Consumer complaint received 2023-04-17
Company: Westlake Services, LLC
State: NE
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Getting a loan or lease
Sub-issue: Fraudulent loan

Complaint:
Early XXXX I bought a XXXX XXXX XXXX from XXXX XXXX XXXX. They had a car specifically listed on XXXX as Certified Pre-Owned, and the salesmen XXXX and XXXX assured me multiple times over the phone that it was in excellent condition. They told me repeatedly that the vehicle needed no repairs. When the vehicle was delivered on the XXXX, we noticed immediately that there were major concerns. We took it to three auto shops, one of them being a certified XXXX XXXX. All three told me that it was unsafe to drive and that I should park it. There are major concerns with the frame being almost completely rusted through in several places, the gas tank strap rusted through that it was about to fall out, the brakes are failing, and the steering is badly misaligned and leaking. We tried reasoning with the dealership asking them to reverse the sale, return my deposit and the money to the bank, and take the car back. They refused. I took the vehicle to three auto body shops, and two body work shops to get a comprehensive picture of the full extent and value of the vehicle. We have an inspection report from the certified XXXX XXXX for {$7900.00}. We have a body shop repair estimate for the frame and body work that needs to be done for {$13000.00} from XXXX XXXX XXXX. This shows that there is approximately {$21000.00} worth of damage and repairs to the vehicle that Westlake Financial financed me {$20000.00}. We tried reaching out to Westlake Financial Services on XX/XX/XXXX for the first time in regards to the loan they financed me for the vehicle. I waited so long to reach out to them only because I wanted to give them the best opportunity and a full picture of the extent of the situation. I made sure to have multiple auto inspections done, a XXXX valuation done, and an attempt to work something out with the dealership first. They told me they would file a dealership complaint, and then gave me a customer service email address to send my documents to ( XXXX ), providing proof of the deliberate concealment and horrible condition of the vehicle. I called Westlake again on XX/XX/XXXX and they said they didnt see any complaint filed on my account but that I could email the same address asking if they received my information yet, so I did. After still not receiving any acknowledgment of my complaint, I called again on XX/XX/XXXX where I was given a completely different email to contact their fraud audit team ( XXXX ) and find a resolution- they told me that there were currently no claims on my account whatsoever. I was sending all of my information, claims, and personal info to some random email. I am afraid to know what happened to my personal information that is all over those documents. I sent the fraud audit team an email with all of my supporting documents and inspections. On XX/XX/XXXX I received a phone call from a XXXX XXXX, she told me that they were unable to click the links in my documents due to security purposes and asked if I could resend them as attachments, so I did. I called Westlake again on XX/XX/XXXX to check in on the claim. I spoke with XXXX XXXX XXXX, who told me that due to the diagnostic report not showing any concerns with the engine or transmission, the fraud audit team had determined they were unable to move forward with my claim. I told them i couldnt believe that with all of the evidence of misrepresentation that had been committed against both of us, they wouldnt move forward with trying to come to an amicable resolution. He got off the phone with me to speak to his supervisor XXXX XXXX, who agreed that there was nothing they could do. XXXX XXXX asked me if I had asked the dealership if they would rescind the contract and take back the vehicle. I told him that I had, and they had refused. He said there was nothing more they could do. At this point I am upset and dont understand why the bank will not reasonably acknowledge my claim. I called Westlake again on the evening of XX/XX/XXXX and asked to speak to someone about my issue. I told XXXX XXXX that there was mention on both inspection reports about concerns with the transmission, why had their fraud audit team ignored this information. During this phone call, XXXX XXXX admitted that his company does not care if the dealership lied about any part of the vehicle when they were presenting it for financing, they only care if the dealership lied about the engine and the transmission. He said he would connect us with a supervisor, put us on hold, then transferred our call to the automated response and options menu for XXXX XXXX XXXX. This is extremely unprofessional and created a significant amount of distrust with the bank that is handling my sensitive information and auto loan. I hung up and redialed Westlakes phone number. This time we were connected with XXXX XXXX. During this phone call I found out that not once have I spoken with anyone who works for Westlake Financial Services. I have been speaking with representatives of the XXXX XXXX that is hired in the XXXX and XXXX to field phone calls for Westlake. I am concerned about what will happen to my personal information that I have to repeatedly tell all of these people each time I call and how will I know my information is being protected. I asked if I could speak to someone that was an actual representative of the bank so that I could give them the opportunity to respond to my claim and make an honest decision in regards to my account. He said he had to check with his supervisor to see if he was authorized to give us the phone number for the customer litigation department. He put us on hold then came back and said he had authorization and said we should call. I called this number and they told me that they can not see any information on my account because there is no active litigation on my account. Why was I even directed to call them? I called XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX to ask about the vehicles fraud audit claim. I told her that they told me they wouldn't pursue further because there is no mention of transmission or engine problems but I pointed out to her that on both XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX 's inspection reports they make mention of loud clunking noises and transmission hoses that need to be addressed. She said since it does not specifically say that either needs to be replaced, it is not worth pursuing. I told her that we never specifically asked either location to do a full diagnostic on the transmission or engine since there were so many other issues, and that I can go ahead and schedule that to be done tomorrow. She said that our loan was active for thirty days ending today so if I got any inspection done, it wouldn't matter. They only accept documents that are dated before the 30 day deadline. I am confident they only told me at the end that they had a deadline because Westlake did not want to give me the opportunity to cover all of my bases and have a full report to them in time. This is manipulative and withholding valuable information for them to not disclose that I needed all documents to be supplied within 30 days of the loan. During several of my phone calls with the bank, I had my boyfriend present because he is financially involved in this as well. I think it is important to point out that each time I took a phone call with them and stated he was on the line with me, that was when they would tell me that my call may be recorded for safety or training purposes. During none of my other phone calls would they tell me that my call was being recorded. That seems suspicious to me as well. 

This vehicle sale and my fight against the fraud and misrepresentation of this sale has caused me great financial difficulty. I dont have a reliable vehicle to make it to work in order to make my car payments, and I am forced to rent a vehicle. I do not have the funds to be able to pursue litigation against this bank but they have told me now that litigation is my only option. I do believe that they misled me with the initially incorrect email and then kept dragging their feet in helping me after that, so that the 30 days would come and go to where contractually I am liable for this vehicle and the dealership can say they are off the hook. Now that the 30 days has passed, I can no longer get any responses from the dealership. The banks paid representatives have told me that they will no longer assist me with anything on my account unless I pursue litigation against Westlake. It is baffling how this bank can tell me they dont care about the fraud that has been committed against them and myself, leading me to believe they are in on it. Somehow they are able to continue to be an accessory to committing fraud and allowing dealerships to provide collateral to them that is not even worth the amount they are financing. This bank is engaging in suspicious behavior with these advertisement agencies and dealerships. Each time I call the bank, their automatic menu has an option to press a number if youre seeking information about financing through XXXX. I believe they are performing business alongside XXXX and these dealerships while knowing full well that their business practices are less than honest. I believe that they are aware that fraudulent advertising is being committed and that vehicle misrepresentation is a standard practice. I think that since the bank was able to get me to accept their high interest rate on the loan, that they dont care about the obvious fraud. Likely they think that due to the amount of money they will make off of my financing, it is better worth their time to not offer me their assistance. I would like the relationship between Westlake, XXXX, and their dishonest car dealerships such as XXXX XXXX XXXX to be called into question.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation