Consumer complaint received 2022-04-27
Company: Island Finance Puerto Rico
State: PR
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Installment loan
Issue: Charged fees or interest you didn't expect

Complaint:
XXXX ) For 11 months they have not been applying any amount to the principal, they have been taking the {$170.00} payments and applying them all to interest. I tried calling the call center to request assistance, who told me i had to visit the offices. When i visited the offices they told me i had to call the call center. Which i did once again and in multiple instances. Then they said that this is due to the payment extensions ( They offered payment extensions for 3 months which I did in XXXX, XXXX & XXXX of XXXX ) this was offered because of the COVID emergency. I would understand if they did it for 3 months, but 11 months is basically a year which i have been paying only interests. Because of the emergency i did request the extensions they were offering because i could not pay for that months and i specifically requested to know what were the repercussions of getting these extensions and what they told me was that those months would just be moved to the end of the payments, so I would complete my loan payments 3 months after the original end date. If this situation is truly due to these extensions then they lied when i asked what the repercussions were for having them. This still would not explain why this has been happening for 11 months, which I believe is just stealing. 
XXXX ) I asked for an amortization table which they provided and it clearly shows a difference on how the interests are supposed to be charged vs the interest they have been charging me. With these types of loans, payment amount towards interests go down and payment amount towards principal go up. This is not what they are doing and they sometimes apply a very small amount of the payment to the principal and the majority of the payment on interest. This way i will never complete payment on this loan. I have tried on several occasions to speak with someone but they just say that I'm in the wrong without even attempting to understand what I'm saying, and that their system is correct. I just feel like they are trying to steal my money and lying for their financial gain. This loan was done on an emergency situation and i feel like they are taking advantage of that. 
XXXX ) On their tables ( attached ), they say that they will charge me a total interest of {$5600.00}. As of XX/XX/XXXX they have already charged me {$4200.00} in interest ( again per their table ) this would mean that when i am charged the remaining {$1400.00} of interest they should not charge me additional interest and the full amount should go to the principal, which i doubt will happen. This loan was made in XX/XX/XXXX for {$5000.00} and they allege that as of XX/XX/XXXX i still owe {$4200.00}, with payments of {$170.00} that just isn't accurate at all. 
XXXX ) They have a unusual way of calculating interests, while talking to the different institution employees i receive inconsistent information as to how they accrue the interest which is very alarming to me.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation