Equifax
Equifax is one of the three nationwide credit bureaus, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. It keeps a credit file on you built from data that lenders and collectors send it, and it must follow reasonable procedures for accuracy and reinvestigate your disputes. The CFPB has entered public orders against Equifax, summarized below with their sources.
If an Equifax report has an account that is not yours, a balance that is wrong, or a debt that should have aged off, you can dispute it. A dispute with Equifax does not fix the same error at Experian or TransUnion; each keeps its own file.
Who Equifax is
- What it is. The CFPB lists Equifax as "one of the three nationwide providers of consumer reports" (CFPB).
- Where it is. Its executive offices are at 1550 Peachtree Street, N.W., Atlanta, Georgia (SEC Form 10-K).
- Your report. One free report every 12 months through AnnualCreditReport.com, (877) 322-8228 (15 U.S.C. § 1681j(a)(1)). Under a 2019 settlement, the CFPB says, Equifax also offers up to six more free copies a year on its website.
- Phone. The CFPB's company listing gives Equifax's direct number and freeze line as (888) 378-4329 (checked September 29, 2026).
How to get your report and dispute it
- Get the report. Ask Equifax for your file; it must disclose the information in it and its sources (15 U.S.C. § 1681g(a)). If a company turned you down based on a report, you are entitled to a free copy within 60 days (§ 1681j(b)).
- Dispute in writing, with proof. Identify each wrong item, say why it is wrong, and attach copies. The agency must reinvestigate within 30 days (§ 1681i(a)(1)).
- Dispute with the source too. After the agency passes on your dispute, the company that furnished the data must investigate and report back (15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b)).
- Keep everything. The letters you send, the results you get, and any denial letter from a lender, landlord or employer are the evidence in an FCRA case.
Step-by-step help: how to dispute your credit report.
What Equifax cannot do
These duties apply to every consumer reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. They describe the law, not what this company has done in your case.
- Skip reasonable accuracy procedures. A consumer reporting agency must follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy (15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b)). See credit report errors.
- Ignore or rubber-stamp your dispute. It must conduct a reasonable reinvestigation within 30 days, and send your dispute to the company that furnished the data within 5 business days (15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)). See failed dispute.
- Mix your file with someone else's. Another person's accounts, name or address on your report is an accuracy problem under § 1681e(b). See mixed files.
- Keep identity-theft accounts on your report. With an identity theft report and proof of identity, it must block the information within 4 business days (15 U.S.C. § 1681c-2(a)). See identity theft on your credit report.
- Report most negative items after seven years, or bankruptcies after ten (15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)). See paid debt still reported.
- Mark you as deceased when you are not. That is an accuracy failure like any other. See reported as deceased.
Public record
Only public, sourced facts appear here. Where we quote an agency or a court, the words describe what that agency or court found, alleged or decided.
CFPB complaints, as of September 29, 2026. From September 1, 2025 through September 1, 2026, consumers filed 1,993,126 complaints naming "EQUIFAX, INC." in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's complaint database, 1,976,242 of them about credit or consumer reports; 443,470 of the 1,993,126 came from New York, New Jersey and Florida. See the complaints in the CFPB database. Complaints are unverified consumer reports, not findings of wrongdoing.
- CFPB order, January 17, 2025. The Bureau ordered Equifax to pay a $15 million civil penalty, finding that its dispute process limited consumers' ability to describe disputes, that it failed to consider consumers' evidence, that deleted errors reappeared, and that coding errors affected scores and duplicated accounts for more than 50,000 consumers (CFPB).
- Data breach settlement, July 22, 2019. Equifax agreed to pay at least $575 million, and potentially up to $700 million, in a settlement with the FTC, the CFPB and 50 states and territories over the 2017 breach affecting about 147 million people (FTC).
- CFPB order, January 3, 2017. Over the marketing of credit scores and credit products, Equifax was ordered to pay $3.8 million in restitution and a $2.5 million civil penalty (CFPB).
- A jury verdict. In Miller v. Equifax, an Oregon federal jury in 2013 awarded $180,000 in compensatory and $18.4 million in punitive damages over a mixed file; the judge reduced the punitive award to $1.62 million. See the case page.
What the law lets you recover
A willful violation of the FCRA allows actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, plus punitive damages (15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a)); a negligent one allows actual damages (§ 1681o(a)). The FCRA requires a company found liable to pay the consumer's reasonable attorney's fees and costs. A claim must be filed within two years after you discover the violation and no more than five years after it happened (15 U.S.C. § 1681p). See New York, New Jersey and Florida for state claims that can sit alongside it.
Common questions
How do I dispute an error with Equifax?
Send a dispute that identifies the item, says why it is wrong and includes copies of your proof. Equifax must reinvestigate within 30 days and send your dispute to the furnisher within 5 business days. Keep copies and the results letter.
Can I sue Equifax?
Any consumer reporting agency that willfully or negligently fails to meet the FCRA's requirements can be sued. Whether you have a claim depends on what Equifax did with your report and dispute, and whether it caused you concrete harm.
Does fixing Equifax fix Experian and TransUnion too?
No. The three bureaus keep separate files. Dispute with each bureau that reports the error.
Tell us what they did.
One conversation with an attorney, in your language. We tell you which laws the collector or the credit bureau broke, which deadline runs first, and what to save this week. If it is not a case we can take, we say so and tell you where to go.
(718) 484-7510The FDCPA and the FCRA require a company found liable to pay the consumer’s reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. Our fee arrangement is confirmed in a written retainer before we begin. English, Russian and Spanish in-house; an interpreter for any other language.