I had disputed this derogatory charge with Equifax since August 2009 sending several certified and return receipt mails, providing them with proper information and addressing the violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) in their business and verification practices.
All of them unsuccessfully!
In April 2010, I got in contact with the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation (OCFR) of the State of Maryland, where I exposed my whole case with proper evidences in chronological order. After the intervention of the OCFR, Equifax responded that in results of their investigation after reviewing my concerns, their conclusions were:
1 - MAF Collection Agency account was not currently reporting on the Equifax credit file, and
2 - They have researched the collection account # 80318230190423, the results was: This item has been deleted from the credit file. If I have additional questions about this item please contact: MCB Collection Service with a Vero Beach, FL address.
MAF Collection Agency and MCB Collection Service have the same physical address at 134 S. Tampa St. – Tampa, FL 33602-5354; which indicates that they are the same company with different names to circumvent the law against their business practices.
Now on December 2nd, almost eight (8) months later, I bought a copy of my credit from Equifax, and to my surprise and disbelieve, the deleted derogatory collection item from MCB Collection Service was re-inserted in my report.
I immediately filed an online dispute with Equifax and today (12/15/2010) I received an email from Equifax stating that the investigation was completed and the result was the Equifax verified that this item belongs to me.
It’s ashamed that Equifax does not properly verify the information that is reported by its members. This is a classic example of its practices. Equifax not only reinserted a previously deleted item but when I filed the dispute stating that the items was previously deleted, they didn’t care to properly investigate and answered with the same automated response that I got so many times from them prior the intervention of the OCFR.
I do have all the proper documentation if needed.
Who protects the consumers against Equifax practices?
