Consumer complaint received 2019-08-02
Company: PENTAGON FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: CA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt was result of identity theft

Complaint:
Back in XXXX of XXXX I discovered that my perfect credit had been ruined because there were accounts on my report that were charged-off or in collections. There was three specifically. The XXXX XXXX company, Pentagon Federal Credit Union, XXXX   XXXX XXXX XXXX. I found out because I was attempting to purchase a home and the mortgage lender informed me this was preventing me from being able to qualify. 

I've had a 700+ score for as long as I can remember. I have never once paid a bill late or have been in collections. Furthermore, none of the three companies that were reporting on my credit report are mine nor have I ever associated with any of them. Because of this I began an investigation and took steps to begin having these accounts removed from my credit report. I did so by calling all the companies listed on the report which were erroneous as well as filing a police report. I did so back in XXXX of XXXX. At first they kept telling me they were going to take care of it but that never seemed to happen. I would call all three of the creditors over the months and I kept getting the same response. After nearly a year of no results, I finally decided to hire a professional to assist me. I contacted a local company who has been helping consumers for many years in XXXX. 

When I contacted this consumer advocacy company, they informed me that I should supplement the police report with a notarized ID theft affidavit. I went ahead and did so in XXXX of XXXX. They assisted me in filling it out and submitting it to all three major credit bureaus as well as every creditor and collector listed on the report. At first I would receive what I call bogus noticed from the credit bureaus asking me for more identification so I went ahead and provided them with whatever they were asking for. After several months I finally began making some sort of headway on my credit. XXXX XXXX deleted all the fraudulent accounts on my credit report. 

Once XXXX XXXX deleted the accounts from my report I believed things would go well from that point on. Unfortunately they didn't. XXXX did delete 2 of the three fraudulent accounts from my credit report, but XXXX didn't remove a single one. It frustrated me even more because one of the collectors, The XXXX XXXX XXXX, actually sent me a letter stating they would be deleting themselves off my report. How can the actual collector who sent me a notice in writing saying they are being deleted from my credit report still be verified by XXXX? That is impossible unless XXXX   is not doing their job. Also, If XXXX and XXXX XXXX both deleted the 4 wheel parts account because it was invalid and fraud, how can XXXX claim it was legitimate? They can't unless they are not doing a real investigation. 

This is not the end of it either. Over the last week I have been receiving calls from a collector asking me for my social security number and refusing to speak with me unless I provided them with my full number. I went back to the consumer advocates who were helping me and they got a hold of this company as well. XXXX was their name. Without going into too much detail to save us all time, it will suffice to say that the manager XXXX informed us he just received the account for collections from Pentagon Federal Credit Union 1 month ago. Because my notarized affidavit as well as police report was provided to all creditors, collectors, and credit bureaus since XXXX, why would the creditor send me to collections without responding to my fraud claim first? I am now really upset because I feel like I am being discriminated against. The collection agency was notified I have filled out a notarized ID theft affidavit as well as police report and submitted it to Pentagon Credit Union months ago. I demanded they cease collections and cancel the account back to their client or they would be included in this complaint as well. 

Please help me in stopping XXXX as well as Pentagon Federal Credit Union in stopping from reporting these fraudulent accounts on my credit report. If this doesn't work, my only other option is a lawsuit as I have exhausted all other means of getting these companies to correct their records.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation