Consumer complaint received 2022-02-09
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: OH
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Struggling to pay your bill
Sub-issue: Credit card company won't work with you while you're going through financial hardship

Complaint:
My office was closed most of XXXX and XXXX due to Covid-19. Because of this, I was not able to work. I worked in the financial services industry, which relied on in-person meetings with business owners and their employees. I was forced to quit in XXXX because they took my salary away. I contacted Bank of America to let them know that I was affected by the pandemic and would not meet my obligations in XXXX and XXXX. I asked if I could skip the XXXX and XXXX payments, which I would catch up on in XXXX when I received my income tax return. But because my account was closed by me due to financial hardship, they would not allow me to do so and reported it to all three credit bureaus as delinquent payments. They did tell me that if I had not had a previous hardship, they would have honored my request. The Cares act protects consumers and requires furnishers who call with a Coronavirus complaint to note accounts as current. 
I was discriminated against because I had a previous financial hardship. My son has XXXX and was hospitalized for XXXX  XXXX  when I had the first financial hardship. I was on XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX without paying to be with him. I was not sure if he was going to make it. It was a scary time for me as I am a single parent with no financial or emotional help from anyone else. I could have filed for bankruptcy or not paid my obligation, and it would be off my credit report in another year. Instead, I chose to do the right thing, close my accounts, and work out a payment plan with my credit card companies to pay back what I owed them. Making the monthly payments was not easy, but it was the honorable thing to do. I faithfully paid what I owed to the credit card companies. In XXXX and XXXX of 2021, I could not make the payments to Bank of America due to the Covid pandemic. I was advised to call the credit card companies to let them know about my situation and ask for a two-month deferral to make up all the past payments and make the accounts current with my income tax return, which I did. I also read that in the Cares Act, the creditor was supposed to report all payments missed due to Covid as current and not delinquent. The above creditor reported these missed payments as seriously delinquent and did not follow the law. Before XXXX of 2021, I had never had a delinquent payment in my XXXX credit history. 
Instead of allowing this money to get charged off, I agreed to pay them because it was the right thing to do. Because of these XXXX past due payments, my credit score has dropped over XXXX XXXX points. I will not be able to buy a house or a car. In addition to calling the credit bureaus, I wrote goodwill letters to no avail. I disputed the reports to all credit reporting agencies, also to no avail. I do not get child support and have no family to help me. I used credit cards to help me take care of my children. I want Bank of America to delete the delinquent payments reported in XXXX and XX/XX/2021 and mark them as paid on time, current and agreed upon. I would like to have them delete all delinquent payments due to my record and according to the Cares Act. Thank you!

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