Consumer complaint received 2021-08-19
Company: ICUL Service Corporation
State: TN
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Attempted to collect wrong amount

Complaint:
I bank with XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX, Tennessee. My credit card with them has never gone to collections, but when I've gone past due on some occasions, I usually receive three late notices for one event -- two from the credit union and one from a third party called CRS ( Creditors Resource Service ) in XXXX, Illinois. The one from CRS is a collections notice, not a late notice, and since XX/XX/XXXX, they started sending these notices for credit card numbers I don't have and have never had. 

The wording is from a collections notice : Your account has been referred to us. Federal law gives you thirty days after you receive this letter to dispute the validity of the debt. If you do dispute it, we will mail you proof of the debt. If you request in writing the name and address of the original creditor, we will furnish you with that information. The law does not require us to discontinue collection activity during the thirty-day period. This communication is from a debt collector and is an attempt to collect a debt. Minimum payment past due usually includes both the past due and upcoming payment.

All this for missing one-month past due payments, and two months a couple of times. But the credit union confirmed on XX/XX/XXXX in person that my account has never been sent to collections. 

I called them early on, after I received notices for the first card number I don't have ( card ending XXXX ; the second is XXXX ), but they never called me back. And it's as if the phone number listed was for a personal phone number. 

The way they do the payment due is different than how my credit union does it, so if I were to ever have paid what they requested -- if I were overlimit -- it wouldn't be enough. They're also missing my middle initial, which is listed on my account. 

After my mailing address was changed in XX/XX/XXXX by someone who didn't live in my household, I had to have my card number changed and reissued. After that, I received collections notices for a second card number different than the first, also not mine. 

XXXX XXXX is a standalone credit union. They don't have branches elsewhere. I confirmed this when I applied for their credit card because the account reported to two different credit bureaus under different credit union names and states. I had the false one deleted from my credit file. They only report to one of the bureaus. Plus, I had XXXX at the time for credit monitoring and the investigator and I had a three-way call with the CU manager of the CU on my report ; she stated that she'd had another call/issue like ours recently, but confirmed I wasn't in her system. That CU was in XXXX, WV, I believe. 

I have since paid off this account and am paying it off as I continue to use it, so I shouldn't expect to receive any more collections or late notices, but the different card numbers, wording, etc. make it seem like identity theft and I've been actively combatting that since XXXX, though it appears to have started much sooner than that. 

My credit union hasn't been able to explain it, as it's a third party 's system. They offered to call CRS, but I declined. I couldn't see why they'd get a different response than I.

Company public response: Company believes complaint is the result of an isolated error
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation