Consumer complaint received 2019-10-28
Company: EVERBANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: DC
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: Was not notified of investigation status or results

Complaint:
I am filing a Fair Credit Reporting Act violation complaint against TIAA FSB FDIC ( merged with Everbank Mortgage ) insured # XXXX, located at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, FL XXXX. The list of violations is below. 

Violation 1 - Misreporting mortgage account status to me and credit reporting agencies ( CRAs ). Numerous and multiple willful, reckless, and negligent violations of the FCRA.

623. Responsibilities of furnishers of information to consumer reporting agencies [ 15 U.S.C. 1681b ] Violated the FCRA by reporting and failing to furnish information that is accurate, complete, and correct inaccurate and derogatory information on my credit reports after I began making mortgage payments, initially through trial modification commencing XX/XX/XXXX then making regular mortgage payment through an approved modification mortgage loan modification, XXXX XXXX XXXX  plan. TIAA continued to report late payments from XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX. See Attachments A, B Debt collectors arent allowed to give false information about you to anyone including a credit reporting agency and they cant send you anything that looks like a court or government document if it isnt one. Conversely, they cant lead you to think that papers they send you arent legal forms if they are. 

The date of delinquency occurs on the date when the first payment is missed regardless of how long after the delinquency the creditor charges off the account to profit or loss or places the account with a collection agency. The date of delinquency remains fixed until the account balance is paid in full. 

FCRAs Furnisher Rule FCRA 623 ( a ) ( 2 ) ( B ) If you furnish information to a CRA on a regular basis and determine that any information you provided is inaccurate or incomplete, you must promptly notify the CRA and provide corrections or additions. Going forward, you must furnish only the correct information to the CRA.

604. Permissible purposes of consumer reports [ 15 U.S.C. 1681b ] If the reinvestigation does not resolve the dispute, the consumer may file a brief statement setting forth the nature of the dispute. The consumer reporting agency may limit such statements to not more than one hundred words if it provides the consumer with assistance in writing a clear summary of the dispute. 

Violation 1 Example - I mailed a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX along with copies of my account history showing my initial trial mortgage payments made for XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. Attachment B My account status displayed past due on my credit reports. I submitted a dispute to the furnishers - Everbank ( TIAA ), and the CRAs. My dispute was not resolved so I wrote a 100-word statement that was added to my credit reports for my TIAA mortgage account. 

Violation 2 - Misleading statements and written correspondence stating that TIAA must report to the credit reporting agencies XXXX XXXX XXXX Lenders are not required by law to report payments to the credit reporting agencies. Lenders must pay a fee to report payment to the credit reporting agencies. This adversely affected my credit scores because not all credit-reporting agencies receive the same positive or negative information about a consumer 's payment history, for example, a delinquent mortgage account. The FCRA does not stipulate that lenders must report information on accounts. Reporting information is voluntary.

Everbank/TIAA made claims that they were required to report negative past history to the CRAs. I was an almost 7-year customer with stellar payment history prior to becoming unemployment due to company layoffs.

Violation 3 - Everbank ( TIAA ) furnished CRAs with information it knew was inaccurate, and failed to correct inaccurate information in a timely manner.

623. Responsibilities of furnishers of information to consumer reporting agencies [ 15 U.S.C. 1681b ] TIAA failed to follow FCRA dispute procedures.

Violation 3 Example 1 - Everbank ( TIAA ) refused to update my credit reports until I made on-time payments for 11 months from XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX. I mailed several letters and placed several phone calls but I received no response or action from TIAA and my requests were denied. See Attachment A Violation 3 Example 2 Called on XX/XX/XXXX and Spoke with XXXX in the Everbank Home Solutions Dept., XXXX. XXXX informed me, Payments are applied to last payment due. Once modification paperwork is complete then payment history will be current. Only way we can report the payment is to report it as a partial payment, but we do not update the credit reports until the loan is modified, within 30 days. My loan was modified with a new payment and loan term on XX/XX/XXXX, however late payments were reported from XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX. 

Called TIAA and inquired when will my credit reports be updated. An employee XXXX XXXX informed me, They will be updated after the permanent loan modification and after the system updates. - My credit reports were not updated until XX/XX/XXXX. 

I was required to undergo credit counseling. I attended credit counseling sessions with XXXX XXXX XXXX as a requirement of accepting the loan modification. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX Violatio

n 4 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and FCRA 15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq., the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ) and 15 U.S.C. 1692-1692p, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. TIAA reported derogatory information to the CRAs as defined by 15 U.S.C. 1681a, the Fair Credit Reporting Act. I disputed the accuracy of the derogatory information that TIAA reported to the CRAs on six separate occasions via mail and phone. See Attachment A 15 U.S.C. 1692g Fair Debt Collection Practices Act TIAA did not within 5 days of my initial dispute communication written documentation of the amount of the debt, and the payment history required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

TIAA failed to complete an investigation of each written dispute and provide the results of an investigation within the 30 day period as required by 15 U.S.C. 1681s-2. I submitted 3 verbal disputes and 3 written disputes but I only received responses for 2 written disputes.

TIAA did not notify me that my dispute is frivolous within the 5 days required by 15 U.S.C. 1681s-2, nor at any other time.

TIAA did modify the information, delete it, or permanently block its reporting if the information turns out to be inaccurate or incomplete or cant be verified as required by FCRA 623 ( b ) ( 1 ) the terms of the debt with me, i.e. principal balance, scheduled payment amount, and payment history. 

CONCLUSION I had stellar credit prior to my period of involuntary unemployment from XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX. I was unable to regain full-time employment resulting in financial losses and lost income because of bad credit due to late mortgage payments. I experienced damage to my credit rating. My credit score went from XXXX to XXXX. I was denied credit, unable to refinance my mortgage and I was unable to apply for a credit card. I regained stable employment in XX/XX/XXXX. I was approved for a credit card in XX/XX/XXXX with a {$500.00} credit limit. I could not be approved for a Tier 1 national bank credit card until XX/XX/XXXX. 

If derogatory information had not been reported on my credit reports, I would have been able to regain employment years sooner. The income earned would have been used to get current on mortgage payments. In addition, the investors and TIAA would have suffered less financial losses and would have saved time in resources.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation