Consumer complaint received 2018-03-15
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: KY
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
In XXXX, my wife and I were renting a home and at that time I was using XXXXXXXX XXXX  for my banking needs. In XX/XX/XXXX we purchased a new home and we opened up a joint account with XXXX XXXX ( we obtained our mortgage through XXXX ). I closed my XXXX Checking and Savings Account and transferred all funds to my XXXX Bank account. I had a XXXX Credit Card, but I cut it up. I didn't want to close my account because it was one of, if not the, oldest of my credit lines ( which I thought at that time, would hurt my credit score if I closed ). 

So we moved in XX/XX/XXXX. I didn't think to notify XXXX XXXX  of my address change since I closed my account. 

Around late fall XXXX, my mother started getting calls from XXXX XXXX asking for me ( at this point, I hadn't lived with my mother since XXXX ). She ultimately thought they were spam. She finally gives XXXX my cell phone number and then I started getting collection calls. The calls came through on my cell phone as " Suspected Spam, '' so I was extremely hesitant to give anyone my information. I kept getting asked for an account number, but I no longer had one ( and at this point I had no idea why they were calling ). They had on file my last known address ( where I lived prior to my XX/XX/XXXX move ). I assured them that I no longer lived at that address and I didn't have any XXXX accounts ( on the phone I was referring to checking/savings accounts, I didn't think about credit cards, which I learned I still had an open account ). 

After MANY calls, I finally learned that a " convenience check '' was cashed on XX/XX/XXXX in the amount of {$63.00} to XXXX XXXX for cutting grass. I told the person on the phone that wasn't me. I didn't know an XXXX XXXX and I cut my own grass. Plus, there had been NO ACTIVITY on that account for at least 3 years if not longer. I assured them it wasn't me. 

I then began the painstaking process of disputing the claim. I was given the end around a number of times. I apparently opened up two fraud claims ( one for disputing that I actually opened up the credit card, the other for this convenience check ). So that pushed back when the current fraud dispute was opened XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX. Notably, XXXX XXXX sent me a letter stating they had incontrovertible proof that I opened the credit card account and was denying my claims it was opened up fraudulently ( I never told them I didn't open the account, I was specifically asked if I REMEMBER opening the account and I said no. I don't have a specific memory of opening the account ). 

In the meantime, I found a house for purchase with my wife and two children. I went through the loan process and found out that my credit score ( normally 790-800+ ) was now XXXX because of an overdue account : the XXXX XXXX  Credit Card XXXX Knowing that this fraudulent activity was affecting my ability to obtain a favorable interest rate on the loan that I would have otherwise obtained, I began calling XXXX XXXX  regularly to check up on the status of this claim. 

I was told in late XXXX that XXXX XXXX  HAD DETERMINED that the signature ON the convenience check DID NOT match my signature that they have on file. To me this all but confirmed that someone fraudulently signed my name. Assuming that the person who fraudulently signed this check stole it from the mail at my OLD residence, I called my landlord and was told that XXXX XXXX was likely the boyfriend of the woman who currently resides at that location. 

I was also told by XXXX XXXX that the investigation would take NO LONGER THAN 30 DAYS. I called back today on XX/XX/XXXX and they said it will take 30-90 days. I asked who was working on the case and what is being done and all she could tell me was that " they were working on my case '' and that the last reported activity was XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called XXXX XXXX  to talk to a supervisor to explain how this fraudulent activity has affected my life and asked for them to speed up the investigation so they could begin the next LONG process of removing this activity from my credit report. In effect, nothing has been done since I was told XXXX XXXX  determined it was NOT my signature on the convenience check. 

I realize that they are within the time frame allowed by law for them to conduct their investigation. What I am upset about is that they have already determined, at least 2 weeks ago, it wasn't me who signed this check. SO why haven't they closed the investigation and began taking corrective action? Even though someone has a set number of days ( 90 ) to complete an investigation, why must they wait the entire 90 days when they already know the results of the investigation?? 

What makes me most upset is why this fraud even happened. XXXX sent convenience checks to a house that I had not lived at in 3 years, on an account that has not been used in AT LEAST 3 years ( literally, no activity ). And even worse, they were able to determine after the fact, it wasn't my signature. Why in the heck didn't they make that determination at the time the person cashed this check? They certainly demonstrated they have the ability. 

XXXX XXXX irresponsibly mails out convenience checks that are anything but convenient. This has ruined my credit score and IS CURRENTLY HAVING an adverse affect on my ability to buy a home. My interest rate is 2 % points higher. Not only that, I'm getting a bridge loan to buy the new home while we sell our current. I was hoping to minimize my monetary damages by getting this fraud issue taken care of before we perform our permanent financing, but that is unlikely to happen. That means that we will have to close on bridge loan with high interest rate, close on permanent financing at high interest rate, and then re-finance when my credit score is corrected and incur more costs. This is a huge financial burden. 

XXXX should not get away with this behavior. It made a choice to send a courtesy check to an old address, on an account that hadn't been used in years and allowed it to be cashed without taking a second look. Now I'm paying for those consequences.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation