Consumer complaint received 2021-03-10
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: NY
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Other problem

Complaint:
I opened a Capital One Credit Card in XX/XX/XXXX, at the time of opening the card there was an erroneous collection on my account and charge off that was due to fraud. Late XXXX I removed these charges permanently off my credit card my credit instantly rose to XXXX. 

I added my husband as an authorized user as soon as I opened the card and Capital One seamed you be very interested in who he was to me. With my new high credit score I applied to get an increase with my credit limit and was consistently denied, I applied for a new credit card with capital one I was also denied because I had such a low limit and I was spending so much money each month I exhausted all of my credit utilization and my score dropped. Capital One continued to give me bogus reasons why they were denying me, but I believe it to be caused by my sexuality. 
In their denial letters they left empty bullet points as if they were going to add all of the reasons later. I complained multiple times with Capital Ones customer service and flat out accused them of biais starting in XXXX of XXXX. I spoke to an escalation department representative in the beginning of the fall sometime and she promised me she would do something to increase my limit. 

In the fall of XXXX, I was harassed by Capital One to sign up for a supposedly pre-approved Savor card. I assumed this was resultant of my efforts with the escalation department however the card was not the credit card I was hoping for in terms of rewards. 

Capital One sent me multiple pet approved offer letters, multiple emails and finally put a non removable banner advertisement for the preapproved card offer on my capital one mobile app. I could not escape it and would see every time I went in to make a payment or check my account daily. I called to inquire with the representative about the card and I was told that my Quicksilver card would be upgraded if I accepted their preapproved offer which was based on my previous quick silver application and stellar payment history. I hadnt upgraded the card previously because I thought I should be eligible for a more superior venture card. 

I finally decided to accept their preapproved offer and immediately got an inquiry on my credit report, I called Capital One immediately and asked why I received an inquiry on my credit report as I thought I was upgrading my current account. They explained to me that I had inadvertently signed up for a brand new credit card account. I was not happy about this, because of the new inquiry my credit score went down, however I was happy to have a credit card with a high balance that I could use regularly without hurting my credit score because of high utilization due to the extremely low balance. 

I was approved for their Savor credit card, which was very confusing to me because I thought I was already pre-approved. I started using the card immediately. I placed several transactions on the card and was even sent the card in the mail and a pre-approval approval email which solidified their express and or implied contract. 

A few days after Capital Ones approval of their pre-approval Capital One said that they needed me to submit my IRS tax transcripts because they needed to verify suspicious transactions on my account I ask the representatives many times why an IRS transcript is needed to verify suspicious transactions, I told him I was willing to submit my passport, my marriage certificate, my husbands passport and both our birth certificates however Capital One wanted said they needed these items to verify suspicious transactions on my account. I have tried for months sending Capital One certified letters with legal threats as well as emails and calls to every department in Capital One. In XXXX Capital One closed my account without giving me any reason. 

It is my belief that I am being denied because of the authorized user on my account because my husband is an immigrant with a fresh SSN and little credit history and because we are a XXXX couple. Even if a company representative didnt directly make these decisions a computer systems may have. Capital One openly admits using machine learning and artificial intelligence in these decision algorithms. They use very same algorithms as the XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX  used in the recent scandal. XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX gave XXXX own co-founder XXXX XXXX a credit limit 10 times more than his wife who had a better score while it gave other husbands who also made complaints complaints 20-40 times credit than their wives. 

XXXX : XXXX A survey by XXXX showed that 62 % of XXXX people have experienced difficulties get approved for a credit card or a loan because of their XXXX status. This is despite the fact that XXXX people make more money on average than heterosexuals, have higher credit scores, and are less risky financially overall than heterosexuals. XXXX people also get charged a higher interest rate. XXXX borrowers are 73 percent more likely to be denied mortgage according to research despite being less risky overall, same-sex borrowers are less likely to get a mortgage. When they are approved, they face higher interest. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX Capital one has violated their own express/implied contract by reengaging their pre-approved offer after offer, acceptance and consideration. I made purchases on the card, they sent me the card and then the took the card away the card until I had the IRS verify my income. If IRS transcripts could be requested after the fact there should have been some notification. Capital One has refused to disclose the reason for their obvious income verification in recorded telephone conversations and when pressured on these reasons they have changed the narrative that they need the IRS tax transcripts to verify suspicions transactions. I have recordings of their representatives saying this. This is implausible because the only IRS tax transcripts available would be from XXXX which I didnt have the card until XX/XX/XXXX and even if I had the card in XXXX I doubt I deducted my suspicious XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX transaction. Capital One has violated Equal Opportunity Credit Act by not giving me a reason for my after the fact retroactive denial and breach of implied/express contract within 30-60 days as prescribed by law. Capital One is also violating 15 U.S. Code 1637 in regards to disclosure and major changes to an agreement in ( i ) 2. Capital One also violates regulation Z in addition to clearly falsely advertising a pre-approved credit card that clearly needs to be approved and is not pre-approved. It also appears that when the card is pre-approved and then is finally approved which I thought already happened its still actually not approved and can be rescinded at any waking moment for any undisclosed reason. This is utter XXXX. My credit score has dropped tremendously because of Capital One and I have suffered so many issues from not being able to rent the apartment I want to lost real estate investments.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation