Equifax Credit Report Errors

Equifax is one of the three nationwide credit bureaus — and the one many people first think of after its massive data breach exposed the personal information of nearly half the country. That legacy matters, because a large share of the Equifax errors we see trace back to fraud and identity theft: accounts opened in your name, or someone else's data attached to your file. When Equifax reports information that isn't accurate and won't fix it, you pay the price. At The Kim Law Firm, we help people in Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania dispute Equifax errors and hold the bureau accountable under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

What is Equifax?

Equifax is one of the three major U.S. credit bureaus, compiling your credit history and selling it to lenders, landlords, insurers, and employers. Equifax also operates a large employment- and income-verification business (The Work Number), which means the company holds an unusually broad picture of your financial life. That scale — and the aftermath of its well-publicized data breach — is why identity-theft-driven errors so often show up on Equifax files.

Common Equifax errors we see

• Fraudulent accounts opened in your name through identity theft, still reported by Equifax
• Another person's information merged into your Equifax file (a “mixed file”)
• Accounts you closed or paid that Equifax continues to report as open or delinquent
• Inquiries or accounts you never authorized
• Duplicate collection entries that deepen the damage to your score
• Old negative items Equifax keeps reporting past the FCRA's time limits

How an Equifax error hurts you

An inaccurate Equifax report can block a loan, raise your interest rate, cost you an apartment, or sink a job offer — and when the error stems from identity theft, it can feel like you're fighting to prove you're you. The harm compounds every time another lender or landlord pulls your Equifax file before the mistake is fixed.

Equifax's track record on accuracy and security

Few companies have a public record on data accuracy and security as troubling as Equifax's, and it shapes how we approach every Equifax case.

In 2017, a breach of Equifax's systems exposed the personal information of approximately 147 million people — including 145.5 million Social Security numbers and hundreds of thousands of payment-card numbers. To resolve claims by the Federal Trade Commission, the CFPB, and nearly every state, Equifax agreed in 2019 to a settlement of at least $575 million — up to $700 million, including a consumer restitution fund and a $100 million civil penalty. It remains one of the largest data-breach settlements in U.S. history.

Equifax has also been held to account in court for getting individual files wrong. In Miller v. Equifax, a federal jury in Oregon awarded consumer Julie Miller $18.6 million — $180,000 in actual damages and $18.4 million in punitive damages — after Equifax repeatedly failed to correct a “mixed file” that blended her information with another person's, despite roughly nine dispute requests over two years. A court later reduced the punitive portion, as often happens, but the verdict stands as a landmark example of what a willful failure to fix a report can cost.

And in January 2017, the CFPB ordered Equifax to pay about $3.8 million in restitution and a $2.5 million penalty for deceptively marketing credit scores to consumers. We cite these public records because they show a pattern — and because that pattern is why an Equifax error deserves a hard look, not the benefit of the doubt.

Your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

Under the FCRA, Equifax must use reasonable procedures to keep your file accurate, and it must take extra care with information you've flagged as the product of identity theft. When you dispute an error, Equifax has to reinvestigate, generally within 30 days, and correct or delete what it can't verify. If Equifax reports inaccurate information or mishandles your dispute and you're harmed, you may recover actual damages, and — for willful violations — statutory damages, punitive damages, and attorney's fees. Because those fees shift to the wrongdoer, we can pursue Equifax at no upfront cost to you.

How to dispute an Equifax credit report

1. Pull your Equifax report and identify every inaccuracy — flag anything tied to fraud or identity theft specifically.
2. Submit your dispute to Equifax in writing — you can mail it to Equifax Information Services, P.O. Box 740256, Atlanta, GA 30374, or file online — with documents and, if fraud is involved, an FTC Identity Theft Report (create one free at the FTC's IdentityTheft.gov). Keep copies.
3. Allow the roughly 30-day window for Equifax to investigate.
4. If Equifax “verifies” an item you know is wrong, or a fraudulent account keeps coming back, take that seriously.
5. Speak with an FCRA attorney about forcing a correction and recovering damages.

When Equifax leaves an error — especially a fraud-driven one — on your file after a dispute, that's frequently the FCRA violation itself.

Is the information on your Equifax credit report accurate?

As one of the national credit bureaus, Equifax must investigate the disputes you file and correct or delete information it cannot verify. When it fails to do so, the FCRA gives you real leverage.

• An account that isn’t yours. Fraudulent accounts opened in your name point to identity theft that Equifax must remove.
• Someone else’s data merged into your file (a mixed credit report). If Equifax has blended another person’s accounts into your report, you may have a mixed credit file.
• Errors it failed to fix. Wrong balances, accounts reported as late that were paid, or duplicates that survive a dispute are credit reporting errors you can pursue.

Each is a potential Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) violation that can require Equifax to correct or delete the item and entitle you to damages — often at no cost to you.

How The Kim Law Firm helps

Our first focus is your credit report: if Equifax is reporting information that is not yours, belongs to someone else, or is simply wrong — especially after you disputed it — we hold Equifax accountable under the FCRA to get it corrected or deleted and to recover damages. We help with credit reporting errors, identity theft, and mixed credit files.

From our Philadelphia office, we dig into your Equifax report, pin down where Equifax broke the FCRA, deal with the bureau and the furnishers behind the bad data, and pursue the compensation you're owed — including for the fallout of identity-theft errors. Our credit-reporting experience is extensive, and you pay nothing unless we win.

Dealing with mistakes on more than one report? We also handle Experian credit report errors and TransUnion credit report errors, and you can start with our overview of the nationwide credit reporting agencies.

Frequently asked questions

How do I dispute an error on my Equifax credit report?

File a written dispute with Equifax, including documents that prove the correct information (and an identity-theft report if fraud is involved). You can mail it to Equifax Information Services, P.O. Box 740256, Atlanta, GA 30374, or dispute online. Equifax generally has 30 days to investigate.

What is Equifax's dispute mailing address?

Equifax's address for mailed disputes is P.O. Box 740256, Atlanta, GA 30374. Keep copies of what you send, and consider certified mail.

There are accounts on my Equifax report from identity theft — what can I do?

First create an FTC Identity Theft Report at the FTC's IdentityTheft.gov, then submit it together with your dispute to Equifax. The FCRA requires the bureau to take special steps with information you identify as fraudulent — and the FTC report is the document the credit bureaus rely on. If Equifax keeps reporting the fraudulent accounts after that, you may have a claim.

Can I sue Equifax for a credit report error?

Yes. If Equifax fails to follow reasonable procedures for accuracy or doesn't properly investigate your dispute, you may have an FCRA claim.

What does an Equifax case cost me?

Nothing up front. Your review is free, and because the FCRA shifts attorney's fees to the wrongdoer, you pay only if we recover for you.

Wherever you are located, we can help. The federal laws we enforce — including the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act — protect consumers no matter where they live, and The Kim Law Firm helps victims wherever they are from our offices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.