Consumer complaint received 2021-07-20
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA
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:
CFPB XX/XX/XXXX In a nutshell, the issue is this : One of the six bank accounts that I had with Bank of America was changed to paperless without my knowledge, or consent. This created a confusing scenario to me that resulted in a payment being over 30 days late. Bank of America submitted a bad report on my credit with the 3 credit reporting agencies, and despite my explanations to many at Bank of America and the agencies, they refuse to remove this bad, and I believe unreasonable report, which caused my credit score, always in the mid 800s, to plunge to the low 700s. 

The last paper statement that I received was in XX/XX/XXXX. It showed a minimum payment of {$24.00}. I paid {$510.00} on XX/XX/XXXX. But in XXXX, I didnt receive a statement in the beginning of the month as I usually do. I went to the online app, statements and documents, and saw an entry in the breakdown of my XX/XX/XXXX statement for {$24.00}. I incorrectly assumed that this was the amount that was due in XXXX and had been taken from my account by the bank. So, when I didnt get a statement in XXXX, I wrongly believed that the minimum had been taken from my account. In retrospect, this was a carelessly cursory review of the online document. But, based on that, I decided to wait until the beginning of XXXX for my next statement. 

But no statement came, so I went into the bank on XX/XX/XXXX, and spoke with an officer, who then called someone at their headquarters. They told her that they had changed my account to paperless. Of course, no one informed me of this, and since the account is not auto pay, I was now past due. I deposited {$1300.00} and she assured me that I would not have late charges or a bad credit report. 

A few days later, I received a letter, dated XX/XX/XXXX, suspending my line of credit. Very annoyed, I went back to the Bank, and this time I spoke with XXXX XXXX, the Relationship Manager. I explained the situation to him, and he switched the account back to paper. He also said that he would file a dispute for me on the credit report. 

I then received a letter on XX/XX/XXXX, saying my equity line had been reinstated, but didnt say anything about the bad credit report. Next, came a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, telling me that the dispute had failed, and provided the information for the 3 credit reporting agencies. I saw XXXX XXXX at the bank, and he told me that the Bank no longer issues courtesy adjustments. I went to a different branch in XXXX XXXX. They expressed their concern about my plight and said they would contact management to look into it. Never heard from them again. 

I then launched disputes with the three credit reporting agencies. A nightmare process that would take 5 pages to detail the aggravation. Bottom line for all : only the reporting creditor can remove the bad report. So, it was a total waste of my time. The Bank of America letter of XX/XX/XXXX had a phone number on it so I called and spoke with a nice lady named XXXX XXXX who said that she would file a dispute of the dispute results. In reviewing the file on this dispute, she noted that XXXX XXXX didnt even mention the fact in his dispute on my behalf, that they had changed my account to paperless. 

In the meantime, I almost missed the payment due on XX/XX/XXXX because I didnt get a paper statement again. In a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, they sent a letter stating that they had received my request for a reprint of my monthly statements. Until this one event, my credit has been consistently in the 800s. The payment that I missed, was for {$21.00}. My balance in my checking accounts at the time was around {$16000.00}. Obviously I was not, and have never been having trouble making a payment for lack of funds. I have been with that bank for 43 years and have serviced probably 5 or 6 mortgage and equity loans during that period. My credit score is EXTREMELY important to me, and it makes absolutely no sense to report my credit as XXXX to potential providers of credit or services. It does not accurately reflect my actual creditability. The spitefulness with which this event has been handled is simply inexplicable and I am literally stunned. 

Instead of apologizing for making an important change to my account without asking for my permission, or even informing me, they are doubling down on the malfeasance by attacking my credit score. Ive spent over twenty hours of my time dealing with this issue and expect to spend more, unfortunately. 

I would really appreciate some relief from my government, as this is clearly an unjust attack on my credit rating. 

Thank you, XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX

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