Consumer complaint received 2024-05-22 00:00:00
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report — Account status incorrect
Company: ALLY FINANCIAL INC.
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
Here is a summary of the events : Vehicle Totaling and Payoff : The vehicle was totaled, and the XXXX XXXX settled the loan amount with Ally Auto. This was confirmed with the release of the vehicles title, indicating that there was no outstanding balance as of XX/XX/XXXX. Ally communicated this to me via XXXX emails which I have included. I received an email on XX/XX/XXXX that stated the XX/XX/XXXX payment had been cancelled. I assumed this was customary due to XXXX XXXX paying them off, so that the account was not charged twice in the month that Ally would receive the entire pay-off. 

Personal Circumstances : During this time, I was going through a divorce and had no access to the vehicle, which was with my ex-husband who subsequently wrecked it. Despite these challenges, I remained committed to fulfilling my financial obligations. Had I been informed of any residual balance or discrepancies in the account, I would have taken immediate steps to resolve them. My ex-husband, the primary borrower ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ), has not assisted in resolving this issue, leaving me, the co-signer, solely responsible. As a divorced single mother, I know how important it is to maintain positive credit and accounts so I can ensure that Im able to give a positive future to my two children. My goal here is to get these negative remarks and balances off my credit. Based on the communication I received from Ally, I understood that the account was paid in full and closed. 

Account Status : I regularly monitor my credit through XXXX XXXX, where there was no indication of any open or active account with Ally Auto until the erroneous entry appeared on XX/XX/XXXX. I have documentation of my credit reports from XX/XX/XXXX, where the Ally Auto account had a balance of {$0.00} and was completely closed. Then the credit report from XX/XX/XXXX, where Ally removed the previous Closed remark from my account and reopened the account with a balance of {$430.00}. This unexpected report of a missed payment and credit hit was the first communication I received about any outstanding debt since the loan payoff emails I received from them. This caused a XXXX decrease in my credit score. Then, I received three separate emails from Ally Auto on XX/XX/XXXX declaring that three payments had been returned from XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. This is not accurate information, and I have bank statements included to prove that these payments did, in fact, go through to Ally. 

Access to Documentation : I am currently unable to access any additional documentation or recover my account login with Ally Auto, as they have informed me that they can " no longer find my information '' in their system. This inability to access my own account details has significantly impeded my efforts to contest this erroneous claim. 

Subsequent Communications with Ally Auto : Upon receiving the unexpected default notice on XX/XX/XXXX, I immediately contacted Ally Auto by phone. Initially, I was informed that I owed over {$2000.00}. After explaining the situation and the vehicle payoff, the customer service representative claimed that amount was adjusted to {$750.00}, then to {$430.00} ( as was reflected on XXXX XXXX when the account was reopened. Each adjustment lacks a valid explanation or detailed accounting from Ally Auto. 

Disputed and Account Closed : I filed a dispute with Ally Auto through XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. Because I was unable to add proper documentation via XXXX XXXX app, I cancelled the original dispute by calling XXXX so I could upload directly on their website with documents. I believe Ally Auto saw the dispute and again, hit my credit ( XXXX points ) and upped my balance to {$750.00}. On XX/XX/XXXX, they closed the account and added Charged off as bad debt and Profit and Loss write off to my credit remarks. Id like to mention again that there was a major lack of communication from Ally up until the point that I disputed this issue. The only communication that I received from Ally Auto regarding my account was that everything was paid in full and the account was closed. As I was going through a divorce at the time, and the car was not even in my possession, I trusted that communication from Ally Auto. After disputed, they reached out via email several days in a row to offer an extended payment plan and sent mail offering the same. 

I have attempted to resolve these issues over the phone several times, and every single time, I have been continuously transferred to different departments by customer service reps, given direct numbers that do not connect to any department, and pushed to just settle the current debt at the current price because they are unable to do anything else to assist in this issue. 

Enclosed are copies of communications with Ally Auto, including the email confirming the loan payoff and the title release. 

I request a thorough investigation into this matter and the removal of the incorrect entries from my credit report as it does not reflect the actual status of my account with Ally Auto. 

Ally needs to take accountability regarding their misleading communications and all of the derogatory remarks and credit hits need to be reversed and the account closed. 

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. I am eager to resolve this issue promptly as it is greatly affecting my mental health and the potential for my future. I am available for any further information you might need to facilitate a quick resolution.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation