Consumer complaint received 2016-04-05
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: NJ
Product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on credit report
Sub-issue: Account terms

Complaint:
In XX/XX/XXXX I XXXX a company. I had a business checking and savings account with XXXX. The business began to make money. XXXX offered me a business credit card - just sign here. So I opened card ending in XXXX. There was no attempt to advise me that this business account could - on certain occasion - impact my personal credit history. The business card was reported to XXXX XXXX. 

The business held the card from XX/XX/XXXX until the business closed until XX/XX/XXXX. ( See final return ). However I continued to personally pay off the balance of the card after I had moved from XXXX, where the business was domiciled, to XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX Bank sent promotional offers to my new address. I also received some old business mail, which was forwarded to my new address as well as junk business mail. 

XX/XX/XXXX I was notified by the bank that my payment on card XXXX was 30 days late. The business card which had never been reported on my credit history, all of a sudden appeared on my personal credit report. I had no idea what was going on, just that my score had dropped and this was very damaging. 

I immediately called XXXX. The XXXX Representative told me that if I paid the balance by XXXX XXXX this would not affect my credit and would not move to a new department which I assumed to mean Collections. He told me that the only instance in which the negative ding could remain on me personal credit history is if the account goes into default. The account was paid in full by the end of the month. See attached copies of confirmation of payment, confirmation of XXXX balance and confirmation of business and not personal account letters from XXXX Bank. I have also included the credit reports from the agencies that have failed to delete this entry from my credit report. XXXX has deleted the closed business card ending in XXXX. Unfortunately XXXX and Equifax have not removed this disputed reporting. 

I believe XXXX Bank engaged in predatory lending, failure to disclose, not reporting credit card account, demanding payment in full in exchange to remove late payment from being reported on me. They failed to advise me of credit risk before accepting their business credit card. They further obfuscated the risk by never reporting the business card on my credit history - leaving me totally unaware of the risks involved. They misadvised me to pay off the card. They disregarded the law intended to prevent consumers, which only allows for a business credit to be reported personally in the event of a default. I paid the balance of the card off the month I received an alert that my credit score was damaged. By law, this should have been deleted, as I have requested numerous times. 

I would like to file a report against EQUIFAX to have this business account deleted from my personal credit history. This account was never reported on my personal credit history before XXXX XXXX - over 4 years since opening the account. The terms and conditions binding business credit from reporting and damaging personal credit is not being adhered to, particularly since the card was closed and the balanced paid to XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX. A business payment was missed in XX/XX/XXXX and the account closed and paid in full on the next month, XX/XX/XXXX. This account should not be reported on my personal credit report, based upon the understanding with XXXX and the laws pertaining to business credit only impact personal credit history in the case of outright default. This was not the case. This business card missed payment must be deleted from my personal credit history. This is a case of failure to disclose, predatory lending, obfuscation of credit reporting, false statements being made about removal of negative report if balance is payed in full within the month of late payment notice.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation