Bellco Credit Union

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Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.While I have not yet received the requested letter, the representative with whom I spoke yesterday said she would overnight it as soon as it was approved on her side.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Our member went into our Smoky Hill Branch, where our District Manager explained to her that our bill pay processor automatically updates the addresses in the bill pay system as new information is provided by the payees themselves.  In her case, the new address for the mortgage company was...

provided by the payee to our bill pay processor, who updated the system.   After we confirmed her mortgage payment was being sent to the correct payee, our member stated she appreciated our assistance. We consider the matter closed.   Thank you.

The rules for reporting trade lines to the credit reporting agencies (CRA’S) are set by the CRA’s and not by Bellco.  Bellco only adheres to the rules set out by the CRA’s.Bellco is reaching out to our member to discuss the matter and work with our member to resolve. Our member can call us at...

###-###-####, select option 9, and request to speak with a manager.Thank you.

The member may not be getting accurate information from the dealership.  Bellco timely provided all of the information requested by the dealership. On December 29, 2017, the dealership requested a copy of the loan note which Bellco faxed to them as requested. On January 9, 2018, Bellco was...

asked by the dealership to send a letter authorizing the dealership to cancel the warranty. The requested letter was faxed the same day to the dealership. The dealership has not requested any other documents from Bellco since January. With regards to her claim about delinquency and credit reporting, it is the member’s responsibility to continue to make payments on her loan until the loan balance is completely satisfied.  Since our member didn’t make the payments as required by her loan documents, she was delinquent on her loan and was reported to the credit bureaus. Thank you.

After researching our member’s concerns, we discovered that the member did not reply to our original request for contact information for over two weeks. This prevented us from emailing the loan documents to our member, which greatly delayed the process. Once we received the contact information we...

needed to email the documents, we sent the loan documents and informed her when her first payment was due under the new terms. As of the date of this letter, we still have not received the final signed documents, and there is no new loan payment due. Until the signed documents are returned, we cannot assist in resolving our member’s concerns, and the balance on her auto loan remains outstanding.  If the member is not willing to sign the new loan documents, we cannot help her.  We have spoken with the member, and the member is not cooperative.  We ask our member to contact us when she is ready to proceed with the new loan, or to pay off the remaining balance of her auto loan. Thank you.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
Bellco Credit Union appears to have a profound misunderstanding of the term "settlement agreement".  It means that the agreed upon amount is paid and the loan is then considered paid in full. It does not mean "sort of, kind of, not really" paid in full and it certainly does not mean there is a remaining balance in any sense. Bellco Credit Union is attempting to both receive money from a settlement agreement AND continue to carry a balance on a loan.  Their misguided attempt to justify their position with semantics is both unethical and transparent.  When I called to close my savings account, I was informed that this could not be done because there is a remaining balance on the loan for which the settlement agreement was reached. I was further informed that Bellco Credit Union would be happy to close my savings account if I would pay the remaining balance.  This is beyond crazy.  I paid the agreed upon amount and have received letters stating that this loan is now considered paid in full.  I would very much like to permanently sever all ties with Bellco Credit Union.  I do not understand why Bellco Credit Union has decided to do business in such a deplorable manner.  I also believe we may be at an impasse.  It is obvious that Bellco Credit Union has no real interest in resolving this issue or improving their business practices. Regarding the inaccurate reporting to the credit bureaus; I have called regarding this issue, and my law office has sent notarized letters on my behalf and officially notified all 3 credit bureaus of this error.  During one of my calls with customer service regarding this issue, the customer service representative acknowledged receipt of the notarized letters.  Additionally, [redacted] has contacted Bellco Credit Union and reminded them of their legal obligation to correct their reporting.  Bellco Credit Union made a huge mistake.  However, their unwillingness to accept responsibility or take steps to correct this error, while terribly unfortunate, is consistent with their manner of doing business.      Sincerely,
[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/09/28) */
In response to case #XXXXXXXX, Bellco determined two payments were made through two different financial institutions' bill pay services.
The payment made on August 20, 2015 was returned to our member on Monday, September 21, 2015 due to the...

last four digits of the card number being inverted. The payment made September 9, 2015 was returned to our member on September 23, 2015 for a reason we cannot obtain. The two late fees have been refunded to the member.
Bellco is working directly with our member to resolve this issue by providing the correct address to use for future credit card payments. Our member has indicated he will update the payment information within the bill pay systems he uses and confirm the correct address and card number will be used in the future.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention so we could help our member resolve this issue.

