Score dropped from 707 to 566, Help!

[mattayy]

Hello,

I have had perfect credit my entire life and have never defaulted on anything. I had a medical procedure done in December 2016 and financed half of it ($5,000). I had 0% interested for 24 months, so I needed to pay off the remaining $5,000 by December 2018. I checked in October my account to see what the pay off balance was and to my astonishment there was an added $3,000 of interested. I inquired about the loan in Ocotber but did not actually apply until December. The creditor (Alpheon) refused to let me pay what was owed in October 2018 minus the intersted as it had only been 22 months since the credit line was opened, which makes no sense since there was 2 months left of 0% interest. 

Alpheon claims that the "24 month 0% interest" begins when you "inquire" not when you actually apply for the loan. I am more than happy to pay them what's owed and even a little more to remove this from my credit report - any insight on this would be great.

I am hoping there is a way to pay them and have this removed from my credit

[Anonymous]

I'm far from an expert, but I'll take a shot from what I know of paperwork, at least.  

Did you save any of the loan paperwork, the 'fine print' stuff about the terms of the financing?   Make a xerox copy of it, one you can write on, and go over it carefully with a highlighter.  Make notes in the margins.  Google any terms or phrases you don't understand.  Go over things more than once, and even read them out loud - that can sometimes help with comprehending long, complicated legal sentences.  

Once you think you have the key parts, write them down in a list.  I'd then have someone else look at it, if possible, to double check.  Then, you can call the company and explain to them that they are going against the terms, if that's the case.   You have a better leg to stand on if you know the exact terms of what your reponsibilities are and what their responsibilities are in any contract.  

Good luck, and I hope someone else has more specific information for you.  

[gdale6]

The actual contract is what governs the loan, you need to find and read this.. This sounds fishy to me, have never heard of such a thing.

[Anonymous]

Alphaeon Credit is issued by Comenity.

They have several videos explaining the zero interest financing. One that stood out to me says the date that the interest kicks in is on every statement. Look for it on the front of the statement. According to Comenity it was on your statement for the last two years. Does that date say October or December? If it says October you options are limited and you do owe the amount they claim. If it says December you have options.

https://d.comenity.net/alphaeoncosmetic/common/info/marketing/promoPlansMarketing.xhtml

(This all came out of the 2007-2009 financial crisis. Banks are required to provide this info on your statements.)

Call and try to settle. Make payment arrangements. Keep trying, because you are within the statue of limitations so they are most likely going to to sue you for whole balance.

[blueblur]

Are there missed payments?  Something is missing if your score dropped 140+ pts just from them adding the interest charges and pushing it over the initial max credit line.

[mattayy]

Yes, I haven't paid them yet because I don't know if it's owed or not. 

[AZEsq]

1) Review the statement;

2) Get all statements from when you charged the balance;

3) IF you did indeed have until December based on when you charged the balance to the card, contact the BBB, CFPB, and your state's Attorney General (Consumer Protection division) and report them.; and then 

4) CC them on all correspondence with these individuals via CERTIFIED MAIL.

They will remove it IF it's non-compliant.