvestigation within 30 days, you are in direct violation of federal law. Once this 30-day period has passed, the account must be deleted it is too late to update, cure, or fix the account.

Violation of the FCRA Failure to Provide MOV Under 15 U.S.C. 1681i ( a ) ( 6 ) ( B ) ( iii ), when a consumer requests the method of verification following a dispute, the CRA must provide : The name of the party who verified the information The method and documentation used The date the verification occurred Equifax failed to comply with this statutory obligation.

CFPB.gov Disputes Hold the Same Legal Weight as Direct Disputes The FCRA makes no distinction between disputes submitted directly to the CRA and disputes submitted through a government agency such as the CFPB. Under 15 U.S.C. 1681i ( a ), any notice of dispute from a consumer regardless of submission method triggers the same investigation and response obligations. CFPB disputes are legally equivalent to direct disputes and must be handled in full compliance with the FCRA.

Applicable Case Law Cushman v. TransUnion Corp., 115 F.3d 220 ( 3rd Cir. 1997 ) A CRAs failure to conduct a meaningful reinvestigation is a willful violation.

Dennis v. BEH-1, LLC, 520 F.3d 1066 ( 9th Cir. 2008 ) Conflicting data may be deemed inaccurate even if some portions are technically true.

Richardson v. Equifax Conflicting account data across bureaus constitutes inaccuracy under the FCRA.

Demand for Immediate Action You are now in violation of 15 U.S.C. 1681i ( a ) ( 1 ) ( A ) and 1681i ( a ) ( 6 ) ( B ) ( iii ).

I demand immediate deletion of this account from my credit report due to : Failure to complete the reinvestigation within 30 days.

Failure to provide the Method of Verification upon request.

If you choose not to remove this account, I am again demanding the Method of Verification and this time, the law is clear : the MOV must be provided within 15 days of verification, not 30.

Failure to comply will result in immediate escalation, including additional CFPB and FTC complaints and consideration of civil litigation for damages under 15 U.S.C. 1681n and 1681o. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation