Consumer complaint received 2018-05-28
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: CO
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 purchased my home in XXXX ( what I thought was the end of the financial crisis ). I received XXXX XXXX military overseas ( XXXX- XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) orders in XX/XX/XXXX. I was unable to sell my home as it was worth {$50000.00} + less than what I owed on it. We attempted to rent, however, that situation became impossible. I was then forced to look into loan modification/loss mitigation/foreclosure alternatives. XXXX XXXX convinced me to proceed with a short sale on my home. From early correspondence, XXXX XXXX knew I was XXXX XXXX military and that receipt of XXXX orders is a qualifying hardship. However, XXXX XXXX required multiple other documents, statements of financial hardship, financial worksheets, etc. to prove my financial hardship before they would proceed.. Further, XXXX XXXX delayed the short sale qualifying process significantly requiring the same documents to be sent multiple times, claiming they never received them. 

XXXX XXXX also required that I be late a minimum of 3 payments on my mortgage in order to qualify for the short sale, although this is not a requirement, particularly for military under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. The late payment information is still reflected on my credit report under Equifax, XXXX, and XXXX. The late payment information needs to be removed from my credit report as XXXX XXXX made missing payments a condition to qualify for the short sale. 

The loan was a VA loan and therefore backed by the VA. Therefore, XXXX XXXX was paid in full the entire loan balance. The XXXX XXXX home mortgage account should therefore be described in all my credit reports as paid satisfactorily. 

Further, under protections of the SCRA and Military lending act, I can not be forced to waive consumer protection laws. Under the Military Lending act, a creditor cant require you to submit to mandatory arbitration or give up certain rights you have under State or Federal laws like the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. XXXX XXXX threatened to foreclose on my property numerous times and to evict me from my house. Further, they required I waive my rights under the SCRA 1 day before I needed to sign my final seller 's agreement on the short sale. This is not a reasonable amount of time to consult an attorney, particularly being stationed overseas and is a clear violation of my rights. 

To further demonstrate XXXX XXXX XXXX improper handling of my short sale, they submitted to me a short sale approval/demand statement dated XX/XX/XXXX that required me to submit documents by XX/XX/XXXX. As I can not travel back in time, this demand statement set me up for failure, is unreasonable and should be remedied. 

Further, XXXX is still showing my account as active, though it was closed in XX/XX/XXXX. This needs to be corrected immediately. 

I am requesting XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX remove any negative credit reporting information / late payment information from any and all of my credit reports ( to include XXXX, equifax, and XXXX ) and report my account as paid satisfactorily. They should also update their own internal records to show my account as paid in full. 

Additionally, I am requesting a formal apology from XXXX XXXX for the personal and financial hardship their actions have caused me.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation