Consumer complaint received 2019-02-06
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: FL
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Investigation took more than 30 days

Complaint:
To Whom It May Concern, I'm writing in regard to a reported missed payment that was reported on my credit report by XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I have attempted to resolve the matter with the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and attempted to dispute the matter with the credit bureau as well, but neither was willing to remove the item from my credit report. 

BACKGROUND I was enrolled in ACH payments with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. However, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ceased making ACH payments. Later on I discovered the reason that they stopped collecting auto payments through ACH was because they placed forced auto insurance policy on my account. 

I never received any notification from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX that the ACH payments stopped. It wasn't until I received a call from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX that I came to realize that the ACH payments ceased. In XX/XX/XXXX I was instructed to make payments to get my account caught up, which I did, and I was instructed that the account was still not current, because the lender placed forced auto insurance policy ( Which I provided in XX/XX/XXXX see the attachment ). I was under the impression that my account was caught up because my account reflected a {$0.00} balance in their online portal ( please see attachment ) until I received a call the following month. 

I received another collection call in XX/XX/XXXX and I was instructed that the account was still not current, because the lender placed forced auto insurance policy. I was instructed that if I provide proof of insurance that nothing would be owed on the account ( I provided the information again as reflected in the attachment with email date of XX/XX/XXXX ) The customer service representative also told me to make a payment today for the amount owed which included the forced insurance policy, but I chose to make a payment for the amount owed not including the forced insurance policy since I was going to present the necessary documentation needed. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, a late payment hit my credit report. Initially, I thought the matter was resolved, but apparently it was not. Their wasn't a credit to my account until XX/XX/XXXX for the forced placed auto insurance ( See attachment ). Despite myself working with the lender to provide them the necessary documentation to get the matter resolve it was disheartening for them to report it to the credit bureau. 

Ultimately, their was a brief period where I could not provide the proof of auto insurance, and I would have had no problem paying the lender for the period I could not prove it, but by the time we got everything straightened out, and everyone got on the same page regarding the periods of time that I had/did not have coverage they already reported it to the credit bureau, and they was unwilling to remove the late payment from my report. 

Additionally, I asked the lender would it be possible if they count the payments I paid ( I made payments through out the process at the monthly amount not including the force insurance ) as partial payments, that way I wouldn't appear as a 30-day late payment. If they enable me to do that then I could then pay the legitimate amount of the forced insurance owed to the lender. But, they was unwilling to work with me in this regard. 

Essentially, it wasn't until XX/XX/XXXX that everyone clearly understood what the true amount of the forced auto insurance, and by then it was already reported to the credit bureau giving me nothing I can do on my end to rectify the situation.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation