@IOBA wrote:Bank of America did a similar thing to us when DH went overseas. We asked for a lower interest rate. (They REFUSED to do the Serviceman (what's it called??) interest rate! Said they do not have to honor it for the deployed.) They reported late for 6 months before I caught it on the free annual credit report and reamed their backsides out about it. Each statement showed that the minimum payment and then some was paid every month, on time. No late fees. There was nothing on the statements to show that he was "late" with anything.
I made payments every two weeks.
Statements reflected on time, more than the minimum, payments each cycle.
Statements reflected nothing as past due.
When confronted, Bank of America said it was their right to punish us for asking for a lower rate. They refused to correct the reporting. Disputed it with the CB and it came back as "verified".
Ironically, the month I called them on it, they didn't report late. See below.
December - DH deploys, we ask for the special interest rate for deployed military (denied - Bank of America cuz they don't HAVE to do it!)
January - 30 day late
February - 30 day late
March - 30 day late
April - 30 day late
May - 30 day late
June - 30 day late
July - I ream them out when I see what they have done (free credit report), no lates reported this month
August - 30 day late, dispute with CB
September - no lates reported
October - 30 day late, comes back "verified" from CB
November - no lates
December - no lates (Bank of America said we had been punished long enough! Yes, the rep actually said that!!)
When there were credit situations that came up, I would bring in the certified letter I had sent to Corporate Bank of America, along with the year's worth of statements showing that we were NEVER late and we always paid at least the minimum on the bill. The decision makers would look at the letter & statements, shake their head, and ask how could Bank of America get away with this? Eight lates that I could prove never happened. Most of the time, the lenders would choose to overwrite the computer decision.
At the time he deployed, we were screwed by the apt complex for telling them he was deploying (they actually changed the locks right after he deployed, even though we had already paid rent for the following month & still had a few months left on the lease - it's another horror story of greedy corporations who do not respect our military and civilians who go overseas), had to pay for two places to live plus his incidentals overseas, had five out of five family members in school with three tuition bills, etc. Within months, we had rotated things around and still had three family members in school with tuition bills. It was a scary time in so many ways.
It's behind us now, but still scars our hearts and our credit report.
And I have to give props to Penfed and USAA for coming through during this wickedly horrible time. BOTH places extended credit when we lost everything in the rented apt and had to pay for 2+ places to live (the apt and another place, plus DH's incidentals). Penfed manually overrode the computer decision when they saw proof that there were no lates. USAA extended 10k credit right away. DFAS had a hiccup so we were not receiving any hazard pay, etc.
I wish you luck in getting it corrected, but I am not holding out much hope Bank of America will budge. I have heard similar stories from military and civilians alike. Bank of America has done this to lots of people who asked for a lower interest rate or a payment plan.
Eh, SCRA protection is optional? I really don't think that is accurate; it would be taken on a case by case scenario, the bank would have to get a court order to dhow that the deployment would not have an adverse impact on you/your family's ability to pay the interest rate about 6%. As long as you submitted the correct paperwork (namely, deployment orders, etc), it's a program that is put in place to protect service members, not the other way around. So unless they went through the hassle of getting a court order for your case in particular, if you submitted everything within 180 days of the deployment date, they are required to honor it. The protection also only applies to debt incurred prior to the deployment, (or maybe also while on deployment?). I know the rules for when the protection applies varies between the different clauses.
And them punishing you for requested SCRA? Look closely at all of your documents and your payment history. If you really feel they are "punishing" you by reporting late payments that aren't accurate, that is just as big of an issue as if them inaccurately reporting any other information to the CRA's. If you have in fact been on time with your payments and in the correct amount, and they are reporting falsely to the CRA, I strongly recommend looking into your rights in regards to credit reporting and beginning the process of having that information corrected.
Best of luck.
Starting Score: EQ-484(10/10/2011) TU-533(10/10/2011)