Consumer complaint received 2020-05-11
Company: Kansas Counselors, Inc.
State: MO
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Medical debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt was paid

Complaint:
I received a notice from Kansas Counselors Inc dated XXXX XX/XX/XXXX informing me of a debt owned. We ( my wife ) called the creditor and set up a payment arrangement with " XXXX ''. We expressed that I do not have an accounts in collection and how important my credit is to me. We were ensured that the payment plan would " take care of it '' and that it would not be reported to the credit agency 's. 

XXXX XX/XX/XXXX ; After 6 MONTHS of on time payments I get a notice from my credit monitoring service that I have a new account in collections. I immediately filed disputeS and called the creditor and was told by a female employee that " yeah, no. It should have never been reported '' and that it was most likely " coded incorrectly ''. I was then transferred to the manager XXXX who said she was going to pull the phone records and listen to them and discuss it with the President of the company. When she called me back the same day, she VERY tactically informed me that they would be sending a full deletion request to the credit bureaus immediately and that all record of the collections account would be therefore removed from my account. I then proceeded to ask for a settlement amount for the account so that " I would never have to deal with Kansas Counselors again ; even though it felt like rewarding their mistake ''. I was very clear about how serious I was about my credit. XXXX agreed that I was not " like some of the others '' they had to collect on and that she was going to make it right. 

XXXX XXXX, XXXX ; I received a notice from my credit monitoring service of a new account in collections ... from Kansas Counselors Inc ... .for the same amount ... .Between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX KCI reported the account as a NEW ACCOUNT IN COLLECTIONS. Not only did this violate the verbal agreement that we had for them to correct their mistake but it also means they RE-reporting an account that was SETTLED and CLOSED. This brings the total violated verbal ( recorded ) agreements up to 2! I called XXXX back Monday morning XXXX XX/XX/XXXX and was REPEATEDLY told that she doesn't know what to tell me, that they sent the request " a week after we spoke '' ( A WEEK! ). I informed her that I didn't care about the deletion request and I wanted to know why they RE-REPORTED the account as a new collection account and violated our agreement, even AFTER I paid the debt off! XXXX, once again showing an aptitude for tactically phrasing everything told me that she'll have to check with their compliance officer and the president of the company and would get back to me when she could. 

At this point I have now been forced to file 3 disputes ( and I'm sure at least one more once the other bureaus update ). I have had to spent hours of my time on the phone and computer dealing with their mistake. Up to this point they have not offered ANY means of correctly their mistake other than to send the Original deletion request. Worse yet, rather than being done with KCI as I very specifically stated, I am now forced to make additional phone calls, disputes, and spend hours checking on this fraudulent report for ANOTHER month! ( Since the CB 's only get updated once a month ). It is my opinion that by violating multiple payment agreements and resolution terms that Kansas Counselors Inc should IMMEDIATELY have they Credit Reporting Authorization REVOKED! They've violated the fair reporting act ( and I'm sure other acts that have been put in place to protect people ). Wither by honest REPEATED mistake or as some act of spite, they ( KCI ) have proven to be incompetent at reporting to the credit bureaus and therefore should no longer have that privilege. They should have their reporting authority revoked until an in depth investigation into their practices can be preformed by the CFPB, FTC, or other responsible govt. organization. 

I shouldn't have to mention that this is all happening during the covid-19 pandemic when finances and stress are already stretched. One would think that given the current circumstances they ( KCI ) would have put more effort into following up on their mistake and not forcing me to bear the brunt of their ineptitude. 

Kansas Counselors Inc. XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX , KS . XXXX XXXX / XXXX / http : //KCIKC.com/

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief