Consumer complaint received 2022-08-02
Company: Convergent Resources, Inc.
State: CA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt is not yours

Complaint:
Dear CFPB, Im a consumer who has been substantially harmed by XXXX, through collections practices that I believe violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( FDCPA ), and I would argue that the pattern of conduct described below represents a clear example of an Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Act or Practice. 

I had an internet account with XXXX, which I closed when I moved out of XXXX XXXX area, circumstances that XXXX service agreement states is allowable without paying an early termination fee ( ETF ). I was clearly within my contractual rights, per the terms of the XXXX XXXX agreement to terminate my service and not pay an ETF ( see below for details ), when I canceled due to a residential move that took me to a region of California not serviced by XXXX. A XXXX representative agreed, in writing, that I did not need to pay an ETF ( see attached email ), nevertheless, due to XXXX problematic business processes and systems, XXXX attempted to charge me {$100.00} for an ETF. When I refused to pay the ETF, XXXX sent the balance to a collections agency and placed negative information on my credit report. 

I have subsequently been subject to abusive collection practices for more than two years, and have had factually incorrect negative information reported to my credit report not once but twice. I successfully disputed this matter with the credit agencies once, only to have XXXX and their collection agencies restart the process again, resulting in negative information on my credit reports which I have not been able to remove. The factually incorrect negative information, severely harmed my ability to obtain a loan for the purchase of a home and limited my choices in a recent home purchase. It is utterly unacceptable that XXXX has harmed me to that degree for {$100.00}, which I never owed. 

I have made numerous attempts to resolve this matter with XXXX, and their collections agencies, both XXXX and their collections agencies have refused to resolve the matter, despite the fact I have had documentary evidence, from a XXXX employee, that proves I have never owed an ETF. Following years of harassment and stress, I agreed to pay XXXX the fee which I never owed, simply to make the matter go away. XXXX did not explain at the time, that they viewed my payment as an agreed settlement, which it was not. 

XXXX and their collections agencies have refused to correct the factually incorrect negative information they reported to credit bureaus. I continue to suffer harm, years later due to XXXX system error for {$100.00}. I would like to request your assistance in resolving this nightmarish situation. 

The facts of the situation are as follows : Account number XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Timeline : Internet service was started approximately, XXXX XXXX XXXX, and was terminated when I moved out of the area on XX/XX/XXXX. 
Facts Associated with Item Being Disputed : In late NXXXX XXXX  I went to a XXXX office to close my internet account, the account closure was due to my residential move, at the time I moved to another region of California not served by XXXX. XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX charges early termination fees ( ETF ), when canceling service, except under certain circumstances laid out in the service agreement. While I do not have the exact version of the service agreement that I agreed to, it is substantially similar to the current agreement which can be found here ( https : XXXX ) Section 3.3 of the agreement states You will not be responsible for paying an ETF if you terminate this Agreement.. if you disconnect any XXXX XXXX XXXX you are receiving at any time during the Term for one of the following reasons : ( iv ) you move outside a XXXX XXXX area or into a Bulk Property and provide XXXX appropriate documentation of move. 
When I terminated my XXXX XXXX in XXXX I was aware of the fact that I should not be charged an ETF because I was moving out of the XXXX XXXX area. My new residence was in XXXX XXXX, California which is not a XXXX XXXX area. I did not expect to owe an ETF due to my residential move out of XXXX XXXX area. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I received an email from XXXX stating I owed {$100.00}. See Exhibit A. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I went to the XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX to discuss the fee on my account and ensure my account was closed with no balance owed. I spoke to XXXX XXXX who told me there was an issue with closing my account. 
XXXX explained that the computer was showing my account had a balance of {$100.00} due to an early termination fee. XXXX explained that the fee was an error because there is no applicable early termination fee ( ETF ) under the customer agreement when a customer is moving to an area that XXXX does not service. To ensure I had an audit trail of the conversation and to avoid further confusion, I requested the XXXX staff member send me proof of cancellation and a statement that would state I do not owe the remaining balance. The XXXX employee sent me an email stating that the EFT was waived and that I should not receive any emails from XXXX regarding a balance. The email was sent from XXXX at XXXX. Exhibit B. 
I considered this matter resolved In early XXXX I began to receive repeat phone calls, once, often twice a week, froXXXX XXXX a collections company stating I still owed a balance to XXXX. 
In that same time frame I also received 3 emails from XXXX stating my account had a balance. 
With each collection call, I told the collections agent that this was an error, that I disputed the matter and that I did not owe the {$100.00}. I offered to send them the written proof from a XXXX employee that I was not responsible for any charges or fees but each representative told me to contact XXXX, and that XXXX had to remove the amount. I told each collection agent who called to stop calling me about this fee because I was disputing it with XXXX. 
My understanding of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( FDCPA ), based on the CFPB website is that Once you dispute the debt, the debt collector can't call or contact you to collect the debt or the disputed part until the debt collector has provided verification of the debt in writing to you. 
I had clearly disputed the debt in question, the calls continued, which I view as a violation of the FDCPA. 
During this time frame, I repeatedly called XXXX, the XXXX employee at the XXXX XXXX store and he continuously reassured me that this was a mistake and that it should be cleared up. I also called XXXX corporate number to clear up the misunderstanding. The representatives I spoke to would tell me that they did not see the fee as resolved or disqualified and they refused to review the email proof from XXXX. Each representative told me they would have someone review my account and that someone would call me back. No one ever called me back regarding this issue. Each of the calls were recorded and documented by XXXX but XXXX has refused to share the documentation. 
The harassing collections phone calls continued, in XXXX XXXX, I put in a request with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX for them to review the account balance to correct their collections error. I received a confirmation email from XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. See Exhibit C. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an alert from XXXX XXXX stating my score dropped and that I had a negative report on my XXXX credit report. Upon checking, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, the collections agency for XXXX had furnished negative information on my credit report. 
As previously noted, I had disputed this matter directly with XXXX and with XXXX, despite my dispute, factually incorrect negative information was placed on my credit report, I view this as a violation of the fair credit reporting act. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent documentation to the XXXX receivables management team stating I did not owe the early termination fee and that XXXX was incorrectly sending to collections and subsequently furnishing negative information to my credit report. See Exhibits D. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an alert from XXXX XXXX stating that I had a negative report on my XXXX credit report which was also for the XXXX fee. See Exhibit E. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I received XXXX determination that the dispute was resolved in my favor. The creditor, XXXX, agreed to delete the negative information related to the matter from my credit and that the contract related to it was canceled. See Exhibit F. 
This seemed to resolve the issue. The negative information related to the incorrect collection was removed from my credit reports and the calls stopped. I won the dispute, I viewed the matter as resolved.

A year later on or around XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, I received a call from a 1-800 phone number I did not recognize. The agent on the line asked me to state my name and provide my social security, claiming they have an important message. I provided my information and they stated that I was in collections, and they were trying to collect the fee related to my XXXX account. I informed the agent that I was not responsible for the fee, the matter was already handled, that it was disputed and I had prevailed in the dispute and not to ever call me again. 
The collections agency in question was Convergent The harassing phone calls from Convergent, the collections agency, continued on a regular basis, despite my having informed them that the matter was disputed, and that the dispute was already resolved in my favor. 
As noted above, my understanding of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( FDCPA ), based on the CFPB website is that Once you dispute the debt, the debt collector can't call or contact you to collect the debt or the disputed part until the debt collector has provided verification of the debt in writing to you. 
I had clearly disputed the debt in question, the calls continued, which I view as a violation of the FDCPA. 
I called XXXX again and explained that there was an error but none of the representatives were responsive ; each representative stated that I was responsible for the fee and that I needed to pay it. I called XXXX several times over a period of months. 
I filed another dispute with XXXX but this time it was denied. 
After months of harassment and resulting stress, I grew so sick of the harassment, and I did not want my credit being affected so I called XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, and agreed to pay the balance, on the condition I would only make the payment if the negative information related to the collection would be removed from my credit report. The representative told me it was actually {$69.00} and wasnt sure where the {$100.00} was coming from. In that moment, I paid what she told me to pay, which was {$69.00}, so that I could fix the problem and be done with it. The agent stated that within two weeks, the negative information on my credit report would be removed. Exhibit G.

I stopped receiving collection calls after making the payment.

In XXXX XXXX my spouse and I applied for a loan for a home, I was informed that I have a negative collection report on my credit report from XXXX and found that it has significantly decreased my credit score, and that I would not qualify for the loan I had applied for. 
I called the collections agency and inquired why a negative report remained on my credit, if I paid XXXX the balance. They explained that although I dont owe a balance, the collections report will remain on my credit report for 7 years and the only way to remove it is to have XXXX write a letter to the agency stating they agree to remove the collection. The collections agent stated that at this point there was nothing left for them to do. 
On or around XXXX XXXX XXXX  I called XXXX and asked them to send a letter to the collections agency asking them to remove the collection report from my credit. I also asked the agent why I paid the {$69.00} if the collection report remained on my credit report. The agent informed me that XXXX would not write the letter. She stated that the amount I paid was an agreed upon amount to settle the debt but that the collection report would remain on my credit for the full 7 years. I explained to her that the previous agent I spoke to told me to pay the {$69.00} because that was what I owed, not because it was an agreed upon payment to settle a debt. The agent was unable to provide me with any further assistance. 
My original credit score prior to the dispute with XXXX was XXXX, but because of this dispute with XXXX, my current credit score is at XXXX. This decreased score has had a negative impact on my ability to obtain a loan and find a decent place to live and has erased all the hard work I did to keep my credit score excellent, without the negative information I would have qualified for a loan and been able to buy a better home than the options I had to settle for. 

Over the past two years, I have made more than 50 calls to XXXX begging them to fix the issue, caused by their systems and processes. I have had written confirmation from a XXXX employee since the start of the saga, that I never owed XXXX an ETF. As previously stated, Section 3.3 of the XXXX service agreement allowed me to cancel my service without paying a fee. XXXX violated the terms of that agreement by wrongly demanding that I pay them a fee. XXXX then compounded the damage by sending the erroneous fee to collections, and subsequently furnished negative information to the credit reporting agencies. I view this as a breach of contract, a clear violation of the FCPA, the FDCPA and a clear example of an Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Act or Practice. 

I demand that XXXX immediately provide letters and any other documentation needed to remove the negative information from my credit report with all the credit reporting agencies. Additionally, I demand a refund of the {$69.00} that XXXX wrongly charged me, I was under so much stress that I feel I was extorted for the amount. I have attempted to resolve this directly with XXXX and have been unable, after nearly 3 years to do so, I respectfully request the CFPBs assistance in resolving this nightmare. 

Sincerely,

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