The request to correct the credit report was sent to the credit bureaus on November 2, 2016. It can take 60 to 90 days for the credit reporting agencies to update the report. Thank you.

Bellco has resolved this matter with the member as of February 27, 2018. The member was refunded the disputed amount and we confirmed credit wasn’t effected. We ask our member to please contact us directly at 303-689-7800 or 1-800-BELLCO-1 (235-5261), if he believes his credit report has been...

negatively affected. Thank you.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:I was asked my [redacted] to submit the complaint on his behalf because he does not have an email address.  If you have any questions or wish to confirm this with him, please feel free to call him at [redacted].
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am...

rejecting this response because:I still have had hits on my credit due to the bank. I have had one representative call me, told me the money would be on hold for two weeks, and my accounts would be put back into adequate standing.  My checking account is still inactive, I am unable to pay any bills or deposit any money into my checking account.I have no confirmation from the bank that the creditors have been called off, and damage has been undone. My credit has TANKED due to this. The money is still on hold, and I am unable to access any of these funds they claim have been 'redeposited'.  
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Initially, the member communicated to us that he was buying the car from an out-of-state auction.  We explained to our member that we were unable to perform that type of loan. The member then communicated he was using a dealer to purchase the car at an auction, and the member would...

purchase the vehicle directly from the dealer.  We explained the process for an out-of-state purchase both to the member and the dealer. The member was informed that an out-of-state loan takes longer as we need wet signatures and more time is involved.We informed the dealer of the exact process and the necessary documents to be completed.  There should have been no surprise in the process taking longer.Aside from the issue of the process taking longer for an out-of-state loan (which was clearly communicated with the member), the only other issue involved the POAs sent to the member. On the cover sheet, as well as on the call with the member and the dealership, the processor explained that the power of attorney (POA) could not be altered. Any alteration would cause the county to reject the paperwork.  We emailed the POAs to the member from a color scan. The member printed them on a black and white printer, which darkened the highlighted areas for signing.  Either the notary or member used “white out” to sign/initial/date which altered the document.  According to the processor, a [redacted] return label was offered on both the first and second attempts at POA, but the member declined and said they would take care of it. When we received the second set of POAs back, the forms continued to look altered, which resulted in another delay. The processor contacted the member again, understanding the member’s frustration, and voicing that the altered documents would be rejected, that they are ok to sign over the highlighted areas and it would be okay.We finally received acceptable documents on April 6 and emailed the [redacted] tracking number of the check sent to the member.Thank you.

According to the complaint, our member claims he made a purchase on January 22, 2018, and notified us of the issue on January 24, 2018.  Upon further research, we discovered that our member hasn’t disputed any items in January with us that were for $350.  We recommend to our member to...

submit a dispute form for those charges. Our research did determine that our member notified us of a dispute in November 2017 that was processed.  At that time, we requested additional information from our member in order to complete the process.  Based on our investigation, we also noticed that the disputed charges were actually recurring charges by the same merchant, and the member was not disputing all of the charges.  Based on this information and the fact that our member failed to provide us with the additional information needed, we had no choice but to deny his dispute.  Thank you.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:The response was all lies, first off I called and asked how and where I could close out my account, When I closed out my account I told the people I was closing out my account.  I just received a statement fron Bellco on  The 10 th, along with another demand letter that I am overdrawn, another lie.  Second I did not request a check. To be sent to me, total lie.   Third I never received a debit card another lie and of course you can not activate something you don't get.  They still owe me money!
Sincerely,
[redacted]

After researching our member’s concerns, we learned that the member attempted to close his accounts at a shared-branch location.  However, shared-branch locations are not authorized to close accounts at Bellco, so he only withdrew all the funds in his checking account. Since shared branches do...

not have the authority to close our accounts, the member’s account remained open with zero (or $0.01) balance in it. Due to the minimum balance requirements on the account, our member was charged a $12 service fee in December, which overdrew his account. This prompted the collections letter and email that were sent to the member. Now that we understand the member’s intention was to close his accounts in November, we have waived the $12 service fee and closed his checking account. As to the $13.31 the member believes he was charged in order to close out his account, Bellco does not charge a fee to close out accounts.  This transaction was actually an official check in the amount of $13.31 requested by, and issued to, the member via our Tellerphone automated system on 11/28/16. This official check was cashed by the member on 12/07/16. With regards to his unanswered emails, we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.  We have addressed this issue internally. With regard to the member’s ability to access the checking account, we do in fact show that a debit card was issued to the member on 10/23/15, but was never activated. As for checks, these are not automatically issued; however, checks can be requested at any time by calling us, logging into our Online Banking system, or visiting any Bellco Credit Union branch. If the member had requested checks, or a new debit card, they would have been provided in a timely fashion. Thank you.

In response to ID# [redacted], Bellco Credit Union acknowledges approval of a settlement on our member’s credit card account, as well as receipt of those funds via our agency, [redacted]. We also acknowledge that our member’s credit bureau report should be updated to reflect a zero balance on the...

account and a status of “Charge-off – Paid Less Than Balance” as of November 2014. To that end, we have requested that each of the three major credit reporting agencies update their records to reflect this information. We would have corrected this issue sooner had the member brought this to our attention. We do note that although Bellco Credit Union accepted this settlement agreement on the credit card, Bellco was still left with a loss of the remaining balance. According to our rules and membership agreement, the credit union may deny products and services to any member that causes a loss to the credit union. This is true even when a settlement has been reached. While we will no longer pursue for the remaining debt, Bellco Credit Union also chooses not to continue our relationship. As for the savings account specifically referenced, due to system limitations Bellco Credit Union is unable to actually close the account while there is still a remaining loan which reflects a balance. While we acknowledge and agree that we have accepted a settlement on the credit card account which removes any further liability, the credit card account is still left with a remaining balance that will continue to show in our system. This in turn requires that a membership or savings account be left open. The savings account in question however is inactive with a zero balance, is unavailable for use and has been flagged in the system to prevent any and all transactions. We apologize for any confusion regarding this settlement agreement, or any misinformation our member may have received. We will ensure that our staff is properly trained to convey information in situations such as this in the future.

Upon further research, we discovered that our member received his June Bellco credit card statement that showed the balance and minimum amount due on his closed card. The statement was delivered prior to the card being deactivated.  Bellco will accept payment independent of whether...

the member had an active credit card or not.  It is unclear why the member failed to make the payment when due. As of August 10, the member’s issue has been resolved after speaking with one of our collection supervisors. As a courtesy to our member, we have removed the negative reporting, and reversed a $25 late fee.  The member was sent a letter confirming the actions taken. In addition, the member’s replacement credit card has been mailed to him. Thank you.

After researching our member’s concerns, we have determined there are two factors that may have contributed to the confusion our member experienced. The first was a quote of the outstanding principal balance of the loan, as opposed to the total outstanding balance on the loan.  The second was...

the misapplication of a mortgage payment to her auto loan, which was later corrected and reversed. The first factor arose on February 25, when Bellco quoted the amount of $121.66, which was the principal balance due on the loan as of that date. This amount did not include any accrued interest or late fees that were owed. This was explained by Bellco staff and our member decided to leave the branch without making payment on the loan, since the amount of $121.66 would not have paid off the loan. As the member mentioned, the amount of $121.66 was accepted on February 27; however, these funds were applied as a payment toward the remaining principal balance on the loan.  Again, this information was relayed to our member and was reflected on the receipt he was provided at the time of the transaction. After the payment was applied, the loan was left with a principal balance of $0.00. The reason the loan was not paid off at that time was that $375.00 in late fees remained due on the loan. The second factor arose on March 3 when our member called and notified Bellco that a payment that was meant for her mortgage loan was misapplied to her auto loan. Bellco promptly corrected the payment issue by reversing the funds from the auto loan and applying them to the mortgage. This meant the principal balance of the auto loan increased in the amount of the reversed payment. Due to this error, and as a courtesy to our member, we subsequently waived late fees on the auto loan. A message was left for the members on March 4 in an attempt to relay this information. As a result of the payment reversal the auto loan also then became delinquent which prompted the system to send a Right to Cure letter. This letter would have provided the balance due as of the date it was issued, not including any outstanding late fees. When our member called Collections on March 8, she was then provided the full amount due to pay off the loan. Bellco has reached out by phone and left messages with our member in order to resolve her concerns. If you require any other information, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/06/05) */
In reference to case #[redacted]: The member was notified yesterday, June 4, 2015, that the check was located and the 1st mortgage loan was paid off. The Bellco Call Center manager called the member to inform him that the check was located and...

that we effective dated the payoff to May 26th, 2015, which is the date the check was written.
We apologize for the confusion and inconvenience this caused our member.
Thank you.