Consumer complaint received 2023-03-31
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc.
State: CA
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Was not notified of investigation status or results

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX Attn : Consumer Finance Protection Bureau From : Re : XXXX Credit Report / Balance Currently Due is {$3000.00} To Whom it May Concern : I am submitting this letter and asking for help to reconcile a situation that I have fallen victim to. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I got an email stating that my FICO score had dropped. I had no reason to expect this as all my accounts and balances were always paid on time. I followed up on the email and saw that my current FICO was currently in the mid XXXX range which was extremely alarming as I am always in the high XXXX. 
I pulled a free credit report only to find that there was a delinquent XXXX account reporting a 90 day late. I do not have a XXXX card so I contacted them immediately. As it turns out ; my ex-husband of XXXX years, was using a credit card that was opened in XXXX under both of our names. His name is, Social Security #. He has since remarried and was living in AZ. I am still living in the same home in CA, for the past 27 years. I have never moved or changed residence in all that time. All mail and communication for this account was being sent directly to him, and as I stated I was completely unaware that this card associated with me existed. XXXX made it sound like I should have been aware of it because my name was on the statements. Well because nothing was being sent to me, the one person that should have been aware of it was and his wife as it was their home and email that all the communication/statements were being sent to. Over the years it appears he added XXXX authorized users, ( our sons ) and his wife. The boys have told me that they were given an account number to pay for college tuition when due, but both boys have long since graduated and no longer have any affiliation with this card, so the only ones using this card would have been or. I WAS ABSOLUTELY UNAWARE that my name was still associated with a credit card that my ExHusband was using. 

In XX/XX/XXXX my ExHusband was found dead in a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. His wife,, was given possession of his wallet, computer, and keys. A few days later she tracked down my oldest son and told him his dad has passed away. In the mean time she was busy selling cars and cleaning out bank accounts. The kids had no idea where his money was, who he owed money to or who owed him money and she would not share any information. They were only told that a Will did not exist so everything was hers. This was not surprising as she was 15-20 years younger than and in it for the money. The kids have now pretty much accepted that they have been screwed, but I never expected to be a party to this disaster. 

After contacting XXXX and being transferred from one department to the other, over two days & 3+ hours of conversation, and always hearing how sorry they are, I was finally told that was the Primary on the card and once he died, I became Primary and this is now my responsibility. Well for three months while these payments went unpaid - I was never contacted, but suddenly my name was simply added as the new Primary Card Holder and the delinquent payments were reported against me. 

This leaves me incredibly angry because I contacted XXXX to investigate as soon as I discovered this on my credit report. I had no idea what the account number was when they asked me for it, or even what name was on the account. Using my SS # as a search, I was told this was a card was apparently using that was opened jointly in XXXX ( OMG, what the XXXX ). I even asked for the XXXX XXXX and was told they could not give it to me for Privacy reasons yeah, go figure. I agreed to pay off the balance ( only to protect my personal credit ) and they were glad to accept my offer ; however, when I stipulated that I wanted my personal credit restored suddenly they are unable to do that. I know they had my information, because when I agreed to pay the balance they asked to confirm my information so they could update the account. We started with the address at which point the woman helping me had her computer freeze. She stated that she was not sure if the information would go through. As it turns out, a short time later I receive an email ( mind you I did not give them my email address ) confirming a change of address. So very interesting!! 
I am not hiding, I have lived in the same home for 27 years, I have had the same land line number for 27 years, I have had the same email address for as long as email addresses have been a thing, I have plenty of credit, I make a mortgage payment every month, I make credit card payments every month everything always paid on time. I know these companies have resources and they could easily have located me either by phone, email or mail. Why are they telling me they can not restore my delinquent credit as reported by them when I was NOT given a fair chance to cure this either before it became a situation or even now after the fact? 

Today I am contacting you to present my story and ask if there is anything you can do to help me resolve this problem. I am still willing to pay the balance due, but only if my credit is restored. That feels like a reasonable request. If as XXXX has told me, they are unable to change a reported account ( I call that total XXXX ) then I guess I have nothing to lose and I will have to accept the fact that after 67 years in which I have always respected my credit, that the system has failed me and with that said, I have no reason to give XXXX any money to pay off a debt that I did not personally incur. If we can come to an agreement where by all three credit bureaus are corrected and my credit has been restored, I will pay this balance and as a gesture of XXXX XXXX, hopefully all late fees can be removed and I am only paying for XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX as charged. 

Please feel free to contact me with any additional questions as I would very much like to resolve this situation. 

Best Regards,

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation