Consumer complaint received 2022-04-22
Company: Avant Holding Company, Inc.
State: OH
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt was result of identity theft

Complaint:
In XXXX, I received notification from a credit monitoring agency that I had opened a new account. In fact, I had NOT opened a new account. We accessed this information and found that the new account, using my name and SSN, had been opened with Avant LLC/Web Bank XXXX We contacted Web Bank immediately. They allegedly flagged the account and sent us the paperwork to fill out to have the investigation opened. We filled out the paperwork expeditiously, including having it notarized and filing a police report. We faxed the paperwork to them on XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, we received this email response from Avant. " We are sorry, but we are unable to accept the Identity Theft Affidavit you provided because it is not notarized and the Law Enforcement Report you provided because both documents must explicitly reference Avant. 
Please submit an updated Identity Theft Affidavit and Law Enforcement report. Filing a false Law Enforcement Report may result in criminal prosecution with penalties up to a felony conviction. '' As I stated, the affidavit WAS notarized and that page was included in the original fax as was information mentioning their company. Upon doing research with another reputable ID protection agency, this is an unusual bit of nitpicking from a credit card company to flag a fraudulent account and have it removed from my credit.

In the meantime, the card has been maxed out, despite allegedly being flagged as fraudulent, and my previously excellent credit score has dropped XXXX points to very good. The credit card issued by Avant was a small card with a XXXX dollar limit. In addition to my attempts to prove this was not me, it makes no sense that I would take such action and behave this way with a credit card for credit risk applicants. According to my credit report, I have only used 20 % of my legitimate available credit, which extends into the XXXX of thousands of dollars. Why would I open a {$500.00} limit card and immediately max it out? 

Additionally, their communication with us has been lax. Because of my work hours and environment, I can not make personal phone calls. My wife tried to call, but they refused to talk to her. Twice, I have had to leave work early just so I can stand in our living room for 5 seconds and verbally give them permission to talk to her. According to advice I have been given, we should only have had to do that once, and the account should have noted that she was allowed to speak on my behalf. We have also tried to call numbers that were given to us by Avant 's agents that were supposed to go directly to the fraud department. This number, XXXX, which we have tried to call three times, only elicits the high pitched squeel of a fax line. We have also sent emails to the address that their agent gave us, XXXX. Their agents assured us that someone would respond. No one has. 

Avant/Web Bank is giving me the run-around when I, in fact, am the victim. Their poor business practices is causing distress, and they refuse to fix their own mistake.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation