Consumer complaint received 2021-10-19
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem — Their investigation did not fix an error on your report
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY (TX)

This is a continuation of complaint # XXXX which was closed prematurely. 

At the end of XXXX I was denied for a credit line from American Express based off of factually inaccurate and unverifiable data. They have been unable to provide any verifiable data and refuse to investigate fairly. Unfortunately, my information in the past has been confused with my dad 's information in many cases regarding financial matters, regardless of the difference in birthdays and social security numbers. In some cases, those debts had originated before my XXXX birthday. I have worked very hard to rectify this information to ensure its accuracy with the credit reporting agencies. 

It's important to note that this application was for my business, not my person. This is in an effort to separate my personal finances from my business finances for the purposes of tax filing. 

The problem at hand is that American Express relied on information that has not been able to be verified as accurate. XXXX has been unable to verify my information as actually belonging to me. It's clear that if XXXX is unable to furnish information on me based off of the additional information that I've given them, American Express is unlikely to have received accurate information based off of the lesser information that I've given them. By basing its information off this data it appears to me that American Express is providing false information to me ( the consumer ) in what I believe to be a violation of the FACT Act, and treating me unfairly compared to others. 

They sent me a letter, which did not accurately reflect information that is available on my credit report, nor information that is associated with me. Below I detail each of the different reasons that they claim are reasons for denial. 

In the letter sent to me, the reasons for denial are : " Based on your credit report, you have too many requests for credit, as reported by XXXX 's XXXX XXXX. '' " Too many credit inquiries. '' ( XXXX ) There had been 2 total inquiries in the last 2 years as of the application for credit. Extending a little further, you will see 3 at 2.5 years. I DO NOT seek a lot of credit. There's plenty of first hand accounts to suggest that you're approving customers who have much more than 2 inquiries on their reports, so utilizing this as a reason is a very unfair assessment. 

" The number of accounts with high balances in relation to their credit limits or original loan amounts. ( XXXX ) '' " There are too many accounts with balances. '' According to XXXX ( and my own credit card bills ), there is ONE account that had a balance on it for {$1200.00}, out of {$22000.00}. This card is an American Express card, that I have through XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. My other two cards have a balance of {$0.00}, one with a limit of {$6000.00} ( also with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ), and another with a limit of {$4100.00} ( although at the time of reporting, it was {$1700.00} ) through XXXX. Am I to understand that none of your customers have a balance carried on ANY of their cards? 

Additional balances that may be reflected on my XXXX are from XXXX, which is a company that is reporting my accurate and on time bill payments for my utilities. 

Again there are plenty of accounts and evidence to suggest that you're treating me unfairly here because many other people have more accounts, with more balances associated with them. What you'll also note is that I have paid my bills on time for over the past 2.5 years. 

" Length of time your accounts have been established. ( XXXX ) '' " The length of time your revolving accounts have been established. '' Again, there will be evidence that this is also made up. People with less than 2.5 years of credit have obtained an American Express account. I received my XXXX XXXX American Express within 9 months of my current credit history, and at that time was approved for {$22000.00}. I have never missed a payment on this. 

" There is no recent information about installment loans on your report. '' Finally there's a fact in this report. You're 100 % right. I don't spend beyond my means, and someone carrying a loan suggests that they can not afford what they're spending their time purchasing. Instead, I focus on maintaining EXCELLENT payment history. 

Now, let 's examine the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX reasons a little bit more. 

" There is insufficient information on your business. '' Another fact. It's brand new. I filed with the secretary of state on XX/XX/XXXX, and registered for my XXXX on the same day. Had you given this as the only reason, I would have accepted it for what it was and wouldn't be fighting this. 

" Too many inquiries. '' If this is applying to myself, then refer above. If not, then this is THE FIRST APPLICATION FOR CREDIT with my business. I seriously doubt this is the case in any event. 

" Too few non-derogatory sources of information on record for you. '' " You have derogatory public records. '' No, no I don't. My business certainly doesn't either. I pay my bills on time, all the time.