Consumer complaint received 2020-01-13
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: CA
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:
I am a victim of a presidentially declared disaster. In XX/XX/XXXX I notified all creditors of my situation. I first contacted XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, I had two credit cards with them, one of the accounts was opened for 20 years and both accounts were current with no negative reporting or late payments. On my initial phone conversation with XXXX, the customer service representative said I would be given an immediate payment forbearance for 90 days and if I was still in need of help to contact them and they would extend the forbearance for an additional 3,6,9 or 12 months. They acknowledged my perfect payment history and assured me no late fees, negative reporting would take place. ( I was having problems with my homeowners insurance and lack of settlement ) In XX/XX/XXXX I contacted XXXX again and asked for the arrangement to continue as I had yet to receive any insurance settlement. All of my available funds were being spent on additional living expenses ( insurance should have been paying ) I was living in a hotel with my children. We had no personal belongings and I had to replace clothing etc. I was not able to make payments towards any balances on my credit cards at that time. Once again, I spoke with a representative who assured me XXXX would continue to work with me and no payments would be due and specifically no derogatory reporting would happen, especially since I was a disaster victim. About 2 months later I began receiving extremely aggressive collection calls regarding my two existing Credit Cards. I called XXXX again and asked why I was getting these calls ( we had an agreement ) only this time the representative informed me my accounts had been closed, Shocked, I inquired as to how this happened, the representative said I was 90 days delinquent. Their credit reporting department completely disregarded my Disaster status and did the complete opposite of what was promised. During the conversation I had the credit department check on my husbands account ( he had same arrangement ) Same thing! His card canceled, closed. After 2 hours on the phone the credit representative said the negative reporting would be reversed and the account reopened. They mailed a letter to my home address some time later stating the mistake and the promise the negative remarks would be removed. The Months after the fire were the worst of my life and my XXXX credit card was the not a high priority anymore- i believed they had actually done what they told me. I had bigger issues like finding a home to live in and feeding my children, 6 months later insurance still hasnt payed. I also was notified my personal information was leaked during Equifax data breech. This was extremely concerning and led me to pull my credit report. Horrified, I learned my credit plummeted to under 500! How the XXXX did this happen? Well besides my mortgage lender not following the laws pertaining to disaster victims, XXXX charged off both of my credit cards. The negative reporting started the month after the disaster in XX/XX/XXXX. I called XXXX once again and was told they saw all the notes that had been made on my account about being a Wildfire victim but would have to wait until the week to speak to their credit reporting department to give me an answer. How can they be allowed to do this? Also, nowhere on my Equifax credit report does it say Im a Disaster victim residing in a Quailifed Presidentially Declared Disaster Area. They Ruined my Credit! I demand they fix their egregious errors

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief