Consumer complaint received 2023-10-14
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: AZ
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Other problem

Complaint:
This complaint is due to the lack of sufficient consumer notification for debt owed to Bank of America. 

I held a Bank of America credit account for years with XXXX issues. The account was utilized as a secondary credit account and the frequency of use had declined significantly over the years. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received notification from my primary bank, XXXX XXXX, related to credit monitoring notifying me that Bank of America reported a balance of {$340.00} as past due 90 days. I immediately logged into my Bank of America account to review what transactions hit the account and pay the balance. A payment of {$340.00} was initiated immediately ( cleared XXXX XXXX on XXXX ). After making the online payment, I contacted Bank of America customer service ( same day, XX/XX/XXXX ) to determine why I was not notified of the balance. I confirmed the correct phone, address and email were on file ; however, the correct email was not listed as 'primary '. I was advised that an older email address of mine was primary and that since I was signed into e-notifications, Bank of America was only responsible for sending statements or notifications to the 'primary ' email. Customer service confirmed that no call attempt, no text attempt ( although I am signed up for text notifications ), email to the 'secondary ' address, or paper letter was sent to notify me of the balance due or past due balances that began in XXXX XXXX They made no other form of contact for 5 months. 

I requested to close the account due to their practices, and I was advised that Bank of America already closed the account due to the past due status of over 90 days. I was advised that I needed to settle the debt to which I informed them that a payment was made online because XXXX XXXX notified me of the balance due. I requested paper statements be mailed to me XXXX. I received 5 paper statements, four of which included late fees, one of {$25.00} and three of {$39.00}. I gained access to the 'primary " email address Bank of America had on file, and confirmed e-bill notifications were only sent on XXXX XXXX XXXX Not only did Bank of America fail to notify of the debt through all of the correct channels and consumer information on file, they only sent a total of 2 notices which did not include a notice of closure. A closure notice was never received through any channel. I was only notified of closure when requesting the account closure via customer services because of their practices. 

This occurred for an account of a tenured customer with a XXXX dollar balance prior to XX/XX/XXXX with a {$13000.00} credit line, no prior late occurrences and a credit score of XXXX. Bank of America chose to charge {$140.00} with lack of monthly notification of debt due to the consumer, and close the account versus contacting the consumer to notify of debt balance due. This practice had drastic adverse affects on my credit reporting/score which went from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. My score has increased slightly but lists a severe impact for 3 late payments and derogatory status ( over 90 days ) reported by Bank of America.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation