Consumer complaint received 2023-06-07
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan — Installment loan
Issue: Incorrect information on your report — Account information incorrect
Company: OLD NATIONAL BANCORP (IL)

I secured a personal loan with First Midwest Bank XX/XX/XXXX. The loan officer, XXXX XXXX, set my account payment to monthly auto draft. For the past 4 years, my payment has been made on time, with no charge backs, through auto draft. According to contract terms. Loan was set to mature XX/XX/XXXX. First Midwest Bank merged to Old National Bank in XXXX, carrying over my loan. Auto draft of monthly payments continued as previous, with no interruptions. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from my credit monitoring service. It stated my credit score had dropped from XXXX to XXXX, because Old National had reported my account as 30 days past due. I have never received any correspondence from Old National Bank of this ; I was under the impression that this loan was fully paid off, as it had always auto drafted, and maturity had reached. 

I called to inquire about what was happening, and to have the credit reporting reversed. I spoke with customer service, and then a supervisor. This was the first time I was made aware that the policy for the final payment is that it can't be auto drafted. Nowhere in my signed contractual agreement with First Midwest Bank does it state this. The supervisor ( XXXX XXXX, stated they would submit a claim for review, and that they would call back within the week to discuss results. At the time of call, XXXX also told me that my final payment was {$400.00}, and that this policy was of Old National ; not First Midwest. 

I did not receive a call back from anyone. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called back. I spoke with customer service, and another supervisor. I was told the negative credit report would not be reversed. This verdict is unacceptable to me, as this is not my error, and clearly something that got lost on their end in transition with the merger. Thus, this should be considered a bank error. At the time of call, the supervisor also now told me this was a First Midwest policy, and should be in my original contract ( it is not ). Supervisor submitted another dispute on my behalf, and then transferred me to collections to pay off remaining balance. 

When I spoke to collections, they also stated this was a First Midwest Policy, and that it should have been on my auto draft form which I signed. Again, It is not. They also gave me a differing pay off amount ; {$440.00}. 

I also say all of this, to show just how much conflicting misinformation is being spread through this institution, to the consumer. This whole situation has made me feel like this was a " bait and switch '' loan operation. To try to get clarity, I decided to walk into a brick and mortar, and speak with a branch manager. I spoke with XXXX XXXX at the XXXX XXXX, Illinois location. Before speaking with them, I also interacted with a teller, who stated this was an Old National policy. Again, more conflicting information. XXXX was on my side with what had happened, and stated they would back me with my complaint to higher management. They did find that a final statement should have been sent out to me, to notify me that the last payment could only be made over the phone or in person. I did not receive any notification about this, and they can't provide any proof that I would have. XXXX did also state that their system is not reflecting that the account had been paid off, even though I had done so prior to coming in. They stated they would give it a day, and notify me if it still hasn't processed. A day later, XXXX called me to let me know that the payment had not in fact been processed by their collections department, and I would have to call and try to pay again. How is this acceptable? Had I not been in communication with a branch manager, my account would have stayed delinquent even longer. Collecting more interest. 

At our time of my meeting with XXXX, I also provided my original loan application, as well as, my full loan contract. They read through everything, and also confirmed there is nothing in the documents stating the last payment would not be auto drafted. That XXXX payments would be made ( the full amount of payments for the loan ), and showed my election of monthly auto pay. I can provide such documents here too. 

At this time I am asking for the bank to reverse the negative credit reporting. How is it acceptable for an organization to ruin someones credit for 7 years, over them not honoring a legal contract, and stating they mailed me something with no proof of delivery. Why does their word grant more importance than my word, or my proof of legal documentation? I have paid this loan correctly for 4 years, I have had an exceptional credit rating for years as well. Why would I ruin that for the last payment? I have filed a dispute directly with the credit bureaus. However, with comments being limited to only 200 characters, It's impossible to clearly state what has happened. At the time of submitting this the 30 day delinquency is still on my credit report. As a business owner, this severely hurts me on a day to day basis. Thanks for your time