Consumer complaint received 2019-11-29
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: MN
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Account information incorrect

Complaint:
In or about XX/XX/XXXX, I co-signed a car loan agreement with my son to purchase a XXXX XXXX XXXX car with XXXX XXXX XXXX. The loan number is XXXX. 

XXXX of XXXX, we requested a change to the automatic payments on the loan and were provided a form to do so, which was completed in advance by a XXXX Employee. We were instructed to sign the document and return it. The first automatic payment was withdrawn from the account successfully. Four weeks later, we received a phone call from a repossession company based in XXXX, advising us that a request had been made to repossess to the vehicle. 

After Several calls and in-branch visits the root cause of the issue was found to be a mistake made by a XXXX XXXX  employee, who had dated the expiration of the automatic payments as three days after the first payment was to be made. As a result, and unbeknown to me, two payments were  missed. 
XXXX reported to credit bureaus that I am behind of making payments on this loan. However, XXXX refused to report that their clerk was responsible for the two missed payments. XXXX inaccurately reported why the missed payments were made. 

Under the terms of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( FDCPA ), a creditor ( XXXX XXXX ) is required to accurately report payments to XXXX, Equifax, and XXXX, under penalty of fines and risk of legal action. 

I tried to work with XXXX on resolving this issue, but they have proven uncooperative. I spoke on several occasions with a XXXX XXXX, who represents herself as V.P. at XXXX and explained to her that : 1. I was never notified of any problems with the automatic payments being made. In fact, the first time I knew of any issues with payments on this loan were when I unexpectedly received a call from a collection agency stating that they plan to repossess the car. 

Ms. XXXX stated to me in a recorded phone call that they are under no obligation to alert me to any problems with payments to allow me to rectify the matter. 
2. Since it was a XXXX clerk who made the error, it is unfair to hold us the borrowers accountable for any missed payments. We solely relied on their knowledge of how to fill out the automatic payment form. 
3. Later, Ms. XXXX stated that they have never received the signed automated payment form from us. This is a new allegation. We have signed the form and submitted it as instructed, and a first payment was made accordingly. We can supply you with a copy of the signed form. 
4. We can show that the bank account from which the automated payments are made is a healthy one with substantial balances to cover the entire balance of the loan, not just single payments. 

XXXX is clearly responsible for the errors that were made on this loan. Since it was brought to our attention by XXXX that there were problems with the automated payment, we will show that we immediately took steps to bring the account up to date. 
The only thing that I, XXXX XXXX, request is that XXXX immediately removes the false reporting of any delinquency on this loan and commit to alerting me if there are any issues with payments. 
In my 35 years of doing business, I have never missed a payment on any financial obligation.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation