Consumer complaint received 2022-07-12
Company: TD BANK US HOLDING COMPANY
State: ME
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Problems at the end of the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Problem with paying off the loan

Complaint:
I applied for and was granted a six-year term loan from TD Auto Finance for buying a used XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX from XXXX XXXXXXXX in XXXX, Maine on XX/XX/XXXX. At the time of the agreement, the auto dealership helped me set up automatic debits from my business checking account at XXXX XXXX Bank in XXXX, Maine through " XXXX XXXX XXXX  ''. For the next nearly six years, the agreed upon amount of money was regularly deducted, without interruption ( NO missed payments ) from my account until the loan was paid off IN FULL on XX/XX/XXXX. As a result, I received a letter from TD Auto Finance congratulating me for paying off the entire loan, and the original State of Maine " Certificate of Title '', with acknowledgment that it was now a completely " lien-free '' title. Naturally, I was relieved to have paid off the loan completely, knowing I free from the financial burden of having to make payments and was now the sole legal owner of my truck. 

I thought everything was fine until approximately a month later I found one day that my business bank account had been over-drafted and that I didn't have enough money to pay for a due credit card bill, which led to a late payment penalty fee. I also didn't have enough money in my account to renew the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX '' status for my XXXX business, which led to another late payment penalty fee. Wondering how the balance in my account could have dipped below {$0.00} without my knowledge, I began looking at my bank account statements. That's when I discovered that, in spite of my having fully paid off the loan to TD Auto Finance more than a month earlier, {$230.00} was continuing to be debited from my bank account every two weeks. I was extremely surprised and confused! I thought surely there must simply have been a technological or clerical error on the part of TD Auto Finance to continue receiving auto loan payments from me, knowing I no longer owed them any money. Consequently, I began what has ultimately turned out to be an extremely time-consuming and frustrating experience trying to stop money from wrongly being withdrawn from my account and also trying to receive reimbursement for all the unauthorized withdrawals. I've made numerous phone calls and have visited both the local branch of TD Bank and XXXX XXXX Bank in person several times each. I've had to proactively authorize a " Stop Payment '' order for " XXXX XXXX XXXX '' withdrawals from my account, an action which incurred a {$35.00} fee from my bank, and I've also had to proactively authorize " XXXX XXXX XXXX '' to stop withdrawing payments and close the account. 

Although I have FINALLY received reimbursement for the altogether {$1200.00} that was taken from my account after the original loan was completely paid off, I have been unfairly harmed by how these wrong withdrawals have affected me financially. Not only have they led to costly late payment fees, overdraft fees, and a stop payment fee, but because I was left without enough money to pay what I owed to others on time, my credit score has been ultimately lowered as a result. 

What I have been met with from TD Auto Finance is what I can only characterize as indifference, apathy, and a complete unwillingness to accept any responsibility for the financial harmed I've endured. I have spoken with numerous regular and senior level customer service agents at TD Auto Finance and none have offered any kind of restitution. 

What's happened to me should never be allowed to happen to anyone. I paid TD Auto Finance always on time over the entire term of my loan until it was fully paid off, and this included over {$4000.00} in interest altogether. I think it's absolutely wrong that TD Auto Finance or any lending institution should be able to treat customers in this way and offer no compensation for the very clear and direct harm it has caused. Not only is it unethical, I think it should be illegal.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation