Consumer complaint received 2015-10-23
Company: STATE EMPLOYEES CREDIT UNION
State: NC
Product: Credit card
Issue: Credit determination

Complaint:
I am a XXXX single male whose primary income since XXXX has been XXXX ( under $ XXXX XXXX. When I first became XXXX in XXXX I ran into some credit problems that lasted for about 9 months. In XXXX XXXX I sold my home, paid off all creditors XXXX, and moved here XXXX to live with my younger brother. Because of the daily harassment that I experienced from creditors XXXX during that period, I swore off all banks and credit cards and since then have lived a very frugal but responsible life on less than half my prior accustomed income. 

In XXXX XXXX my younger brother passed away and my older brother and I inherited his home ( with a $ XXXX mortgage ). That arrangement did n't work out and in XXXX I personally refinanced another XXXX ARM mortgage with the existing mortgage lender ( credit union ). This was done in order to finance a buyout settlement reached with my older brother - and with the intent to finish improvements on the house, sell it, and move back to a more affordable home XXXX ( now that I was left paying the full mortgage myself ). 

Since that time I have also held a checking and XXXX savings accounts with the mortgage holder - ( State Employees Credit Union ( SECU ) - Contact Center XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX ) - with an average total monthly balances of around $ 5-10k. The mortgage, taxes and insurance, as well as all my utility payments - and all my fixed monthly bills - are deducted automatically from my checking account each month and I have never missed a payment on any of them. 

Despite loathing banks and creditors since my unfortunate health experiences XXXX, yet realizing that it would be a good idea to re-establish credit, I opened a XXXX credit card account through that same bank ( SECU ) XX/XX/XXXX. 

Since help with moving back to XXXX now seems improbable, I have decided to stay here XXXX and am now again trying to refinance the house to a 30 year fixed loan because the monthly payment has risen by over {$150.00} a month as the loan interest rose from 2.5 % to the current 4.75 %. 

However, SECU does not offer 30 year fixed-rate mortgages, just 10 and 15 year and variable rate loans. So I am attempting to apply for a refinance loan with other banks now that 30-year rates are as low as 3.67 %. SECU includes a free quarterly FICO score report which has shown me having a FICO score in the XXXX to XXXX range. 

So I assumed I was in good shape for a refinancing loan from a third party. However, I have now discovered that SECU has not been reporting my XXXX credit card history to XXXX of the XXXX credit agencies that all banks check when you apply for a loan. ( They were only reporting XXXX XXXX So both XXXX report my credit score as XXXX XXXX no credit history )! 

I am basically being held hostage by SECU to the point that my only option is to refinance with them for yet another variable rate loan - or spend months opening even more credit cards in order to establish better credit record - hopefully before rates increase to the point that it is n't worth the bother. 

You would think that my spotless record over the past 20 years of always paying my mortgage, insurance, and utility bills on time each month - and not buying things I ca n't afford to pay cash - would have an even bigger influence on my credit worthiness than big consumer spending habits of using credit cards to pay my bills. 

THERE SHOULD BE A LAW requiring banks to report credit history to all XXXX of the credit agencies - or at least to disclose to potential customers of their credit cards that they will not be reporting to all XXXX agencies. If I had known this at the time I would have never opened the XXXX card with SECU - as my sole intent was to establish credit via a 'major ' revolving credit card. 

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation