Consumer complaint received 2026-02-25 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Incorrect information on your report — Account information incorrect
Company: DISCOVER BANK
State: VA

Complaint narrative:
I am filing this complaint against Discover Bank for inaccurate and misleading credit reporting after a 1099-C cancellation of debt, and for failing to reasonably investigate and correct the problem after multiple disputes. The account at issue is my Discover credit card ending in XXXX. Discover charged off this account in XXXX. On IRS Form 1099-C for tax year XXXX, Discover reported cancellation of debt in the amount of XXXX dollars, with Box 1 date of identifiable event XX/XX/XXXXXXXX and Box 6 code G. I was told on a prior call by a Discover supervisor that Discover made a business decision to stop collecting, that the debt was forgiven, and that I was no longer obligated to pay it. I reported the XXXX dollars as income on my XXXX tax return in reliance on the 1099-C. Despite that, Discover has continued to furnish this account to XXXX as if there is still an unpaid past-due balance, and in XX/XX/XXXXXXXX Discovers repeated and inconsistent updates caused my XXXX score to drop by more than XXXX points in a single month for the same old, closed tradeline. I am not disputing the historical fact that the account was charged off years ago. I am disputing Discovers current furnishing of a positive balance and past due status after a 1099-C cancellation and after a XXXX-balance update. Timeline XX/XX/XXXXXXXX my XXXX report showed the Discover tradeline as a charged off credit card with a balance of XXXX dollars and XXXX dollars past due, scheduled to remain until about XX/XX/XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX my XXXX report again showed the Discover tradeline reporting a full balance and charged off status. I then disputed the account with XXXX and uploaded my XXXX 1099-C as evidence that the debt had been cancelled. On or about XX/XX/XXXX XXXX sent dispute results. For this Discover tradeline, the balance was updated to XXXX dollars. The results said This item was updated from our processing of your dispute in XX/XX/XXXXXXXX and the account reflected a XXXX balance. My score still dropped after this update, but at least the balance matched the 1099-C. On XX/XX/XXXX my XXXX report again changed. The same Discover tradeline now showed a balance of XXXX dollars, XXXX dollars past due as of XX/XX/XXXX, with status updated XX/XX/XXXX and balance updated XX/XX/XXXX. This change caused another score drop of about XXXX points on top of the earlier drop, for a total fall of more than XXXX points in the same month on the same old account. In other words, after I disputed and provided a 1099-C, Discovers furnishing first caused XXXX to show a XXXX balance, then Discover re-furnished the full XXXX dollar balance as past due again days later, making it appear like a fresh delinquency in XX/XX/XXXX. This makes the account look currently past due even though Discover has told the IRS and me that the debt is cancelled, and has told me they are no longer collecting or expecting payment. By contrast, XXXX handled the same situation correctly. After I provided the same 1099-C to XXXX, they updated this Discover tradeline to show a XXXX balance. That confirms the balance can in fact be reported as XXXX after cancellation. I have contacted both XXXX and Discover multiple times. On recent calls with Discover, including a call with a supervisor ( XXXX ) and another call on XX/XX/XXXX, Discover representatives admitted that a 1099-C was issued for this account Discover is no longer collecting and I am not obligated to pay the balance but they insist that they will continue to furnish a full unpaid balance as past due on my credit reports and that the balance will remain that way. They also told me they would not correct the reporting by phone and insisted that I mail a dispute letter instead, while continuing to send monthly updates that treat the account as an active past-due charge off. This conduct is harmful and, in my view, violates the Fair Credit Reporting Act and related CFPB and FTC guidance. Specifically It is not accurate or complete to both issue a 1099-C for cancellation of debt and continue furnishing the same amount as a currently owed past-due balance, especially after telling me I am no longer obligated to pay and after I have reported the amount as income. Discovers later furnishing to XXXX reversed a XXXX balance back to XXXX dollars within the same month, which functions like a reinsertion of derogatory information and makes the delinquency appear new and more recent than it really is. After I disputed with XXXX and then directly challenged Discovers furnishing, Discover has refused to correct the balance or past-due amount and has not provided a reasonable explanation or verification of why its current furnishing is accurate. As a result, my XXXX score has dropped by more than XXXX points in XX/XX/XXXXXXXX alone on this same old tradeline. This loss of score harms my ability to qualify for fair credit, housing, and other financial opportunities. I have kept copies of my XXXX reports from XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX, my XXXX dispute results, my Discover 1099-C, and recordings/transcripts of my calls with Discover. I am asking CFPB to Require Discover to conduct a real, documented investigation into its furnishing of this tradeline to XXXX and other bureaus. Require Discover to correct the tradeline to show a XXXX balance and XXXX past-due amount after the 1099-C cancellation, or to request deletion of the tradeline if it will not report a XXXX balance. Require Discover to stop furnishing updates that treat this cancelled debt as a new or current delinquency and to ensure the Date of First Delinquency is not re-aged. Require Discover to provide me with a written explanation of its investigation and the specific data it is furnishing, including the balance, past-due amount, status, and DOFD that it is reporting to each bureau. I am attaching my 1099-C, the relevant XXXX and XXXX reports , and notes from my calls with Discover to support this complaint.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation