Consumer complaint received 2018-07-14
Company: AMERICAN HONDA FINANCE CORP
State: FL
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:
I am requesting that the negative credit report items reported by America Honda Finance ( AHF ) be removed from XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX. I will show that these negative occurrences were unintentional, the debt was paid immediately after it was identified, and should be removed from my credit history. I am in the process of applying for a mortgage and my credit score is 70-100 points lower than it should be due to mistake beyond my control and I am being negatively impacted by this mistake. My wife and I have been dedicated Honda/XXXX customers since XX/XX/XXXX, and have purchased or leased 13 vehicles and have never been late with a single payment during this period of time. In fact, as my credit history shows, I have been diligent to pay all debts as reflected by my credit score around 800 before these recent negative incidents occurred. 

CREDIT REPORT In late XX/XX/XXXX, my credit report was pulled for a mortgage application and normally I have a credit score of approximately 800 on all three credit bureaus. It was shocking to see that two delinquencies were shown from AHF, one a 30-day delinquency and a second for a 60-day delinquency for a bill I had paid immediately after I received a bill.

I immediately called AHF about the two incidents reported and they said it was related to a late payment for {$370.00} for the cars disposition fee ( {$350.00} ) plus taxes ( {$21.00} ) which I had paid on XX/XX/XXXX. I explained to the AHF representative in XX/XX/XXXX that I had paid the bill immediately upon finding out about the bill in XX/XX/XXXX. In XX/XX/XXXX, I told the AHF representative that I just found out about the disposition fee bill ( delivered by mail ) and will pay it immediately. I asked the AHF representative why it shows Account Past Due Settlement Offer Enclosed if this is the first invoice Ive received. The AHF representative told me that this was the fourth letter sent. I told him that is not true and had never received any letters prior. The AHF representative in XX/XX/XXXX said that the item would not be a negative report on my credit if this bill was paid right immediately, which I did.. 


HISTORY OF INCIDENT ( 30 & 60-day late payment ) In XX/XX/XXXX, I turned in my XXXX XXXX XXXX leased through AHF to a non-Honda/XXXX  car dealership. I had made all 36 payments of my 36-month lease and had turned in the car two weeks prior to the end of the lease date. 

I asked the dealership what happens next since they would not pay for the disposition fee and the salesperson told me that they will return the car to XXXX as a courtesy before the end of lease date, XXXX will inspect the car for damages, and at some point may send you a bill for the disposition fee and the cost of damages that may be over the damages allowed by the lease contract. I knew the car had no damages and this would not be an issue. He did not know how long that process would take and some period of time may pass before I am notified. 

It should be noted that in XX/XX/XXXX ( mid-lease ), I moved from XXXX, FL  to XXXX, FL and notified AHF of this move. 

According to AHF during my XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX conversations, both representatives commented that four ( 4 ) letters have been sent as follows : 1. XX/XX/XXXX certified letter signature required end of lease statement ; 2. XX/XX/XXXX monthly statement with past due notice ; 3. XX/XX/XXXX monthly statement with past due notice in red letters with credit warning. 
4. Letter dated XX/XX/XXXX Account Past Due Settlement Offer Enclosed. This is the ONLY letter I received and immediately paid the bill upon receipt. 

As I told both representative during the XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX conversations, I did not receive the first three letter correspondences. I asked which address was it sent to since I had moved in mid-lease. They claimed it was sent to my current XXXX, FL address. Because the first correspondence was a certified letter, signature required, I asked who signed for the letter and the AHF representatives said there was no record of a signature. My wife and I live alone, so no one else could have signed for the letter as evidenced by the fact the AHF has no signature on file of a letter received. 

The XX/XX/XXXX AHF representative mentioned that several automatic ( robo ) calls were placed to my cell and I mentioned that I block all robo calls on my cell phone due to the significant number of robo calls I receive. I asked why AHF didnt email me and they said that was not typically done. I mentioned that I get a significant amount of email from Honda/XXXX weekly yet I never received an email about this payment due or the end of lease statement. 

I had also expressed concern to the AHF representative that non-delivery is a possibility given my move and correspondence could have went to my old address ( and not forwarded ) or that since I live in a condominium/townhome community, I dont have a dedicated mailbox in front of my house, but rather a mailbox bank of 100 boxes/slots. Frequently I receive my neighbors mail and vice versa but I can not move their mail to their slot since its locked, I would have to manually deliver it to them. Further, a large percentage of my neighbors are snowbirds and dont live here during the summer and if my mail was delivered to the wrong address, it may be months before they manually deliver it to me.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief