Consumer complaint received 2021-09-28
Company: American Financial Network Inc.
State: TN
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit repair services
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2020 I went to American Financial Network to apply for a loan to purchase a home. I spoke with Mr. XXXX XXXX, who was the loan specialist assigned to my application. He pulled credit reports for my daughter and I, and informed us that we did not qualify for a home loan. He specified that we needed to undergo credit repair and could get approved for the home loan within four months. He recommended that I go to a friend of his that he sends a lot of customers to for help with their credit. He assured me that Mr. XXXX XXXX, one of his close friends, could fix my credit within four months, and I would qualify for the home loan. He had access to my credit report at that time. He knew what items were causing me to get denied for the home loan. I believed him when he said that Mr. XXXX could help me get approved. Mr. XXXX then called Mr. XXXX while we were in the office and told him that we needed to use his credit repair services. He also told him that we were willing to come to his office right then. Mr. XXXX told me the service would cost {$1500.00} for both me and my daughter. Somehow he knew the cost of the service without asking Mr. XXXX. Mr. XXXX then asked if he could meet us at a nearby XXXX 's XXXX XXXX parking lot as he would in the neighborhood, and was on his way home. I told him that I did not mind going to his office, but he insisted upon meeting at the parking lot of the store. I met him in the parking lot of the appliance store, and he ran my debit card for the {$1500.00} payment. Then we submitted financial records to him via email. We never saw his actual office. He then asked us to sign up for XXXX monthly credit monitoring for a fee of {$29.00} per month. I thought he would pay for any additional expenses from the {$1500.00} he received. A month later we called him and asked why we needed to have credit monitoring when we were paying him to fix our credit. He stated that he did not have time to monitor our credit because he was the owner and operator of a used car dealership, XXXX XXXX XXXX on XXXX XXXX. I continued to call him to ask the status of the credit repair. He told me to stop calling him. Now it has been over a year, and he stopped taking my calls and communicating with my daughter via email. I spoke with an attorney, and she advised me to contact CFPB. Mr. XXXX  never submitted any disputes on my behalf. He never gave me any instructions on which bills I needed to pay off to improve my credit score. He never did anything. I don't even know if he ever even looked at my credit at all. I contacted Mr. XXXX XXXX to discuss the problem, and he also gave me the run around before he no longer accepted my calls. I believe that Mr. XXXX and Mr. XXXX are involved in a bait and switch operation where they bring people in to apply for home loans, tell them they need credit repair, and then scam them for the credit repair fee of {$1500.00}.

Company public response: Company believes complaint caused principally by actions of third party outside the control or direction of the company
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation