Consumer complaint received 2017-08-09
Company: TCF NATIONAL BANK
State: AZ
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Billing problem

Complaint:
In XX/XX/XXXX, Gateway One Lending & Finance ( XXXX ) XXXX called me to discuss my loan. I thought it was a scam because I do n't have any loans so I blocked the phone number. This is n't the end to the story ... XX/XX/XXXX I received notice this blocked call tried again, so I looked it up and called the main number to Gateway One Lending & Finance. I was able to confirm my name, my address and my phone number. I got the dealer name of XXXX XXXX. The birthdate did n't match and I refused to provide my social security number. I told them his was n't my account and wanted to speak to the Fraud Dept. I had to wait until the next day. That evening, I received a letter with my personal information, and some loan information to account ending in XXXX for a XXXX XXXX. I was able to hunt down someone with the name XXXX XXXX to an addresses in XXXX, CA ; which is coincidentally, in close proximity to XXXX XXXX. XXXX mapping the address showed that very truck in the driveway. XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX. I called Gateway again and this time, I was able to use the full account number to gain access to the account ; the last time a payment was made, how much was owed on the truck, and the payment due date because I received the letter. I spoke to customer service and I provided an address from the internet, that I found tied to our name. I was forwarded to the fraud department. Had I not done any of this, the company refused to speak to me at all and were harassing me. XXXX, in Fraud said he did n't know the source of the incorrect personal information, but it was changed sometime in XX/XX/XXXX. He was escalating this to his supervisor to find the source. I was just getting ready to file a police report in XXXX, CA against XXXX XXXX in XXXX, CA for identity theft and fraud, when ... XX/XX/XXXX XXXX. XXXX from Gateway One Loss Mitigation called me and told me that the source of the issue was through fault of their own. In an attempt to collect on the debt and failed communications, an employee did what is called skip-tracing. What 's suppose to happen is that skip-tracing is used to search through various means to match information up to identify location and point of contact of a consumer delinquent on their account. Some employee did n't bother to cross-reference information or confirm they had the right XXXX, so they went and changed the account information to reflect my personal information, in Arizona. I ran a credit check and do n't believe my credit or personal information was compromised beyond this event but I spent hours in researching, calling people and fighting to mitigated this issue to have my name cleared. Here 's my concern, and I told XXXX this and it was probably recorded. Based on what little information I could get from the lender about the dealer, the other XXXX XXXX 's address, and our name ; I was able to identify the person by looks and where she is currently working. I 'm better at skip-tracing than the lender is. The lender 's poor application of policy and procedure caused quite a mess. I panicked about my identity being stolen and was planning to go to extreme measures to deal with the issue. The other thing that concerns me about this is the safety and security of the consumer. What if the ID theft victim just happened to be crazy or was having a really bad day and this set them off? A crazy person could have went to that state, stalked and caused harm. Fortunately, I 'm not that crazy but there are people in the world who are. This whole situation was just unacceptable. I asked them for a letter in writing, absolving me of an responsibility, but XXXX said she 'd have to get with the legal department. Update XX/XX/XXXX I never received a letter or an apology for what they did. I 'm betting they never notified the consumer of their mistake, but I did.

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 non-monetary relief