Consumer complaint received 2023-08-11
Company: Westlake Services, LLC
State: NC
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Auto debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Attempted to collect wrong amount

Complaint:
My car lender went out of business in XXXX of XXXX. From there they transferred our loans to a debt collector who explicitly only referred to themselves as a debt collector until here recently where they now go by the term third party servicing company. Westlake Portfolio Management took over servicing loans for XXXX XXXX and ever since then there has been nothing but problems. 
1. When it came to warranties and gap insurance through US Auto, they said they would not honor warranties because they were here to collect money. I asked them to remove the {$3500.00} from my loan if they were not going to honor it, they refused. They told me that I had to continue paying for my warranty even though they were not going to honor it. 
2. US Auto never paid XXXX so even though in my contract it stated that I have a 3 year warranty, being that it was never funded, I never had a warranty. Westlake claims that some customers now have a warranty ( most likely do to the backlash of breach of contract ) my warranty was void from the first day I bought the car, I have not received a pro-rated discount, nor have I received any notice that my warranty will be extended for the whole 3 years or if its going to remain as if I had a warranty for the whole time. They have provided no information but from what Im hearing from other US Auto customers, a lot of people are still without warranty.

3. Westlake has started my auto loan completely over even though I had already been making payments, they have no record of payments made and assumed that Ive just been driving around in a free car ever since I purchased it from US Auto. I told them this and they let me know that they had no record of previous payments made. All the money I paid to US Auto for my car mysteriously disappeared.

3. I got an email from Westlake Portfolio stating that my credit score went up. I NEVER gave permission for Westlake to TRACK my credit score, or report. I do not have any contract with Westlake nor have I signed any documentation giving permission for them to track my credit report. This is ILLEGAL.

4. When the transfer initially happened, I made two payments to Westlake, every XXXX except {$60.00} went towards interest. Then I realized they charge a daily interest rate of {$11.00}. My interest for my car is already calculated in my monthly payments. My payment is {$240.00} bi-weekly for 72 months. If you do the math, this means over the next 7 years I would have paid {$40000.00} on a {$5000.00} vehicle plus the {$11.00} per day. Their daily interest brings my total payments {$28000.00} ABOVE what it originally was even with interest from US Auto. At the end of my loan term I would have paid {$68000.00} total for a XXXX car. 
5. Westlake does not have my title, or my contract per our last conversation and every-time we spoke they said documents are still pending. How is a debt collector, collecting on a balance when they dont even have the proper paperwork? You dont own the car, nor are you honoring all of the obligations to the contract but you want money? They released a document stating that they are now power of attorney for US Auto but did not have this document when they started collecting payments.

6. They sent me an email stating that I had to put them on my insurance as the Lienholder to my car. They are not the Lienholder to my car as I have checked with the DMV, US Auto is and I will not add US Auto as my lienholder because they already disappeared with my money for my car payments & down payments.

Overall, my contract was breached, Im being double charged and over charged, my credit is being monitored without my permission, I do not have a warranty that is paid for, and they just want me to believe that after they charge me {$68000.00} on a XXXX vehicle, some way they will get the title from a closed down company 7 years down the line, they do not have a history of my payments so my loan has started over and my principal balance goes up every day due to their {$11.00} a day interest charge. My original first email from US Auto and Westlake said the obligations of my contract were not going to change, that was inaccurate.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation