Consumer complaint received 2017-06-08
Company: Credit Protection Association, L.P.
State: FL
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:
Many months ago I applied for a mortgage and the bank got  XXXX  reports and scores. When  XXXX  was more than  XXXX  points lower than the other  XXXX  it was the first time I realized  XXXX   XXXX   (  formerly  XXXX   )  had reported a debt of {$520.00}. Long story short, in the move from  one  rental house to another my daughter mistakenly forgot to return  one of th e cable boxes to them. Instead of informing me regarding the missing box they sent the missing cable box notice to the old rental! That rental house was never used as the billing address nor was it where they ever sent a monthly bill. Since I was the responsible party ( paying the monthly bill ) I had them send the bill to my home. Why they decided to send any type of notice to the old rental property after more than a year is baffling. Based on that I never knew about this missing box. It was not until I had the  XXXX  credit reports sent to me from the bank where I applied to the mortgage did I even know there was a problem. As soon as I was made aware of the problem, I quickly located the unreturned box and brought it over to them. They completely acknowledged that the mailing address for the bill had always been my home and always paid on time. Ironically, we even received a credit back from them when service was discontinued at the rental! They sent that to my ho me ( billing address )! They  (  XXXX   ) ass ured me that this would be removed as a " debt '' from my report and apologized for the problems this had caused me. The supervisor explained that they just assign an amount significant enough that people will return their equipment. This was many months ago and  XXXX  explained to me today that actually  XXXX  really has no way to make this happen because they turned it over to the collection agency and no matter how many disputes I have filed they refuse to change the status of my account. They maintain that I " paid '' the {$520.00} but it was seriously in arrears and that 's their final decision. Because I am trying to condense all the details,   XXXX   assured me that this negative information on my report would be completely removed as soon as we gave back the box. The {$520.00} WAS NEVER OWED AS A BILL ... .THEY SIMPLY ASSIGN A " WORTH '' OF THE BOX so people pay attention and return the box. They assured me back in  XXXX  that it would take a month or less and it would be completely removed from my credit and no longer be reported as an " overdue account '' eventually satisfied but that has never happened. It still appears as though I owed  XXXX  {$520.00} but finally paid them which continues to affect my  credit score ve ry much. Countless phone calls to CREDIT PROTECTION  ASSOC. along wit h letters and  three d isputes filed by me with  XXXX  has done nothing. In fact,  XXXX  even called the collection agency today while I was on the phone with  XXXX . The call was an endless menu of basically nothing.  XXXX  has done everything they could to help me and they are the ones who told me about your agency which is why I am contacting you. I have never had a " late '' payment in my life and my credit is extremely important because I own a business that requires me to maintain excellent credit. In a nutshell I never owed any money to  XXXX   (  only a box ) but the collection agency refuse to stop reporting me as though I owed {$520.00} and finally paid it. Calling  XXXX  is a waste because all they say is " you never owed us money just th e one bo x which you did return ''. Please help me in any way you can.  CREDIT PROTECTION ASSOC.  continues to report it as a debt that I finally " paid ''. They are unwilling to change the status of their reporting even though it is grossly inaccurate. They acknowledge that I no longer " owe '' the {$520.00} but they refuse to stop reporting it as finally " paid ''. Thank you for any help you can give me. This inaccurate reporting is hurting me badly.     XXXX   XXXX    CREDIT PROTECTION ASSOC.      XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX    XXXX , TEXAS  XXXX

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