Consumer complaint received 2023-07-15
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: MA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Account information incorrect

Complaint:
BANK OF AMERICA ( BofA ) UNFAIRLY REPORTED ME XXXX  days late over a {$25.00} payment during the COVID-19 Pandemic and refuses to work with me to correct the credit reporting. My XXXX credit report reflects a XXXX  day late from BofA in XX/XX/XXXX. This was not only during the COVID-19 Pandemic, but I had significant life event changes too : my first child in XX/XX/XXXX, went on maternity thereafter to take care of newborn in full quarantine without any outside assistance, I sold my house in XX/XX/XXXX, moved into and remodeled a house in XX/XX/XXXX, and left my job to start my own business. The payment amount was extremely minor - many institutions do not even report XXXX day late, and many others do not do so for amounts under {$50.00} or {$100.00}. This practice is extremely unfair. This negative reporting will stay on my credit for XXXX  years! 

BofA WILL NOT WORK WITH ME OR HELP to fix this problem, and repeatedly gave me false information over the phone. I escalated to a supervisor and he continued to give me false and misleading information. This is deceptive. BofA initially told me they reported me because I was XXXX  days late. That is false. They lied to try to make my complaint go away. The {$25.00} payment was due XX/XX/XXXX and the account was paid in full ( {$70.00} ) on XX/XX/XXXX. BofA lied to me to justify their unfair reporting. As mentioned, I was so busy and stressed during the pandemic I simply did not notice the {$60.00} balance triggering the penalty. I can not even see what transaction caused the balance because their online banking makes it so difficult to understand my account information. 

BofA HARMED ME THROUGH UNFAIR POLICIES. The Agent on the phone lied and told me they do not report any delinquencies until 60 days late. When I told him mine was XXXX days late, he lied and said it was actually XXXX  days late. He also told me that they will only report XXXX day lates, and they may have had a different XXXX day late policy in XXXX. If they have recently determined XXXX day late reporting is unfair and shifted to only XXXX day reporting, why are they refusing to delete my XXXX day late which occurred on a small balance during the pandemic!? That makes no sense. I am being harmed solely because my issue happened during the pandemic and not today - by their own words, if I was XXXX  days late today, I would not be reported, but because I was XXXX  days late in XXXX, I was reported. That is totally unfair! 

BofA REFUSED TO LOG MY COMPLAINT. The Supervisor on the phone said he could not help me log a complaint. He said BofA DOES NOT HAVE ANY PROCESS FOR AGENTS TO LOG COMPLAINTS even though I was on the phone complaining and begging to have them log and escalate my complaint. The agent told me they do not have a complaint department. He told me he did not have anywhere to log or send my complaint. The website also does not have a complaint portal, only contact for customer service, the same people who just told me they can not log complaints. 

BofA HAS HARMED MY CREDIT SCORE IMPACTING MY ABILITY TO OBTAIN FAIR AND ACCESSIBLE CREDIT PRODUCTS. The impact here is not justified. As mentioned above, during significant hardship and a pandemic, BofA declined humane and fair treatment. They refuse to correct their harm. They have lied to try to persuade me from pursuing my complaint. They have wasted my time and resources. This credit score impacted my ability to help my husband finance his lease on our car. I am currently seeking credit elsewhere, but my score is impact. 

I WANT TO CLOSE MY CREDIT CARD ACCOUNT BUT CAN NOT UNTIL THIS IS FIXED. If I close my account, I am positive BofA will retialite by refusing to address my issue and admit their practices unfairly harmed me. A XXXX day late on a follow {$25.00} payment should not follow me for XXXX years. That is unfair. 

BofA, A REPEAT OFFENDER, SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED FOR ILLEGAL, UNFAIR, DECEPTIVE, AND ABUSIVE ACTS OR PRACTICES, INCLUDING THEIR FAILURE TO IMPLEMENT A COMPLAINT MANAGEMENT INTAKE ACROSS FRONT LINES AS PART OF AN EFFECTIVE COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. I BELIEVE BOFA IS VIOLATING BOTH SECTION 5 OF THE FTC ACT AND THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION ACT. Also, these practices may amount to violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, as well as state laws prohibiting unfair and deceptive acts or practices.

BofA should also be investigated for discriminatory practices. As a female, minority, mother, I can not help but wonder whether they apply this same credit reporting treatment across their entire credit card population. Somebody should closely analyze BofA 's credit reporting correction and complaint practices to identify whether they have issues with differential treatment across protected classes and historically discriminated populations.

As an attorney, I am appalled at their blatant disregard for government regulation and guidance. BofA is a repeat offender and does not utilize fair practices. This is shocking disregard for consumer financial protection.

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 explanation