Consumer complaint received 2023-11-08
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report — Account information incorrect
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc. (VA)

In XXXX, I purchased a large farm mower from XXXX XXXX. Approximately {$11000.00} was financed with XXXX interest for XXXX  months, through XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. After XXXX  years of regular monthly principal payments, a payment happened to be due on a banking holiday. Our bank 's online bill payment service sent the electronic payment through on the business day immediately following. Unknown to us ( because the principal payment was made automatically by our bank each month ), a late fee was charged to the account, and then another one was charged the following month, not for the principal payment on the purchase, but on the late fee which remained unpaid. We contested this strongly with the creditor since it is an accepted policy stated on this web site that such an act is predatory ( XXXX  : XXXX ). We also approached XXXX XXXX, and even asked our bank to get involved since they were in charge of the transfer of funds on the business day after. XXXX XXXX refused to remove the fees, and instead kept adding more fees for each month they weren't paid. All the while, we were making principal payments to our purchase as scheduled. After about 6 months of repeated calls to the creditor, we paid the full principal balance and closed the account. At this point the fees were up to {$290.00} and listed on our bill under late fees. 
XXXX month after closure, the creditor transferred the {$290.00} balance to the principal column and continued to bill us as if we had made a new purchase, also adding a new late fee each month. Letters were sent and calls were made to no avail. Eventually we stopped receiving bills. Several months later a debt collector contacted us, attempting to collect {$440.00}, which had now accumulated in response to that one banking holiday. When I explained the situation and forwarded the letter that I had provided to the creditor months before, the debt collector ceased all attempts to collect. We thought that was the end of it as it was over XXXX  years ago and over a year after the account was closed ( bank holiday in fall of XXXX, account closed XX/XX/XXXX, debt collection XX/XX/XXXX ). 
Fast forward to XXXX when my credit is checked for a pending real estate purchase, and this {$440.00} is still showing on my credit report as a bad debt. Given that I paid the principal balance well before the end of the XXXX interest terms, I owe XXXX debt to XXXX XXXX. I have disputed with all XXXX credit bureaus and been turned down by all XXXX in spite of XXXX pages of documentation on this issue. XXXX XXXXXXXX continues to lie about their predatory practices even when presented with evidence provided by me to the credit reporting agencies. In addition, the dates are incorrect on the credit reports, meaning the " charge-off '' will not disappear in XXXX but in XXXX ( or later, if they continue to report it as current ). Untold damage has been done to my credit for something which was not even a mistake, but a normal banking practice.