Consumer complaint received 2017-05-31
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: NY
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 received a letter from Bank of America in regards to my credit card on XXXX XXXX, XXXX. They indicated that I had failed to pay my bill and that they closed another card I had with them ( had that card since XXXX ) and that the card in question had been delinquent over 60 days and that they had contacted the credit bureaus. I immediately called BOA and explained to them that I never received a bill or statement. They told me what email they had sent the bill to and that email address was outdated and no longer in commission. This means they would have received an error message when emailing that address. I realize this is likely an automated process and that maybe they do n't have a process for checking for outdated email kickbacks. But when an account goes delinquent that has been in good standing for over 10 years with no late payments - One would think that they would reach out to the customer in another way. BOA had an alternate email address on file - never used it. They had my phone number on file - never called me. They had my address on file - never sent a statement or a letter ( until the one informing me they contacted the credit bureau ). I never received a statement and therefore did not know I owed anything. I rarely use this particular credit card. My history will show my balance was XXXX with activity in XXXX and XXXX - soley because I had my XXXX stolen and was waiting for a new one. I thought I had paid off the balance in XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ) but one more charge came through. This charge was {$110.00} and that is the charge that went past due. I paid off the balance of this mess ( {$170.00} after late fees ) the day I received the letter from BOA ( XX/XX/XXXX ). My credit score dropped XXXX points because of this incident. In XXXX XXXX my credit score was XXXX and this one late payment resulted in my credit score dropping to XXXX. I have filed a dispute with Bank of America who continually promise the matter will be resolved but it never is. It has been almost 3 months now. I filed a dispute with XXXX who sent me a letter indicating that nothing could be done. I have now filed a dispute with XXXX. Two issues exist here. # 1 I never received a bill and they knew that - because the email address would have failed. They never used any other available means of contact and therefore BOA was fully aware that I never received a bill and still proceeded to file a derogatory claim against me with the credit bureau. That is just wrong. # 2 The punishment does not match the crime. I 'm XXXX years old and have had credit since my father co-signed my first car loan when I was XXXX years old. I 've had a credit card since I was XXXX ( and still have that card today ). Never once in XXXX years have I ever had a late payment or any other kind of derogatory claim against me. And yet because of one late payment my credit score drops XXXX points? From Excellent to Good?? This does not add up to me. And that is an issue with the Credit Reporting Agencies. The whole point of a credit score is to indicate your credit worthiness to creditors. Now it looks as though I have a shotty payment history when in fact that is not true. Quite the opposite. This is negatively affecting my life as we are looking to buy a new home and will be forced to pay a higher interest rate should this matter not be resolved. Over 30 years that will equal tens of thousands of dollars. All because Bank of America never thought to utilize the alternative forms of contact available to them to send me a bill for {$110.00}. And because apparently to the credit bureau - that 's a crime worth a lifetime of credit built. This is just not adding up to me. It feels wrong. This is my last resort. I truly appreciate your time.

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 non-monetary relief