Consumer complaint received 2017-04-12
Product: Mortgage — Conventional fixed mortgage
Issue: Loan servicing, payments, escrow account — 
Company: U.S. BANCORP (FL)

I purchased a home in XX/XX/XXXX. I qualified for down payment assistance through the XXXX, the Hardest Hit Fund Down Payment Loan, which is a 0 % interest deferred payment loan ( the loan is for {$15000.00} ). I received this loan in the form of a second mortgage, which will be forgiven at a rate of 20 % a year over a XXXX year span. This " second mortgage '' is now and has always been held by the XXXX. My first mortgage is currently held by US Bank. My issue is that US Bank has previously reported my principal balance correctly to the credit bureaus, however they are now reporting it incorrectly. The cause of this change is that US Bank is combining the first and second mortgage and is reporting them as XXXX mortgage held by them, even though the second mortgage is a completely separate account held by another entity altogether. From my understanding, this action violates the Fair Credit Reporting Act, as my second mortgage is not held by US Bank, so they can not report it as part of my principal balance. The actions by US Bank in doing this has severely damaged my and my wife 's credit because it appears through the credit bureaus that we owe much more than we actually do, alluding to some false wrongdoing on our part. I have contacted US Bank to inquire as to why they are now reporting my mortgage in this way, combining the mortgage that I have with them and a mortgage that they have nothing to do with. I was told over the phone that it was a mistake and that it would be taken care of immediately. I let a month go by with no contact from them. When I contacted again, I was told over the phone by a US Bank representative that US Bank Corporation has recently changed their own credit reporting policies. I asked for a copy of the policy that had changed because I felt as though this action could n't be legal, nor had I been contacted as a consumer notifying me of any such change that would so adversely affect me. US Bank proceeded to send me a response ( see attached ) stating that they are reporting this way " due to recent changes in industry reporting standards. '' I contacted them again and asked for the actual official copy of the changes made and was then told by a representative that it was not a change in US Bank policy, but a change in credit reporting laws due to a request by the credit bureaus for a more complete picture of home mortgages. Through my previous research, I had n't come across anything regarding this official change. I very clearly requested a copy of the actual law specifically stating that they are allowed to report a mortgage that does n't belong to them, or the name of the actual law or even where to find it myself to verify my understanding. I was placed on hold several times and the representative told me that a copy of the law would be sent to me. I verified with her what my request was, to make sure that I knew that she understood what I was asking for. When she read it back to me, it was very clear that she did request what I wanted. However, what I received was a letter containing the terms of my second mortgage that is not held by them ( see attached ). I perceive these changes as a malicious action towards me because I have previously filed a complaint through the CFPB, where I was found to be correct. I feel as though this is retaliation for that complaint, as they benefit in no way from reporting the mortgages in this way. In my opinion, this is being done to deliberately hurt our credit. If the credit reporting laws had indeed changed, I feel that I would be able to find some information regarding these changes. I am requesting a copy of the laws that changed that are now allowing them to do this, an explanation as to why they are doing this and how it benefits them and why their customers were not notified to such substantial changes.