Consumer complaint received 2018-08-20
Product: Debt collection — Other debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed — Debt was paid
Company: Penn Credit Corporation (MD)

On XX/XX/2018 I settled a debt with PennCredit  for a past due XXXX XXXX Bill in the amount of {$170.00} at the time that I paid the balance due I requested a letter from Penn Credit stating the account had been settled. At first the representative said he would put in a request to email the letter to me and then he stated that the letter could not be emailed and would arrive via the mail. This already seemed suspect because why would you ask me if I wanted an email knowing that your company doesn't have that capability.I waited about a week and then called Penn Credit again on XX/XX/2018 to check on the status of the letter to show that the account was closed. At that time I was told that a letter had been mailed to the address on file and I should wait a little longer for delivery. I called again on XX/XX/2018 and I was told I had to wait at least 10 days or something to that effect to request another letter, since my request had already been sent to a supervisor to draft the letter. I have received several letters from Penn Credit notifying me of the debt since the debt actually never appeared on my credit report, so I don't understand why the would have had any issues sending me the letter via mail. I did quit calling to wait for the settlement letter as Penn Credit had stated. Then on XX/XX/2018 I received a notification from XXXX and XXXX  protection that I have a new collections account added to my credit report. I login into to the sites to find that Penn Credit has reported the debt that I have already settled with their company to XXXX  as new debt with a balance in the amount of {$74.00}. The original amount of the debt was {$240.00} and I was allowed to settled for {$170.00} and for some reason they reported the difference to XXXX as a new debt. I logged into the Penn Credit site to confirm that I hadn't missed anything and their site clearly stated that account in question was settled in full. I called Penn Credit to get clarification and the representative that I spoke with tried to tell me that the debt was already on my credit report since XXXX and I assured her it was not and I can prove it because I have copies of my credit report from XX/XX/2018.Then she tried to tell me that the problem was XXXX XXXX because they are delayed in displaying the information they report. I explained to her that is does not make any sense for them to have the updated payment but not that it was settled if it was all done at the same time since I only made one payment. She then asked if she could email or fax me a letter showing the account was paid and closed to provide to the credit reporting agencies. I replied of course that would be great and provided my email then she stated that she could not email it. Again I would like to know why ask if it is not possible for your company to provide that service. I then asked her why her company could not report the correction to the credit agency or delete it all together since they didn't report it until after I had already paid the debt. Her response was because they had already sent the correct information on their end and that she would put in another request to have a letter mailed to me stating the account had been settled in full. I feel that everything the company has done is their intentional attempt to collect the amount that they already told me I would not be responsible for. I would have paid it if they told me I had to but I do not believe it is right for the company to tell me I don't have to pay something, report it to XXXX as a new debt and then not even have a way in which I could have paid it on their website. I have attached two copies of my credit report from XXXX that clearly shows the debt was not there and a printout of Penn Credit Payment portal that how the account in question has been settled.