Consumer complaint received 2018-07-06
Company: NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: GA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Charged too much interest

Complaint:
The basis for this complaint can be found in CFPB Complaint number : XXXX With that, I'd like to restate my request for the refund of interest over the last four years for the following.

Navy Federal Credit Union ( NFCU ) has directly and indirectly admitted that there was in fact a bank error in XX/XX/XXXX. They have validated that they granted a temporary line increase to process a payment. While they did not validate in their response that it was bank policy to inform consumers before granting the temporary line increase, it's very clear that the bank has admitted some level of fault due to their most recent response ( raising the credit limit ). 

While NFCU states : " The temporary credit limit increase has no impact on the way in which finance charges and late fees are assessed, so the account finance charges and late payment fees are valid, '' I completely disagree. The bank made an error in XX/XX/XXXX - an error which had detrimental impact to my personal credit score across the board. I was unable to buy a car, get new lines of credit, or consolidate my student loans at a reasonable rate. Given the detrimental side effects, I immediately contacted NFCU and informed them that I disputed the card balance, the terms, and the credit line. Additionally, I had also stated that I would not pay the balance until the matter was resolved. Despite my best efforts, NFCU did not follow the Fair Credit Billing Act and did not place the card in dispute status while they investigated the account. Instead, NFCU continued to bill interest, report me late to the bureaus, and charged numerous late fees due to the bank error. NFCU continued to destroy my credit profile by showing an account 125 % over the limit, late, and not in dispute.

NFCU did not complete the investigation throughly within the first 90 days of the error being reported. If they had completed the investigation properly, they would have found that there was in fact a bank error and would have resolved it at that time ( It stands to reason that the bank error discovered recently is the same error that existed at that time ). I made it very clear to NFCU that I had the means to pay off the card in full ; however, the bank doubled down and continued to place blame on me at that time. NFCU lied numerous times throughout the process about the credit line increases, their terms, and the internal bank policies ( see previous dispute about the XX/XX/XXXX credit line increase call ). NFCU attempted to claim that I should have known better. I'm concerned about this statement because Temporary Line Increases were an internal bank policy - never once documented in the terms and conditions I received by the card. It's additionally disturbing that NFCU could not immediately process my payment given that they held the money in cash for that payment.

While I certainly agree it was my choice to not make payments, pay off the card, or resolve the balance over the last 3.6 years, I must assert that the reason for that is due to the unresolved bank error that has destroyed my credit over the last 3.6 years. Given the bank error, the bank actions, and the overall hardship this has caused, I request NFCU reevaluate their decision of upholding the interest that was unlawfully and unethically charged over the last four years.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation