Consumer complaint received 2020-07-15
Company: ALTERRA GROUP, LLC
State: CA
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: Problem with personal statement of dispute

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2020, I spoke with XXXX XXXX of Alterra Home Loans at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX CA, XXXX. We spoke via the XXXX online video conferencing service. 

I received Mr. XXXX 's information via the California Department of Fair Housing, since their website instructed me to look for loan counselors if I wanted to learn more about what a home loan is. I contacted Mr. XXXX with the intent of learning about the home loan process, and what is required, NOT to apply for a home loan. The reason for this is because I have high amounts of student and personal debt, and I wanted advice on what I could do to improve my chances of being approved for a loan. 

One day before we had the conversation on Friday, XX/XX/2020, I received an email from Mr. XXXX 's company saying that I was given access to a personal document portal on their website. Mr. XXXX spoke to me on the phone regarding this service, before our video conference, and told me that this service was so that he could learn more about my financial picture. HE DID NOT AT ANY POINT TELL ME THAT I WAS BEGINNING THE LOAN APPLICATION PROCESS BY SUBMITTING THESE DOCUMENTS. THE ATTACHED COPY OF THE EMAIL INVITING ME TO UPLOAD MY PERSONAL FINANCIAL DOCUMENTS DOES NOT INDICATE THIS EITHER. I submitted the documents believing that Mr. XXXX would use them to develop a better understanding of my circumstances, and not as a substantive step, or consent, to beginning the loan application process. 

During the conversation, Mr. XXXX and I spoke about the different products the California Fair Housing Department Offered. He then said, " let me run your credit I'll let you know what might be available to you. '' I remember asking him if it was a hard credit check, to which he replied " no. '' I thought it was a soft, not hard, inquiry. Mr. XXXX did not at any time tell me that it would be a hard credit check, nor that I was formally beginning the loan application process. HE ALSO DID NOT RECEIVE MY EXPLICIT CONSENT TO A HARD CREDIT CHECK. 

On Monday, XX/XX/2020, I ran a soft credit check via the XXXX XXXX website. It showed a hard inquiry dated XX/XX/2020, from a company called " XXXX XXXX. '' I contacted XXXX XXXX, and they told me the company that requested the check was Panorama Mortgage  Group. I called them and spoke with their Regulatory Counsel, XXXX XXXX. She told me that the credit check had indeed been done by Alterra Home Loans, and I then proceeded to explain the aforementioned circumstances. She advised me to contact XXXX XXXX, and let them know I was making a formal dispute, and that she would contact Mr. XXXX and investigate further. 

On XX/XX/2020, I received an email from Ms. XXXX claiming that she spoke with Mr. XXXX and determined that I had explicitly consented to a hard inquiry, and that by submitting my personal financial documents to the Alterra Home Loan portal, I had begun the actual home application process, even though I was not informed otherwise. 
I informed her of the erroneous characterization of the conversation on Mr. XXXX 's part, and reaffirmed that I wanted to the inquiry removed, or I would proceed with administrative action. 

She replied to me the same day, and affirmed that she would not be removing the inquiry, and that I had consented to the inquiry. I then gave her notice that I would be filing this very complaint.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation