Consumer complaint received 2023-05-14
Company: STATE EMPLOYEES CREDIT UNION
State: NY
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Account status incorrect

Complaint:
I have filed multiple disputes XXXX against the North Carolina State Employees Credit Union over this 30 day late issue and the SECU will not bend on their position. I have been a member of the SECU since XXXX and have had this XXXX  card never having a late payment. I have spent much time and some money already and this issue has forced two of my creditors to close my accounts ( XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX ) because of this 30 Day late that has also affected my credit score. My credit score is approximately 740 ( my wife is slightly higher ) and I have NO late payments on my history. Here is the timeline. 
* I had not used this XXXX  since at least XX/XX/XXXX. 
* SECU had not allowed online access to XXXX accounts until recently unless you maintained a debit card. We opted out of a debit card years ago and tried as recently as XX/XX/XXXX and couldnt get access. I did finally receive access in XX/XX/XXXX. As a result of not having online access to my accounts, I had to rely on the XXXX for statements. 
* SECU did not print a statement for my account from XX/XX/XXXX until XX/XX/XXXX. They have stated in a letter to me in XX/XX/XXXX they dont always do an account statement. Now that I have online access that is not true as far back as I can see online. I have a screen shot available. 
* In late XX/XX/XXXX I had a charge of {$75.00} for an automatic renewal on my card of a magazine I cancelled in XX/XX/XXXX when I switched to a digital subscription. ( They have subsequently give me a credit for my digital subscription to make up for this {$75.00} charge ). This charge would appear on my XXXX statement with a payment due if {$40.00} and a due date of XX/XX/XXXX. 
* I NEVER received the XX/XX/XXXX statement by USPS. Since I had not used that card at that point I wasnt expecting a statement in the mail. I use XXXXSPS Informed Delivery, which sends me a daily email with scanned copies of my email and on the emails in that period I didnt delete there is no record. When I spoke with USPS about Informed Delivery, they instructed me that they send all copies of mail to the FBI who holds them for one year. In order for me to obtain the couple of copies of days that I deleted in XXXX, I will have to pay a lawyer to subpoena the FBI for a copy? 
* I used the card for the first time since at least XX/XX/XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and was expecting this bill. There was a charge of {$20.00} on this statement for a fee it was only located on the top right of this statement and not with the charges so I really didnt know it was a late fee. I assumed this fee was for the new card that I had received and activated. There was only one page with the statement. When I received online access in XX/XX/XXXX I saw the second page of the statement showing it was a late fee. I received the XX/XX/XXXX statement ( According to USPS Informed Delivery received on XX/XX/XXXX ) when I returned home from a holiday vacation and received my held mail on XX/XX/XXXX. The XXXX statement was due XX/XX/XXXX. I pay all of my bills electronically with XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX or directly on the vendor website. SECU doesnt accept electronic payments, so XXXX  XXXX XXXX processes and mails a corporate check to SECU. I have been doing this for years with no problems and had no problems with other vendor payments. I paid my SECU statement on the evening of XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX  XXXX XXXX processed and mailed the check on XX/XX/XXXX. They marked the check with the expected receipt date of XX/XX/XXXX. According to the XXXX  XXXX XXXX website they deduct the check amount from your account the day it is received by the vendor. XXXX deducted the check amount from my account on XX/XX/XXXX - 6 days before the due date of XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX  XXXX XXXX shared this information to me by email that it was processed and mailed on XX/XX/XXXX and received on XX/XX/XXXX and deducted. I shared this email in the last dispute that I lost with SECU. SECU held the check and they did not process until XX/XX/XXXX - 8 days after the due date and invoking a second {$20.00} late charge. 
* So, I made my payment XX/XX/XXXX and knew the payment was paid because it was deducted from my XXXX  XXXX XXXX account on XX/XX/XXXX. Some time late in XXXX I received an email from my credit monitoring company talking about having a 30 Day Late Payment and getting back on track. I assumed it was a promotional email as I have not had a 30 day late payment before. 
* When I received my XX/XX/XXXX statement ( USPS Informed Delivery received on XX/XX/XXXX ) there was a {$20.00} late charge. I couldnt figure out why I had a late charge because I paid via XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, processed on XX/XX/XXXX and received and deducted from my XXXX  account on XX/XX/XXXX. I immediately made a payment {$100.00} payment on XX/XX/XXXX and processed and mailed by XXXX Bill Pay on XX/XX/XXXX that was received and deducted from my on XX/XX/XXXX XXXX. XXXX processed the XXXX  Corporate check on XX/XX/XXXX. I made another payment of {$50.00} that XX/XX/XXXX received by SECU on XX/XX/XXXX and deducted by XXXX on that day and processed by SECU on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX I processed a payment through XXXX XXXX XXXX of {$1800.00} to pay the credit card in full. It was received by SECU and deducted by XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. SECU processed on Monday, XX/XX/XXXX. Evidently checks are arriving and sitting until being processed. 
* At this point, I still had no clue about the automatic XXXX renewal charge as all of the statements I received didnt reflect that. I also couldnt figure out why I had late charges. In XXXX I received another email from XXXX about a 30 day late and since I have been a past fiction of identity fraud and have to use a PIN with the IRS I decided I needed to investigate. In XXXX I contacted SECU to inquire why I had late charges and found out there was a charge in late XXXX. I stated it wasnt on my XXXX statement. I was told it was on XXXX statement. I asked for copies of the statements and was told I would receive in XXXX business days. When they arrived I say the Late XXXX charge on my XXXX statement. I had paid the XXXX statement on XX/XX/XXXX and it was deducted from my account on XX/XX/XXXX. I contacted XXXX XXXX and they gave me a credit to my digital account in lieu of a refund back to my card since I had already paid the SECU card off in full. When I looked at the National credit guidelines I saw that a payment wasnt late until it was overdue by 30 days. I knew I had paid the SECU account well more than the minimum and it was received and deducted so I knew the SECU had made a mistake. 
* Knowing the info from above bullet I filed a dispute with XXXX. The dispute came back relatively quickly and I lost. Not only did I lose, but SECU listed no data from me in XXXX and listed me as late again in XXXX. Keep in mind I made payments if {$100.00}, {$100.00}, {$50.00} and {$1800.00} and the account had been paid in full on and deducted from my account and credited by SECU on XX/XX/XXXX! Were they mad that I made a dispute? 
* I disputed again and lost, and they removed the XXXX late and added data for XXXX but the XXXX late remained. 
* So I called the SECU AGAIN in early XXXXand finally found someone who was able to give me a card ( not an atm ) that I could use to set up online access. I started online access and after waiting XXXX business days and was able to setup online access around. 
* I recently involved XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in the dispute and they have sent me proof of payment and verified the dates I processed, they processed, when SECU received and also when SECU processed. We had several conference calls with the SECU Service Center with XXXX explaining it was paid and requesting help to return late fees and reverse the 30 day late. Each time we were put on hold for up to 30 minutes. XXXX called back and we continued to repeat the process. Finally one person did come back and said the supervisor couldnt deal with it. 
* I also had sent copies of the second dispute along with an addition letter to the SECU since I had unreasonably lost twice.I received a letter back from them stating they dont have to print statements every month, they included copies of my statements and said they sent me a letter stating my payments were late and they called me to tell me its late. I have no record via USPS Informed Delivery that I received the letter telling me my payments were late ( computer copy was in their mailed packet ). I have printed out all of my cell and landline phone records from XXXX through the end of XXXX and I have no calls from any area code in North Carolina and no toll free numbers that match anything from SECU.

* BOA finally spoke with a supervisor at SECU and had no luck whatsoever and they suggested I take it up the chain. 
* Now, I had XXXX XXXX cancel my account because of multiple lates by SECU. I received full documentation from XXXX verifying that I had paid everything negating a XXXX day late and disputed again and lost the dispute within 70 days. 
* Again, I have never had a 30 day late payment and have been a 35 year of the SECU. I am appalled that SECU will not acknowledge that I didnt receive the XXXX statement blaming it on the USPS XXXX especially when I use Informed Delivery that shows no proof - yet blame the USPS for not receiving my check on or near XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX maintains they deduct the money from your account when they have delivery. On all of the other payments SECU processed within a few days of receipt. Please keep in mind I have been a member for 30 plus years and have not had a late payment. All of this over a {$40.00} payment that they have charged me am additional {$40.00} in late fees. This process has cost me a lot of time, money and has substantially damaged my credit. I am dismayed that XXXX has seen my evidence yet they yield to SECU who has been uncooperative with XXXX  XXXX XXXX. I have worked with XXXX XXXX XXXX to have SECU yield in this, but all that has happened is we have been put on hold waiting for a supervisor who never comes. XXXX has suggested I should continue to pursue this as the records show I made the effort to pay well before the deadline. Each CSR I spoke with was surprised XXXX didnt step in and resolve this since SECU wont. I have lost two credit accounts that have hurt my credit score, this 30 day late credit score is hurting my score as well. Although I am still around 740FICO this is going to hurt me as I apply for a new mortgage shortly. My only options are to try to get your organization, the Attorney General of NC or NCUA to do something about this or I am going to have to waste the time and money that I dont have as I retire in a few months to hire a lawyer to subpoena Informed delivery for the 3 days I dont have record via email and to take the SECU to court for hurting my credit, having accounts cancelled, costing me more on a mortgage and causing me heart-related issues. I would cancel this account, but that would affect my score even more. Given their vindictiveness and lack of cooperation, I expect them to close my account and then I will go full on after them legally. Lease help! Thank you!

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation