Consumer complaint received 2017-08-11
Company: EQUIFAX, 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: Their investigation did not fix an error on your report

Complaint:
What is the complaint?
XXXX submitted a report to the Credit Bureau Agencies ; Equifax, XXXX and XXXX XXXX that I missed making payments for the month of XX/XX/XXXX/XX/XX/XXXX when I was told by the XXXX XXXX XXXX who was guiding me in filing an application to enter a debt management program. XXXX XXXX XXXX instructed me to not to make the payment to XXXX  because it would increase my chances of getting approved for the debt management program and that the payment would be rolled into the debt management program. They did instruct me to pay the XXXX  payment and I did. Therefore, I trusted their guidance and did not make the payment for that reason which seemed to make sense at the time. Since that time making the payment did not cross my mind.
What Happened On XX/XX/XXXX I received a call from XXXX to inform me that they were concerned that I would not make their payments because XXXX reported that I missed 2 payments for XXXX -XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX also informed me that my credit limits have been decreased by 75 % because of the late payments. I was shocked when they said I had missed the payment in XX/XX/XXXX/XX/XX/XXXX. I responded by saying that I have made the payments for XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX. They told me to call XXXX and the credit bureaus. I called XXXX right away and spoke to XXXX. He told me that my XXXX statement reflects that my status was in good standing. Then I immediately called Equifax, XXXX and XXXX XXXX to file a dispute with each of them. I also mailed out a letter to XXXX and Equifax. I was not able to mail out a letter to XXXX XXXX because the post office said the mailing address was invalid. All 3 credit bureaus reported back that XXXX refused to take off the late payments. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX to find out what happened and he said that the late payments should not have happened because of the reaging process protects you from late payments. The credit reporting bureau 's response from XXXX was negative.
Who are the people involved?
On XX/XX/XXXXI mailed out letters to the following XXXX Executive 's : XXXX XXXX, SVP Customer Service and XXXX XXXX, CEO.
OnXX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX from XXXX 's Executive Group called me and we connected. I tried to explain what happened and XXXX did not listen to what I was saying and flat out responded that I did not make the payment, therefore, they will not take the late payment off the credit bureaus. I tried explaining that I was misinformed by XXXX XXXX XXXX and if I had known that I still was supposed to make the payment, I would have made it. He would not listen at all. I felt I was not heard.
OnXX/XX/XXXX I called the Executive office and spoke with XXXX, the Executive Assistant letting her know the details and asking if I could speak with one of the Executives and she said she 'll inform them and get back with me by XX/XX/XXXX. Then I received a letter in the mail instead of her calling back and the letter indicated that it was a negative response. I have left XXXX voicemails on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX,XX/XX/XXXX and have not received a response from her so I called another office so I can be heard and suggested that I send XXXX XXXX, CEO XXXX an email. That is why I am submitting this report again so I can be heard.
Under the Debt Collection Defense and Fair Debt Collection Practice Act if the Credit Reporting Agencies if the credit reporting company determines it has enough information to resolve the dispute it will complete the investigation and provide you with the results. If the investigation shows that the furnisher ( XXXX  ) provided wrong information about you or if the information can not be verified, the credit reporting agency must correct or remove the inaccurate information. In my circumstance, I was misinformed and should not have to bear the penalties of a credit score decreasing from XXXX to XXXX and have my credit limits decreased by 75 % because of a missed payment that I was not aware of that I had to pay because of the XXXX XXXX XXXX telling me that it was taken care of through the Debt Management Program. I believe it is not fair that XXXX submits to the credit bureau agencies that I was late that one time.
I believe under the Fair Debt Collection Practice Protection Act that XXXX remove the late payments from the Equifax, XXXX  and the XXXX XXXX reporting agencies for the months of XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX.
Thank You!

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation