Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports

At the start of XX/XX/XXXX I entered into a debt settlement agreement with Americor Financial. I had accumulated enormous credit card debt when my dad and brother passed away from different cancers and I was spending alot of time in hospitals and helping my mom with their care. The representative @ Americor, XXXX XXXX, was a slick talker who said he'd been with the company for 9 yrs. He explained how the XXXX account was set up, how after 15 months, with good payment history, that I could get a line of credit where Americor paid everyone off  and I'd just make one payment to them. That my credit score would rebound when this happened. During that 15 months I made double payments probably 7 or 8 times, as I could. There was one month when I asked to delay the payment and double the following month, that was when my dad died. They said no problem, no negative effects, and I made a double payment the following month. As far as I was aware this was the only glitch. When the 15 month time frame came up ( last XX/XX/XXXX ) I was told I'd have to wait another 18 months because I was late on a payment. I said that is not correct, which payment was I late on? They said the 1st payment. I was extremely upset because I am very proactive and calling customer service all the time to ask questions on details. At the start of the program, I tried to email and call Mr XXXX and was told he'd left the company. Throughout the 1st 15 months, I would speak with negotiators, take their direct #, then when I tried to call back to talk to that individual was told they were no longer with the company. This happened with at least 3 negotiators. There was NO continuity with advice I was given. Many times I'd get someone on the customer service line who was new, who gave me false incorrect information ( such as when to make my 1st payment ), and I'd constantly be put on hold because I'd ask questions that the agent had to check with someone else to be able to answer. Over and over I would get conflicting information from these people and they did everything possible to keep me from talking to an actual negotiator. Over the months they made payments to some of the creditors and I was so upset when last XXXX I would not get the line of credit, knowing that my credit score would be in the gutter for another 18 months. They would not listen to me when I told them I was just following instructions given by their representatives, as far as their story of me missing the 1st payment. Unfortunately at that time I still trusted this company and didn't record names and exact times/dates of conversations. I didn't think I needed to. So last XXXX I instructed them to pay off 3 of the 5 accounts in question and that I wanted to end my association with them. ( In the next few weeks I made phone calls and negotiated a settlement myself. The remaining account is still out there, a XXXX account that they have not charged off to anyone else at this time. ) What I am writing to you about, and filing a formal complaint, is that these people are fraudulent, in what they promised me, in what they described would happen during the process, and in all the bogus information I was given by various customer service representatives who did not know what they were talking about. My credit score is negatively impacted because I quit paying according to what they told me to do. I am still fighting with all 3 bureaus to change the language to " Paid '' instead of " Charged Off ''. Americor representatives told me in no uncertain terms that when I fulfilled the terms of any settlement offer, it would be reflected that the debt was paid in full. That that was to be an integral part of the settlement. Imagine my frustration finding out now, that this absolutely just does not happen, ever. That any change in terminology is totally up to each bureau. Now 2 years have gone by and I am still suffering. I improved my utilization percentage from 80 % to the low 40 % and only gained 8 points from that. If I had known then what I know now, I NEVER would have gotten involved with these liars. I am so upset about everything. They were flakes from the start. They insisted I fax a power of attorney form with my full social security # on it and then said they lost the fax. This is extremely troubling, especially since earlier this year I got a letter from the IRS saying that a fraudulent return for XX/XX/XXXX had been filed in my name using my soc sec #. Did someone from Americor take my number? I will never know. These people are total flakes. It was the worst mistake of my life getting involved with them. I am still suffering the consequences, and it looks like I will be for a very long time. I have called the credit bureaus, Americor, all the creditors, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, I am so tired of being told " give it another 30 days '' I've been told that for years now. I spoke with a representative from National Debt Relief, ( listed as a top 10 company in Consumer Reports for debt settlement ) and he told me he had never heard of Americor Financial!!! That didn't exactly instill any confidence. These people do not deserve to be in this business. Trusting them has basically destroyed my financial life. That is my story.