Consumer complaint received 2023-09-15
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: NC
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Getting a loan or lease
Sub-issue: Loan opened without my consent or knowledge

Complaint:
Capital One Auto Finance does not require proof of identity to approve and disburse funds for auto loans. All you need is your information and a signature. However, in order to prove a loan is fraudulent, they require a notarized affidavit, police report with account number or vin as well as a copy of your drivers license and social security card. Ironic, dont you think? 

On XX/XX/XXXX I received a phone call for a credit card application through capital one that I did not apply for. I called and told them I did not apply for a credit card with them. I have a credit card with capital one already. When I went on my capital one app on XX/XX/XXXX, there was a notification at the top that said click here to link auto loan. Uhm, what?! I called back to question this supposed auto loan and they have to transfer me to a different department. 

The gentleman that I spoke with argued with me, saying maybe they didnt respond in a timely manner with an interest rate proposal and I cut him off and said absolutely not. I knew the vehicle in question, was my husbands since my vehicle is a lease. I stated that our loan was 7 months old at the time and asked why would we refinance a new loan at a higher interest rate. He then asked me if I would like to report loan as fraudulent and I said yes, absolutely! 

He emailed me paperwork that I needed to fill out and mail back. I was not told that my husband needed to fill it out as well. The information capital one required to claim loan as fraudulent was a notarized affidavit stating loan was fraudulent, a police report showing the account number or vin of vehicle and proof of identity such as a drivers license and social security card. 

I finally had all the paperwork to send to capital one the following week. To be on the safe side, I sent the paperwork registered mail so I would have proof of delivery. They received the information XX/XX/XXXX. 

I felt like I had things kind of squared away or at the very least everything was in progress of getting worked out. Oh how wrong I was! I went on Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX to pay my husbands car payment. I always pay it at the branch, XXXX, near our house on my way to work. I am sitting at the drive through and its taking forever and the teller comes back and tells me that she cant find the loan that is attached to our car payment slip. She asked me to give her a minute and she double checked and came back and told me that the loan was paid off. 

It turns out, the day that I called to report the loan as fraudulent was the day Capital One disbursed funds which closed out our original loan. Which in turn, XXXX, transferred our title to Capital One. So the fraudulent loan now holds the title to my husbands XXXX. 

When I spoke to the fraud department with Capital One, I asked if they could explain their loan process to me. For example, do they require proof of identity before approving and disbursing funds. I was told, it depends on the clients. In some cases, only a signature is required. I asked for a copy of the loan application and they did not release it. The detective we have working on our case filed a warrant to get a copy of the loan application. 

The detective called me after reviewing the report and said that the application had a deceased persons phone number, our signatures that were forged ( which was missing the r in our last name ) and that was it. Our address was correct and they used my email address that I just created in XXXX. Capital One did not require any proof of identity! 

As of Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX, Capital One has still not flagged the loan as fraudulent even though they have a copy of our police report and had to release information based on warrant to the detective with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. Now they are asking my husband for the same paperwork that I already submitted. To my understanding, they want a copy of my husbands drivers license and social security card. 

My husband spoke to Capital One Auto Finance again this evening, XX/XX/XXXX, and they still have the incorrect information listed for the fraudulent loan. The information they have is the original loan documents that are fraudulent. Capital One Auto Finance still has my husbands birth year wrong, the loan document says he is XXXX XXXX XXXX than he actually is. Capital One Auto Finance also still has the incorrect phone number listed, a prepaid phone with a Hawaii area code. He has corrected them at lest a dozen times. 

Capital One Auto finance told my husband that they would be willing to send the title back to our original lender if our original lender would reinstate our loan. In turn Capital One Auto Finance would expect XXXX to send the money back that they received from Capital One. 

After going back me forth between Capital One and XXXX, it doesnt seem like anyone is wanting to budge because they dont understand why someone would do this. XXXX also wants to understand how the loan got approved which Capital One was not willing to disclose with our original lender. We are at a standstill while both institutions are pointing fingers at one another and not willing budge. Meanwhile, since the account is considered legitimate with Capital One Auto Finance, my husbands vehicle is going to be scheduled for repossession in the near future.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief