Bank Of America Illegal Surveillance of Customer's Credit Report Wilmington Delaware
I believe Bank of America is illegally accessing credit report records at any time they please. I called their customer service to ask for a reduction in my interest rate and the representative looked at the amount of debt I owed on all my credit card accounts including those with other banks. I never gave my permission for Bank of America to check my credit report at this time yet, their customer service had immediate access to that information.
As a client who has always paid her bill on time I asked Bank of America if they could reduce my interest rate because the large amount of medical bills I've had in the last two years forced me to use more credit than I normally would. Even though I pay more than the minimun every month the balances are growing. After their customer service analyst asked me questions about my income and motgage he told me the total amount of credit card debt I owed. Then, he not only refused to lower my interest rate, he decreased the amount of credit available on the account I had called about. So, not only did he refuse my request using illegal information he did something that will injure my credit rating. This practice is outrageous and should be stopped. I have written several letters of complaint to the company and to my state's District of Attorney as well as the Federal Consumer Protection Agency. I suggest others to do the same.
Angry consumer
Queens, New York
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Steve
Bradenton,Florida,
U.S.A.
Nothing illegal here. You actually agreed to it when you opened the account.
#2Consumer Comment
Sun, September 14, 2008
This meets the requirement of "permissible purpose" under the law.
Therefore there is nothing illegal about BofA checking your credit periodically.
And, your credit line got lowered because you waved the red flag at them and drew attention to your current or impending financial difficulties.
You basically told them you couldn't afford to make the payments.
And, FYI...It is VERY rare for any bank to reduce your interest rate based on your request. Especially the large banks. And, credit cards are at record default rates right now, so they will be less flexible and/or generous.
Here is a hint.
Stop paying. Then after you are 90 days late, and only then, BofA will renegotiate your interest rate. That is the only way they will do it.
You see, for them to lose something, you have to lose something too, like damage to your credit score.
It is just the way things work.
You actually hold the cards here, but you have to play them.
The consumer has the ultimate power.
Think about it. Where would this bank be if every customer just stopped paying?