Consumer complaint received 2020-09-22
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: NJ
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: Problem with personal statement of dispute

Complaint:
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX New York, NY XXXX XXXX XXXX, I was recently invited to accept a new pre-approved XXXX XXXX card but want to inquire about a situation before making a decision. 

I had been a member in good standing with XXXX XXXX XXXX since XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX Mileage Plus ( since XXXX ) maintaining a significant balance and paying considerable interest while making on time payments on these accounts for over 20 PLUS years. 

Unfortunately in XX/XX/XXXX I was seriously injured in an accident that left me XXXX  XXXX. I lost my career as a result of the injuries. In spite of these setbacks I continued to make payments in good faith and finally settled the remaining XXXX XXXX XXXX account bringing an outstanding balance down from over {$4000.00} to under {$1000.00} and finally paying it off in XXXX. The XXXX card balance was also paid in full. 

I made the final payment on the XXXX XXXX XXXX card through an individual who represented he was an employee of XXXX when he was actually working for XXXX   XXXX XXXX in XXXX, PA XXXX New Jersey. 

Once they received the pay off I do not believe any of the terms were followed in the Stipulation of Settlement request to remove any negative information relating to this debt on my credit report will be removed by you from each of the three major credit bureaus XXXX XXXX XXXX, Equifax XXXX. Even though my sole source of income was from Social Security XXXX XXXX and being judgement proof according to the attorney handling the case ) I never considered filing for bankruptcy and instead honored these debts as best I could under such horrific circumstances. 

My current FICO score had recently ranged from XXXX  to XXXX. AFTER bringing this to your attention and the attention of the reporting agency my score was LOWERED by over 70 points adding insult to injury in a quite literal sense. All of this happening currently while damaging my ability to secure a better mortgage refinancing rate to date. 

Is there some kind of consideration given to those who face this kind of credit punishment when experiencing a problem that is not in their control such as facing illness or career destroying injury? It seems to me that honorable efforts to payback outstanding debt are met with similar punishment meted out to common criminals losing their credit by serving time in prison. This is akin to a debtors prison! 

This single issue is in contrast to being a loyal, long time, on time, paying customer but continues to penalize me by keeping my score only a few points below the number needed for a refinancing of my only remaining belonging : my primary residence. It is my understanding that under the " fair '' credit reporting act that unsecured creditors are able to maintain this unfavorable review and continue the negative reporting ( ending 24 months away? ) but kindly ask you to reconsider under those temporary hardship circumstances of over 5 years ago. 

I ask you to consider the following : Doesnt my decades long positive history mean something particularly during such dark times or are we only as loyal as our last missed payment ( something the result of such tragic circumstances? ). These days I am sure I am not alone.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation