Consumer complaint received 2021-10-26
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: WA
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: Their investigation did not fix an error on your report

Complaint:
In XXXX and XXXX, I opened two Capital One credit cards. I was very proud of my payment history until early spring of XXXX when Covid shut down the entire world. I lost my income and was not eligible for any unemployment benefits. I also happen to reside in Washington state which has had some of the longest term and most financially harmful restrictions. I was unable to make any payments to these credit cards for several months during that time. Presumably, I am not alone in this as Covid was an actual thing that impacted many thousands of people just like me. At the time I went into arrears, what Capital One reported to the bureaus was as follows : 1. {$2700.00} ( including fees attached ) 2. {$1300.00} ( including fees attached ) I tried repeatedly to contact Capital One via phone or email and was only ever able to get through once. Capital One did not try to help my by waiving payments for a short period of time or by waiving interest. They only offered a payment plan, but as I had no income, I was unable to make those payments. Both accounts fell behind. In fact, if you look at my credit reports, you'll see that all my payments to every entity were on time for years prior to Covid. I was given zero assistance and zero consideration during a time when I literally had only enough money to feed myself and keep a roof over my head. In fact, things were so bad for awhile, I actually had to get food from a food bank for a time. 

Once I was back on my feet, the spring/summer of XXXX, I got ahold of my credit reports to see how badly Covid had impacted my scores. I immediately saw that Capital One had reported both accounts as defaulted. I requested debt verification and got partial verification. The larger of the two accounts was being collected by an aggressive collection attorney. 

After multiple attempts to verify the debt and getting nowhere, I decided to settle both of the accounts in the hopes that once paid and the circumstances explained to Capital One, they would surely remove them from my credit reports, as any other reasonable entity would, due to the circumstances as to why I fell behind in the first place ( the pandemic ). I sent an email to XXXX XXXX, CEO of Capital One indicating that I was prepared to settle both debts and asked if he would please remove them from my credit reports if I did. I received a call from someone NOT XXXX XXXX who told me that Capital One would not remove their reporting from my credit reports. I decided to move forward with settlement anyway and did so shorty thereafter, as I was afraid of being sued and didn't want to further harm my credit. 

About three months after I settled the debts, I began working on my credit reports again. I again sent an email to XXXX XXXX asking him to please remove the line items from my credit reports, as I'd already settled the debts. I enclosed copies of the cashier 's checks so he would know that I had, in fact, made a good faith effort to make good on what I owed the company. 

Again, I got a phone call from some rep who merely repeated what the first rep had told me : Capital One " must '' report " accurately '' the bureaus. Of course, this isn't at all true, a point I made to this rep. There's no obligation for any company to report to the bureaus at all. It's purely voluntary, so what can be reported can also be unreported. 

I also pointed out to this rep that the purpose of credit reporting is to provide : " ... information creditors and lenders use to help them make important lending decisions. While credit bureaus collect credit information in order to make it available to certain third parties, the decision to deny or approve someone credit ultimately lies with the lender or creditor. '' ( XXXX website ) This is accomplished by placing information on an individual 's credit report that presumably indicates his/her relationship with money and debt. Under ordinary circumstances this would perfectly fine. But when a company like Capital One continues to report to credit bureaus during Acts of XXXX pandemics as if nothing out of the ordinary is happening, that smacks more of cronyism and greed rather than " fair and accurate '' reporting. 

Because what exactly is fair about it? Was I late in payments because I was irresponsible? No. Yet, the mere fact that these line items appear on my reports give a lender pause and make it appear as if I was/am irresponsible. This is deceit, not " accurate '' reporting, which is required by law. In fact, I'll go one step further and say that Capital One is causing harm to all those who, like me, are trying to recover from financial catastrophe caused by Covid. They know it do not care. It is irrelevant to them and they're perfectly fine with the questionable ethics involved. 

Thus, Capital One continues to harm me for potentially years AFTER I settled the debts and made the accounts right with these inaccurate line items. I will pay higher interests, higher fees, have to put more money down as deposits. All because Capital One is determined to stand by an internal " rule '' that has nothing ethical at its base. As I said, had I been irresponsible in my credit card management, those line items would deserve to be there. But I vigorously refute that they do, in fact, need to be there. 

If credit reporting to the bureaus is supposed to be a fair and accurate picture of an individual 's relationship to money and debt, then it also MUST by definition take into account extreme and extended circumstances over which the debtor had no control, as in the case of a global pandemic. Otherwise, it is neither fair nor accurate and perpetuates what amounts to libel on the part of the financial institution by insinuating that the debtor is irresponsible. 

I have sent multiple letters to both Capital One and the credit bureaus and am repeatedly met with the same XXXX  answer. I turn to you now in the hopes that I will finally receive some justice as it pertains to this unethical type of reporting. 

Thank you for your time and consideration. 

XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation