Consumer complaint received 2020-09-29
Product: Credit card or prepaid card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments — You never received your bill or did not know a payment was due
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (VA)

Chase has completely misled me regarding financial assistance programs and payments regarding that program. I fell behind on my credit card payments in early XXXX while searching for work after the birth of my son and my account was closed as a result. When I was financially stable, I contacted Chase to provide me with a program that would allow me to bring my account current and make monthly payments. This was XXXX of XXXX. I was informed by a Chase representative that I would make a {$400.00} payment to bring my account current and then I can make a monthly payment of {$110.00} until the balance was completely paid in full. I distinctly asked if I would be able to make this payment until my balance was paid off and the answer was yes. I was also informed that the $ 110 monthly payment was more than the monthly amount due, so I would actually be able to pay off the balance faster. Automatic draft payments were set up from my bank account on XX/XX/XXXX to ensure I would never miss a payment. However, in XX/XX/XXXX, my credit score decreased by 31 points on XXXX and 21 points on XXXX  and XXXX due to being behind payments over 30 days. Even though for a year every {$110.00} payment successfully came from my bank account, never late. I was completely baffled, so I contacted Chase. I was informed by XXXX ( an Account Supervisor ) that the I was not on a fixed monthly payment assistance program as I was told Im XX/XX/XXXX, but the program was just to bring my account current. Once I made the {$400.00} payment, Chase was at will to utilize a variable interest rate to change my monthly payment from that point on. I was protected from this variable interest rate until XX/XX/XXXX because I was under a promotion that allowed me to pay 0 % APR. Once that expired, I had a near 25 % rate and increasing the minimum monthly payment to over {$110.00}. Since I overpaid the minimum due for about 6 months, it wasnt until XXXX that I was shorting my monthly payments. This would not have been an issue if Chase had simply contacted me to let me know the changes on my account. However, I was not informed of ANYTHING. Chase has my email, phone, and address, but I received 0 attempts at contact. XXXX at Chase said that she sees MULTIPLE statements were being returned back to Chase undelivered ( proving I had not received the information ) and that the phone number ( that I had for over 10 years ) was deemed disconnected after ONE attempt to call me in XXXX of XXXX. Additionally, no emails were sent to notify me of my account because it was a closed account ; however, Chase continued to send me promotional emails. I explained my issues with the lack of communication and the misleading of the assistance programs and XXXX issued an investigation. The investigation returned results that were not in my favor because Chase had effectively tried to reach out to me regardless of it being clear that they NEVER spoke to me regarding the changes in my account. It is clear that I had no issues making payments because they were being paid on time for an entire year. I would have gladly made adjustment to my automatic payments had I known that the rate had changed. I am now on a new assistance program ; however, my credit still reflects a lowered credit score after Chases poor service to contact me regarding my payment changes on my account. I have even disputed with each credit reporting agency and nothing has changed because their records show that on XX/XX/XXXX I am {$28.00} past due. My issue is that a Chase representative told me that I can make $ 110 monthly payments until my balance was paid off, set up automatic payments, and then Chase NEVER informed me of the changes on my account, which was the reason I fell behind and caused a 21-31 point decrease in my credit score.