Consumer complaint received 2020-12-03
Company: AFNI INC.
State: AL
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Account information incorrect

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2020 the mortgage company that I have been working with to obtain a mortgage to buy a home contacted me by phone and stated that in order for my loan to proceed I would need to contact the collection account holder ( AFNI , Inc. ) that is reporting on my XXXX and XXXX credit reports and reach a resolution on the XXXX XXXX account with a balance of {$280.00}, I was advised to request a pay for deletion of the account. 
On XX/XX/2020 after I had obtained the contact information as well as account information I called AFNI, Inc. at XXXX XXXX. and explained to the gentleman that answered the phone that I was needing to reach an agreement of paying the negative account in full and having the collection account permanently removed from my credit reports so that my home loan would be able to close on XX/XX/2020 as scheduled. The operator advised me that if I paid the account in the full amount of {$280.00}, he would submit a request to the credit bureaus to remove the account from my reports. Before I provided my debit card information to pay the {$280.00} I asked specifically how I would be protected with the collection agency upholding their end of the agreement and was told that AFNI, Inc. would be mailing me 2 letters of the transaction in 5 to 10 days time. The first letter would be a statement of the account showing the balance having been paid in full and the second would be a copy of their request to the credit bureaus of the account being deleted from my reports. I then paid the full balance of {$280.00} with my debit card and was told the charge would show on my bank statement as XXXX XXXX as they were the original creditor and he provided me with a confirmation number of XXXX of the whole days transactions of the payment, letters to me, and credit bureau requests, to provide to AFNI, Inc. if I ever were to need to contact them again on this account. I thanked the operator and hung up the phone. 
I then contacted the mortgage company by phone and updated the transaction that had just taken place. I was asked to call AFNI, Inc. back and request if they would either email or fax the request letter to the credit bureaus that AFNI , Inc. was going to send to me in the mail instead be sent electronically to the mortgage company. 
I called AFNI, Inc. back at XXXX XXXX. and made the request to have the letter either emailed or faxed to the mortgage company. The male operator I spoke to looked up the account information and said that no letters could be sent in any format whether it be through the mail or electronically and AFNI , Inc. wouldnt request the removal from the credit bureaus until the payment I sent cleared their account. 
On XX/XX/2020 the payment cleared my account so I called AFNI, Inc. at XXXXXXXX XXXX and was advised the letters would be mailed that day. When I requested that the letter pertaining to the credit bureaus deletion request be emailed or faxed to the mortgage company I was advised that AFNI, Inc. has no access to sending electronic information via fax nor email that I would simply have to wait for the mail to run. 
On XX/XX/2020 I received a notification on my phone from my credit monitoring service that there had been an update to my credit file. When I checked the update AFNI, Inc. had updated the account as being paid in full, they did not remove the account as they had stated they would do. I called AFNI, Inc. at XXXX XXXX. and explained to the male operator that AFNI , Inc. had only updated the account and not deleted it as the agreement had been. I explained to this gentleman again the importance of this request as I can not close on my home loan without the account being deleted and that my family will be facing homelessness as our apartment that we are currently in has already been leased to another tenant on XX/XX/2020. The operator stated that AFNI, Inc. does not remove accounts from credit bureaus after being paid in full. When I explained the contact that Ive had with AFNI, Inc. in regards to our agreement and provided him with the confirmation number that had been provided to me that would verify the payment, the letters, and the credit bureaus request, he again stated AFNI , Inc. doesnt offer that and hung up on me.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation