Consumer complaint received 2023-03-28
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: MD
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Account status incorrect

Complaint:
In XXXX of XXXX I started a new job. At my previous employer I was able to setup my direct deposit to go into two accounts, one of those accounts being the XXXX  account connected with the autopay for my mortgage. At my new job I am unable to split my paycheck and instead must make a manual transfer into the XXXX account. This XXXX  account was a new account that my husband and I opened together when we got married in XXXX to pay our joint bills. 

Unfortunately in XXXX the transfer was made after the autopay was taken out. The autopay was then sent back from XXXX to XXXX, which resulted in the autopay being shut off. I received a notification from XXXX and the account was updated from that end, but I was unaware that the autopay was shutoff from the XXXX  end because I received no alert or notification from them. 
It wasn't until XX/XX/XXXX that I received an email from XXXX that had a subject that wasn't the same subject as all of their standard monthly statement emails. All emails received have the subject of " XXXX XXXX XXXX - E-Statement Notification '' Which is the same subject for every monthly email I receive from XXXX. Therefore, how am I supposed to know that there is anything in that notification other than the regular course of business? 
When I saw this email with the subject " '' XXXX XXXX XXXX - Account Notice '' in XXXX and investigated the situation and learned that my autopay was shutoff and my mortgage hadn't been paid since XXXX I immediately made all payments due, including late fees. 
This payment was made on XX/XX/XXXX. However, it wasn't until XX/XX/XXXX that XXXX updated my account to " current '' and " pays as agrees '' because they incorrectly enrolled me in hardship assistance and loss mitigation AFTER i specifically declined to be enrolled. I had no idea I was even enrolled in this program until I was trying to contact customer service to understand why the status of my account was still not updated, and they told me i had to speak with the loss mitigation department. The representative told me she had no idea why I was even enrolled and she updated my account immediately. Previously, I had been emailing with the credit research department for over a month and no one ever told me that i was enrolled in that program and that was the reason my account status was not updated. 
It was also on this call that the representative discovered that a XXXX phone number was listed as a contact number on my account. I have a XXXX number, I have never had a XXXX number, nor do I know anyone with a XXXX number. I have no idea how this number would have been added to my account. XXXX claims to called me on several days from XXXX through XXXX to notify me that my account was deliquent. I have sent them screen shots of my call records for each of those days. 
XXXX. As you can see, none of those numbers identify as XXXX, therefore leaving it up to me to determine who the caller might me XXXX. On those days you can also see the volume of calls that I receive from unknown numbers, and how I can't possibly answer all of them. 
XXXX. There are no voicemails that were left from XXXX. Voicemails are the only way for me to decifer if the number calling me is for a legitimate purpose or it was spam. If XXXX is contacting me about something as important as missing a payment, why would a voicemail not be left? If a voicemail was left I would have returned the call immediately and made the payment asap, as I did on XX/XX/XXXX when I finally learned there was an issue. 
Clearly, XXXX never called me because they had the wrong contact number in my account. An error that I am not responsible for. 
Other issues with their methods of " alerting '' me : I provided documentation that I have been enrolled in paperless statements since XX/XX/XXXX. The purpose of enrolling in paperless statements is to not have to worry about being home to receive notifications sent via snailmail. I am a remote employee, I travel more often and stay in other places for long periods of time because I can work from anywhere, it is unrealistic for XXXX to rely on USPS to send critical notifications about the status of customers accounts to my physical addresses, when I have purposefully enrolled in electronic communication for notifications. 
If XXXX can not have reliable notifications then how can it hold its customers accountable for being up-to-date on changes to their account, such as their autopay being shutoff. 
I've generally felt their credit research department is incompetent. Every time i email them with my documentation and reasoning their responses have nothing to do with what I am presenting. They kept telling my why I was being charged late fees, and I never once asked to have my late fees waived. 
I have asked XXXX to remove the late payments on my account for XXXX and XXXX. Because again, they shutoff my autopay, I did not. What they are reporting is not an accurate reflection of my ability or willingness to pay my mortgage. I have even shown them the cash balances in my other bank accounts to prove that I had the ability to pay during the months in question. 
This is an incredibly frustrating process and has impacted my ability for my husband and I get a new mortgage and continue our life together and grow our family. What is currently being reported makes other bankers think that I'm not a reliable borrower, and that is not the reality at all. 
I hope that by sharing all of this information and documentation that XXXX can update its processes and procedures so that this does not have to happen to another customer. It was an unfortunate mistake that has consequences that are not reflective of the actual situation. 
I have also explained this situation to all 3 of the credit bureaus and asked them to do an investigation. The credit bureaus have concluded that there was inaccuracies in my account, and did make some changes, but claims they can't update the late payments because they do not have the ability to make changes to the report, they only can use the information provided to them. However, XXXX claims " Please note, credit reporting agencies can choose to correct at their own discretion or upon your request if they determine that it is appropriate. '' So this is also a circle issue and one of these agencies it not doing their job correctly.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation