Consumer complaint received 2017-05-16
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: Difficulty submitting a dispute or getting information about a dispute over the phone

Complaint:
Please see the following message I sent to the company,   XXXX   XXXX  . For 2 years I had autopay set up, but that was somehow turned off due to an error on their website they do n't claim responsibility for. There was no reason I would use autopay for  24 p ayments in a row, then disable it.     Once I was made aware of the late payment, I checked my account which was still showing everything was fine and payment should have been extracted.     Letter sent to   XXXX   XXXX   : To Whom It May Concern : Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this letter. This afternoon I had my credit report pulled and discovered that a late payment was reported in  XXXX   XXXX  for my account with  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX  I want to first start off by saying that in over 2 years of holding my mortgage with you, I was never late on a single payment. In fact, I was pre-paying the principal down {$150.00} per month and making extra payments on the account.     Here are my payment details :  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX , payment is pulled out on  XXXX  of every month  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX , payment is pulled out on  XXXX  of every month  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX , payment is pulled out on  XXXX  of every month including multiple double payments as my loan kept showing that my schedule payments were not being processed even though autopay was there, it kept showing balances owed and I was in fear of my account payment being late. There was clearly an error with something in the system that was out of my control but I was logging on and trying to supplement it the best that I could. I felt paying extra would secure me from any late payments.     At some point in  XXXX , something happened on my account but no one can tell me why the auto draft was turned off. I had setup auto draft during the entire stint of my loan, but in  XXXX  of  XXXX  it was turned off. I am unsure if this was an error on my part or an error on the  XXXX  website.     What we concluded was that on  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX  my mortgage payment was charged {$1400.00}. On  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX , a new figure was added and a charge of {$1400.00} was assessed. I am assuming the error came in that this was supposed to be the new auto-draft payment, but was entered in as a one-time payment. I never knowingly, or would never intentionally, turn off my auto-draft and elect to pay monthly by logging into the account. I believe it was either made in error, or, there was an error on the  XXXX  website. The website is thoroughly outdated and not very simple in electing payment options. It very well could be that this was my mistake, but no one has been able to tell me that I logged on my computer and decided to cancel it. Its highly likely I replaced my auto-pay with a one-time payment, but I was never called or warned about that move. I feel that after 2 years of doing auto-pay, it should have been noted as out of the ordinary that such an event would take place. This is where I feel that any human that is looking at my account must understand there was miscommunication on the website with payment instructions and something odd was going on.     Around that same time, I was in the midst of traveling to Virginia to be with my father,  XXXX   XXXX , who passed away on  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX  from his second battle of  XXXX   XXXX . In that time period, you can certainly understand that checking the mortgage payment auto-draft was the least of my worries. In the coming months, we prepared his funeral, had to sell his home, and take care of his final wishes and expenses.     The other issue I had was that during this whole ordeal, I was also refinancing my home to save on a lower interest rate. In  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX   XXXX , and  XXXX   XXXX  a total of  XXXX  payoff requests were sent to finalize my loan. There were struggles there which pushed back the loan process and ultimately led to my loan carrying on months longer than it should have. There is no one to blame, but in all of those moves, not one mention was made that my account had not been making its monthly mortgage payments. In this mix-up, I feel it was possible there was miscommunication on both ends. I wasnt receiving notices, I was checking my account and seeing that a balance wasnt owed every, so I had thought my account stood in good order. Everything appeared fine. I believe this was even the case  XXXX  came along, because I do not recall any representative calling or any notice to say that I was on the edge of missing my payment. In fact, I had a conversation with  XXXX  and Equifax on  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX  and I was told my account was in perfect order. I was told at the time that no payment was due and I had a month where payment was submitted late. It breaks my heart to know that if someone took the time to work with me as a client, maybe this could have been avoided.     It wasnt until after the payment was already late that in  XXXX  I received noticed. I thought right away this must be a mistake and called  XXXX  to see what the issue was. I was told that at some point, my auto-pay was cut off and that I was 6 days late on my payment but no one could tell me how or why it was cut off ; the assumption just was that it was my fault. I went right away and while still on the phone, I paid my bill. In talking to the representative still, he understood it was nothing more than a technological error and he told me there would be no penalty to my credit and he was happy to waive the fee that was going to be assessed. He said since it was caught so soon and taken care of right away, he could tell by my fair intentions and that there was money in escrow - on top of the fact that I submitted payment right then and there on the phone - there wouldnt be a hit on my credit score and everything would be fine. The representative assured me of that. I didnt document this anywhere because I took his word for it, and now it hurts me to see that in the end that he failed to own up to his end of the bargain.             I do have one other problem in that it seems there was an error with my payment and escrow amounts being much higher than normal. I received an escrow refund of almost {$3000.00} after my tax bill was paid and this money couldve easily been taken from my escrow to pay the balance owed. This error wasnt because of financial difficulties in meeting my obligations but 100 % based on a lot of things going on in my life and the errors made on my part with the payment structure of the  XXXX   XXXX  system.       I realize I made a mistake in failing to be completely thorough but I do feel I was let down by technology of the payment website and the overcomplicated system. My payment history should speak for itself as I worked exclusively with auto-pay and made additional principal with you had been spotless. Mistakes do happen but when the company truly cares for you, that should be taken care of as part of the cost of doing business with  XXXX  over another firm. In fact, there was an error with my refinanced mortgage. I had incorrectly input the account number for my draft, and when the new mortgage company tried to draft it, they could not. My first mortgage payment was going to be late! Right away I was on the phone with them and they took care of it. They wrote me back saying that they understood it was a mistake, I was brand new to the account, and they could see that the money is in my account  (    XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX    )  and it was nothing more than a mistake. I feel thats the meaning of customer service and I would hope as a leader in mortgages,  XXXX  would be willing to treat me with that same respect.     I 'm not only embarrassed by this  black m ark on my record, but it 's now hurting my ability to buy a new home for me and my  XXXX ,  XXXX . In completing loan paperwork today, I was crushed to find out my credit score was dropped to under  XXXX  ;  XXXX  to be exact. That is a very harsh penalty for missing a payment by 6 days, especially when it was nothing more than a mistake at most and highly possible it was an error in technology. This was the first time in over 2 years in working with  XXXX  that I had any such issue, and I would hope that the relationship we had and you wanting to serve your customers best that you would have it in your heart to reverse the credit reporting late payment on my mortgage account.       I would be extremely grateful if you could honor this request to remove the late payment entry from my credit report. It would help me immensely in securing my loan and allowing us to buy a home we have been dreaming about.     I started my relationship with  XXXX  as you were recommended to me by the builder of my condo. Without his referral, this would be a relationship that was never started. No one ever knows what the future may hold and there could be possible business for us together down the line. Completely shutting out a customer and leaving such a mark, especially for something so little, has equally tough implications on  XXXX  just with the thought of potential business lost in the future.     If rates were competitive and some of the great features of  XXXX  were still available, Id even be happy in seeking a loan with you again on my upcoming purchase. The sad, harsh truth is that without this being removed from my credit score, I will be unable to close on the house in time and we will miss out on an amazing opportunity we are so happy about.     I truly am begging you to see this as a human being who can understand the situation I was in, the extreme difficulty of losing my father at an age way too young, and the simple technological mishaps that led to the late payment. If I simply didnt have the money or was unable to pay, I would understand and deserve the penalty. I am in a sound financial decision and have spent many years working to have great credit. Its a shame and honestly unfair that a 6 day late payment, which again only happened in some sort of error, could taint my record and take away something so precious to me.       I am closing on a home on  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX  and I am requesting this be looked into and handled immediately. I will explore all necessary avenues to ensure that is the case. I will work diligently to get this taken care of and will continue to work every day on this to get it rectified as I truly believe in my heart, this is the right thing to do. If I were at fault 100 % or didnt have the funds, I wouldnt be asking for your help.     I am asking out of the kindness of your  heart  and as a client for over 2 years, please help me out as a courtesy and remove this late payment from my credit score. It doesnt match the total body of work that I have put together over many, many years and with it being so reason on my credit score, its completely demolishing my credit score.     Please contact me immediately if we can discuss this matter together. My number is  (   XXXX   )   XXXX .

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation