Consumer complaint received 2022-07-11
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: TX
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
I filed a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on XX/XX/2022 evidenced by Complaint File Number XXXX. The complaint was to inform Capital One of a billing error on the account. Capital One consequently closed my open-end consumer credit plan solely because I exercised in good faith my right to dispute which is protected and secured by the laws of the United States ( Federal Consumer Law ). Attached to this complaint you will find a notice dated XX/XX/2022 informing me that my account was to be closed as it violates " Capital One 's Customer Agreement ''. However according to 15 U.S. Code 1666 ( d ) - Correction of billing errors- Restricting or closing by creditor of account regarded by obligor to contain a billing error. Pursuant to regulations of the Bureau, a creditor operating an open-end consumer credit plan may not, prior to the sending of the written explanation or clarification required under paragraph ( B ) ( ii ), restrict, or close an account with respect to which the obligor has indicated pursuant to subsection ( a ) that he believes such account to contain a billing error solely because of the obligors failure to pay the amount indicated to be in error. Nothing in this subsection shall be deemed to prohibit a creditor from applying against the credit limit on the obligors account the amount indicated to be in error. 
Capital One is defined as a covered person that engages in offering and providing consumer financial products and services to Consumers consequently, they are amenable to Federal Consumer Law and It is unlawful for any covered person to offer or provide to a consumer any financial product or service not in conformity with Federal consumer financial law, or otherwise commit any act or omission in violation of a Federal consumer financial law ; or to engage in any unfair, deceptive, or abusive act or practice. 
Capital One has violated 15 U.S. Code 1666 ( d ) - Correction of billing errors evidenced by attached Consumer Financial Protection Bureau response dated XX/XX/2022. Capital One in accordance with Federal Consumer Law may not, prior to the sending of the written explanation or clarification required under paragraph ( B ) ( ii ), restrict, or close an account with respect to which the obligor has indicated pursuant to subsection ( a ) that he believes such account to contain a billing error. Capital One closed my account on XX/XX/2022 prior to the sending of the written explanation or clarification required. 
In the Capital One notice dated XX/XX/2022 informing me that my account was to be closed as it violates " Capital One 's Customer Agreement ''. However, when we reference the section Closing or Suspending Your Account within " Capital One 's Customer Agreement '' it states You may contact Customer Service to ask us to close your Account. We may close or suspend your Account at any time and for any reason permitted by law, even if you are not in default. If we close or suspend your Account for any reason, you must stop using your Card. You must also cancel all billing arrangements set up on the Account. If we close or permanently suspend your Account, you must return or destroy all Cards. You must still pay us all amounts you owe on the Account Capital One has stated that they can close or suspend consumers accounts at any time and for any reason permitted by law, even if you are not in default. However, as it pertains to my account, I didnt violate any law, and my account was in good standing this is evidence that such determination by Capital One to close my account was ultimately arbitrary and capricious. The act to close my account is evidence of unfair and abusive acts and practices by Capital One.

The act to close my account is an unfair act because it causes substantial injury in the form of monetary harm to the consumer and is likely to cause substantial injury in the form of monetary harm and cause the consumer to be victim to further use of abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices by debt collectors which is not reasonably avoidable by the consumer. Abusive debt collection practices contribute to the number of personal bankruptcies, to marital instability, to the loss of jobs, and to invasions of individual privacy. Said substantial injuries are not outweighed by countervailing benefits to the consumer or to competition. 
The act to close my account is a deceptive act because it misleads the consumer into believing they violated a law. This is further evidenced by Capital Ones Customer Agreement and the attached notice to close my account sent to the consumer by Capital One. 
The act to close my account is an abusive act as it takes unreasonable advantage of a lack of understanding on the part of the consumer of the material risks, costs, or conditions of the consumer financial products and services. or takes unreasonable advantage of a lack of understanding on the part of the consumer of the material risks, costs, or conditions of the product or service, the inability of the consumer to protect the interests of the consumer in selecting or using a consumer financial product or service, or the reasonable reliance by the consumer on a covered person to act in the interests of the consumer. 
Ultimately Capital One has violated Federal Consumer Law and pursuant to 15 U.S. Code 1666 ( e ), Any creditor who fails to comply with the requirements of this section or section 1666a of this title forfeits any right to collect from the obligor the amount indicated by the obligor under paragraph ( 2 ) of subsection ( a ) of this section, and any finance charges thereon. 
However, Capital One is still attempting to collect from the consumer a debt in which Capital One has forfeited any right to collect. This is prohibited conduct and is unlawful and is causing the consumer substantial harm namely monetarily.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation