--- company: equifax title: Equifax — how complaints actually go last_verified: 2026-10-12 --- ## In short Dispute each wrong item with Equifax first (online through myEquifax or by mail), keep the confirmation number, and also dispute with the lender that reported it. If that fails, a CFPB complaint is the next step; in the 12 months to June 2026 Equifax closed 52.2% of CFPB complaints with non-monetary relief, such as a correction, and by mid-2025 it took more than 50 days on average to answer. In January 2025 the CFPB fined Equifax $15 million over how it handled disputes. Get free reports only at AnnualCreditReport.com, and do not pay a credit repair company upfront. ## How complaints actually go - A CFPB complaint goes to Equifax, which has up to 60 days to respond. From 2022 to mid-2025 Equifax's average response time moved around 40 days; in the most recent months covered (to June 2025), all three nationwide bureaus averaged more than 50 days. [CFPB FCRA 611(e) report, December 2025](https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_fcra-611e-report_2025-12.pdf) - About 90% of consumers who complain to the CFPB about a bureau say they disputed with it first, but from 2024 to mid-2025 Equifax confirmed a prior dispute in only about 37% of those complaints. File the dispute with Equifax first and keep the confirmation number before you go to the CFPB. [CFPB FCRA 611(e) report, December 2025](https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_fcra-611e-report_2025-12.pdf) - Of the three nationwide bureaus, only Equifax recorded furnisher errors in its complaint responses during January 2024 to June 2025. [CFPB FCRA 611(e) report, December 2025](https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_fcra-611e-report_2025-12.pdf) ## What tends to work - A CFPB complaint after a failed dispute: in the 12 months to June 2026, 1,006,485 of 1,929,475 Equifax complaints (52.2%) closed with non-monetary relief. [CFPB complaint database search](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/consumer-complaints/search/api/v1/?company=EQUIFAX%2C%20INC.&date_received_min=2025-07-01&date_received_max=2026-06-30&size=0) - If Equifax puts back an item it deleted, or simply repeats what the lender says, cite the CFPB's January 17, 2025 order: the CFPB found Equifax failed to properly reinvestigate disputes, failed to prevent deleted information from being reinserted, and relied too much on furnishers. It ordered a $15 million penalty. [CFPB enforcement action](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/enforcement/actions/equifax-inc-and-equifax-information-services-llc/) - Write the complaint yourself and keep it accurate. In 2025 companies returned about 469,800 CFPB complaints as suspected fraud and 63,200 as coming from an unauthorized third party; one nationwide bureau accounted for more than 90% and more than 60% of these returns. The company takes no action on a returned complaint, and it is not published. [CFPB 2025 Consumer Response Annual Report](https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_2025-cr-annual-report_2026-03.pdf) ## Traps and fine print - Credit repair companies cannot remove accurate information, and it is illegal for them to charge you before they help you. Anything they can do legally, you can do yourself for little or no cost. [FTC: fixing your credit FAQs](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/fixing-your-credit-faqs) - Credit reporting complaints to the CFPB in 2025 were 182% above the monthly average of the prior two years; the CFPB links the growth partly to third parties, including credit repair organizations and social media "finfluencers", using the complaint process. Companies can return a complaint submitted by an unauthorized third party without acting on it. [CFPB 2025 Consumer Response Annual Report](https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_2025-cr-annual-report_2026-03.pdf) - The same 2025 CFPB order found Equifax sold inaccurate credit scores after "test code" was put into a production environment. [CFPB enforcement action](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/enforcement/actions/equifax-inc-and-equifax-information-services-llc/) ## By the numbers - CFPB complaints received July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 for "EQUIFAX, INC.": 1,929,475, of which 1,905,783 were about credit or consumer reports. Top issues: incorrect information on a report 1,131,540, improper use of a report 416,213, the company's investigation into an existing problem 344,155, unable to get a credit report or score 11,092. [CFPB complaint database search](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/consumer-complaints/search/api/v1/?company=EQUIFAX%2C%20INC.&date_received_min=2025-07-01&date_received_max=2026-06-30&size=0) - Of those complaints, 1,006,485 (52.2%) closed with non-monetary relief and 922,989 (47.8%) with explanation; none closed with monetary relief and 1 was in progress. All were marked timely. Data retrieved 2026-10-12. [CFPB complaint database search](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/consumer-complaints/search/api/v1/?company=EQUIFAX%2C%20INC.&date_received_min=2025-07-01&date_received_max=2026-06-30&size=0) - In calendar 2025 the CFPB received about 5,806,800 credit or consumer reporting complaints, about 5,102,800 of them about Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Companies closed 51% of the credit reporting complaints sent to them with an explanation, 40% with non-monetary relief and 0.02% with monetary relief. [CFPB 2025 Consumer Response Annual Report](https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_2025-cr-annual-report_2026-03.pdf) ## Scams that target customers - Fake free-report sites: there is only one authorized place for the free credit reports you are entitled to by law, AnnualCreditReport.com. Other sites pretend to be associated with it, use "free report" in their names, or misspell the address. [FTC: free credit reports](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/free-credit-reports) - AnnualCreditReport.com and the credit bureaus will not email you asking for your Social Security number or account information; a call from someone claiming to be from a credit bureau is probably a scam. [FTC: free credit reports](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/free-credit-reports) - Credit repair scams insist you pay before they help, tell you not to contact the credit bureaus, or tell you to dispute accurate information or file a false identity theft report. [FTC: fixing your credit FAQs](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/fixing-your-credit-faqs)