Consumer complaint received 2021-01-05
Company: FORD MOTOR CREDIT CO.
State: CA
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:
I leased a new vehicle from Ford Motor Credit in XXXX. I was never late on any payment on this 24 month lease. Two weeks before lease end in XX/XX/XXXX, the vehicle was parked on a public street, and I was at work. The car was parked across the street from a gas station, and a large truck backed into my car damaging both doors. And then drove away, leaving no information. It was a hit-and-run accident. 

I did not report that accident to my insurance company as I didn't want the claim on my record nor was I in a financial position to pay the high deductible. 

I worked in the automobile sales business for many years and was intimately familiar with the true cost of body work. There was typically an internal cost and an external cost. I believed I was helping Ford by letting them fix the car, avoiding a bad car fax report, and then selling it at auction. 

Instead of Ford providing actual proof of their costs, they just sent me a bill for approximately {$8000.00}. For all I know, Ford marked up their true out-of-pocket costs to be much more than they actually lost in real money. Either way they win. If I pay the {$8000.00} they made thousands more in unearned profit. If I didn't pay, they could take a huge write-off on their corporate taxes and shelter other income. 

I refused to pay the {$8000.00} and made no more payments to Ford and had no further communication with them. One arm of the government ( the IRS ) says that any debt that has had no payment for 6 or more months must be canceled ( charged off ) and removed from the assets of the company. Further, the IRS says that any charge off or cancellation of debt is DEBT FORGIVENESS and therefore TAXABLE INCOME to me, the debtor. Ford notified the IRS of this debt forgiveness, and I was sent a 1099-C CANCELLATION OF DEBT. 

I paid income tax on the {$8000.00}, Ford Credit took a tax write off for {$8000.00}. They have every right to notify the credit reporting agencies of the Charge Off and the fact that I was seriously past due for the 6 months after I returned the vehicle. 

But after that, they have no right to continue to claim I have an {$8000.00} unpaid balance with them or to continue to report each month from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX, that my account was past due. They took the charge off and the tax deduction. I paid the income tax of the cancellation of this debt. After XX/XX/XXXX, the balance reported to the credit bureaus should have been XXXX. I had no payments due. 

Other than this single negative item, I have good credit. My credit score is XXXX. Just not very much credit, as I am retired. I have no mortgage, no car loan, and carry no balance on the one credit card I have. I pay for everything in cash. 

Now I am trying to get an XXXX XXXX to be able to buy a newer model XXXX interest free on a 2-year personal loan. I have been declined three times over two years by XXXX XXXX. 

They claim the declination of my application is due to the information in my credit report because it shows three years of past due payments and a balance of {$8000.00}. This is not accurate information, yet I can not get the information removed by Ford.

Ford has already taken the inflated {$8000.00} write-off on their taxes. If I were to pay them now any amount, they aren't going to go back to XXXX and amend their tax return. They will simply book the revenue as miscellaneous income and maybe make a book entry to the fake balance they claim I still owe. 

Hardly seems fair they get money from me and a take a tax write-off. As my mother used to say, you can not have your cake and eat it too. 

Obviously, after paying thousands in income tax on the cancellation of debt, I would not be foolish enough to pay them anything. 

Add to this the fact that more and more creditors are refusing to report positive experiences to the credit bureaus. The CFPB should create a rule that if a creditor chooses to report negative information, they must BY LAW, report positive information as well. 

I lived in an apartment in a major city from XXXX to XXXX. My rent averaged {$2000.00} a month over that period. I was never late. The large property management company that owns the apartments and many others doesn't report positive experiences. 

I had an XXXX loan with XXXX XXXXXX/XX/XXXX Again, never late over the two-year term. They, too, do not report positive experiences. 

The result is my credit bureau file looks " thin '' which is seen by lenders as too high a risk. I can not get the interest free financing from XXXX. I must pay in some other way. This hardly seems fair. 

The government needs to clarify the rules for cancellation of debt. It can not be income to me, and a tax deduction to them, and still stay on the books at the credit reporting agencies as an open and active debt.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation