Consumer complaint received 2021-10-17
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: MA
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:
For the last 18 months, I have been on COVID-19 mortgage forbearance. During that time, the lender was required to report my account as current, showing only the amount of the loan and the monthly payment and freeze any activity. Per advice from sources at that time, homeowners were advised to regularly check their credit reports to ensure that the lender was reporting the mortgage loan accurately. I became concerned when I noticed that the mortgage amount increased each month, which indicated some kind of activity. I questioned the lender in writing and by phone and never received an answer to any written query. My verbal queries to my lender contact resulted in advice to check with different departments within the bank. None of the departments replied. I resorted to filing 2 separate disputes with the credit reporting agencies to possibly get an answer. The dispute was noted as investigated, but no results were changed or explained. The amount of my loan as reported to the credit bureaus has continued to increase. In addition to the monthly increase to my mortgage balance, my credit scores have continued to be negatively impacted, having decreased by more than 12 points during the forbearance.

The greater of my concerns about the lenders handling of my forbearance has been the multiple annual escrow reviews that have resulted in an increase in my monthly payment by more than {$330.00} since XX/XX/2021. These reviews do not appear to be based in fact, because my property taxes and insurance have decreased this year. The formula on which the bank bases its claims is a formula that includes projected amounts the bank has arbitrarily calculated. This formula does not produce accurate monthly escrow accruals, but also do not match with the increase amount reported to the credit reporting agencies. 

As of XX/XX/2021, my COVID forbearance will end and I will begin the loan reinstatement process. I have not been given reason to believe that this lender will act in good faith and resolve the discrepancies created during this time period. The lender continues to blur the lines between COVID forbearance guidelines set forth by HUD and their in-house hardship resolution process. As such, I am concerned that the lender will continue trying to force me into a product that is not consistent with HUD guidelines, but that will make it unnecessarily hard to resume pre-COVID mortgage payments.

I have attached the following documents to further explain my concerns : 1 ) 2 credit reports from XXXX, dated XX/XX/2021 and XX/XX/2021. ( Note : I have obtained reports for these dates from all bureaus and can provide, if necessary ).

2 ) An XXXX  dispute results page showing that my dispute was basically resolved by listing the new balance each month of the forbearance. My statement asking to specifically determine why the bank reported the increases was never addressed. ( Note : All 3 bureaus report similar resolution results ). 

3 ) 2 monthly statements XX/XX/2021 and XX/XX/2021. 

4 ) Two escrow review documents, dated XX/XX/2021 and XX/XX/2021. 

My complaint centers around the lenders reporting my mortgage to the credit bureaus in a manner that indicates an increase in the loan amount for reasons that are unclear and for which they have been unwilling or unable to explain. The statements I receive each month are inconsistent with what is reported to the credit bureau. The escrow calculations add to my concerns that the lender is applying pre-COVID procedures that will result in a reinstatement process that will increase rather than alleviate my mortgage burdens created by COVID. Despite working closely with the lender over the last eighteen month, I have received correspondence and had verbal conferences that have been confusing, contradictory, and coercive. 

When the forbearance ends on XX/XX/2021, I would like to resume payments that are equal or better to pre-COVID agreements, without changes to the terms ( i.e, interest rate increases and escrow overly high projections ), and that my credit standing be corrected and properly reported, with no penalties for having been on COVID forbearance.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation