Consumer complaint received 2023-10-04
Company: Happy Money, Inc.
State: CA
Product: Payday loan, title loan, personal loan, or advance loan
Sub-product: Installment loan
Issue: Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Their investigation did not fix an error on your report

Complaint:
In XXXX of XXXX, my wife and I decided to explore enrolling in a debt management plan ( DMP ) as our monthly debt payments ( combination of credit cards, personal loans, auto loans, and mortgage ) outpaced our monthly salary earnings. I found XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ). I want to preface with the following : I am beyond grateful for the assistance of XXXX and the DMP system ; this company single-handedly saved our finances and helped us get on a path to being debt free. However, while XXXX helped us immensely, I also suffered a derogatory credit reporting by Happy Money ( HM ) during the process of setting up the DMP that decreased my credit score instantaneously by XXXX. I will explain the events and why I think the reporting of a missed payment by HM is unfair given the circumstances. In XXXX XXXX, we enrolled in a DMP with XXXX. I've provided the original signed DMP agreement. This DMP was set up entirely over the phone. A very friendly XXXX representative went account-by-account asking for details such as the company owning the credit card or loan, amount due, account numbers, etc. At the time, the representative indicated that HM participated in DMP 's and included this personal loan in the original DMP as you'll see in the DMP agreement. The HM loan, at the time, had a monthly payment of {$850.00} and an outstanding balance of {$13000.00} ; XXXX reduced the monthly payment to $ XXXXmonth  ( page XXXX of DMP agreement ). My understanding on this original DMP setup phone call was that XXXX would reach out to all of the creditors in the DMP on my behalf, and negotiate on the estimated terms in this original DMP agreement. In the meantime, I was instructed to turn off all auto payments directly to the creditors ( which I did ) and enroll in auto deposit to XXXX to satisfy the monthly DMP deposits ( which I did ). While this process worked for all the other creditors, I had issues with HM. In XXXX, XXXX, my wife and I made our first deposit to XXXX between he original DMP setup call and then, I had not been informed by XXXX or HM that HM would not agree to the DMP terms. From the first deposit made to XXXX in late XXXX, XXXX distributed a payment of {$630.00} to HM in early XXXX XXXX. This was flagged in the HM system, and I received an email on XX/XX/XXXX  ( Subject : Missed Loan Payment ( 1st Notice ) ) since the XXXX payment was missed. At the time, I was under the impression that XXXX was managing all discussions/negotiations with the creditors on my behalf, and unfortunately, disregarded this as I was in good standing with XXXX, and XXXX never reached out to me to notify me that HM was not willing to participate in the DMP. In XXXX, XXXX, my wife and I made our second DMP deposit to XXXX, and another {$630.00} payment was sent to HM in early XXXX XXXX. In early XXXX, I began receiving debt collection calls, and acted immediately to remedy the situation. I was notified of the attempt of HM to collect past debt, and saw a report on my credit report of a missed monthly payment to HM. This single reporting reduced my credit score by over XXXX. As the record will show, I immediately paid HM directly in early XXXX XXXX  to get my account back into good standing. I also sent an email to XXXX following up with them in early XXXX XXXX  since I received debt collection notifications from HM but HM was still included in my XXXX DMP and I was never notified by XXXX of issues with HM and the debt management plan agreement. I was in the dark, and assumed the agreement with XXXX stood, and that my monthly deposits to XXXX satisfied all my debt payments. I came to learn, through a phone call with HM in early XXXX XXXX, that HM does not participate in DMPs, and never agreed to the plan proposed by XXXX. This was 2-3 months after initially setting up the DMP with XXXX. Unfortunately, the lack of follow-up communication from XXXX, and the unwillingness of HM to agree to the DMP, led to me unintentionally missing a payment to HM. I am seeking support as I do not believe that a missed payment reporting to my credit score is fair and accurate. I did make a payment, through my XXXX DMP deposits, under the understanding that HM was part of my DMP. I had the money to make the payment, and never intentionally withheld payment from HM. As my credit record will show, I have a pristine record across +20 creditors on payment history, never once missing a payment on a credit card, personal loan, mortgage, auto loan, or student loans. I am trying to build my finances back up from the lowest they were, and XXXX and the DMP has been instrumental in helping me, but this missed payment reporting from HM is holding my credit score back majorly. As a result, my wife and I are unable to get favorable car loan terms, and credit cards. Today, I am proud to say that my wife and I paid off our DMP with XXXX in full, years ahead of schedule, and we are on track to finish paying off the HM loan in the coming months. My record with HM and with all of my other creditors will show : I do not miss payments. Please help me remedy this misunderstanding, and inaccurate reporting to my credit report brought about from miscommunication between me, HM, and XXXX. Thank you!

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation