Consumer complaint received 2023-04-20
Company: NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: TX
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Personal line of credit
Issue: Struggling to pay your loan

Complaint:
My husband who I am now legally separated from, got a personal loan originally for {$8000.00}. I was co-signed onto the loan XX/XX/XXXX and an additional {$4000.00} was added onto the loan, so a total of {$12000.00}. The only reason I agreed to signing this loan is because I was being severely abused by his parents while I was pregnant and didnt have any other options, as I was living with them, and needed to obtain housing elsewhere. 

I left my husband due to XXXX XXXX in XXXX of XXXX. There is an open investigation in the city of XXXX XXXX and Id be more than happy to send this information over to Navy Federal to prove the validity of my statements. I made Navy Federal immediately aware of my situation and had been in contact with them throughout XXXX and XXXX that I was facing a lot of struggles as a single mother, on top of financial hardship. I have been diagnosed with XXXX and XXXX and it is not uncommon for stuff like this to become difficult to remember or even resolve. The last XXXX years have been very traumatic for me. The personal loan payments a month were over {$350.00} and I couldnt afford to pay that. My husband originally discussed with me that he would take on the responsibility of paying off the loan. I believe it was put in our temporary orders. I dont know when, but at some point he stopped paying on the loan. I recently started getting emails to settle the account. I never received any detailed information that the account defaulted or that I was at risk for right to offset. I feel as Navy Federal didnt give me sufficient information or make reasonable attempts to contact with me to speak to me about this. 

I received my tax refund on XX/XX/XXXX. I had {$6000.00} in my account, and not even a few hours later, Navy Federal emptied my entire account. I called their collections department and they refused to help me at all. I told the manager that I am depending on this money. I am between jobs right now and have a XXXX XXXX XXXX at home, and that this could make us become homeless. I cried to her and asked if there was anything that she could do to even get a portion of it back and then we can set up monthly payments. I asked for any solution, any leeway. She did not empathize towards my situation at all or have any solutions. She was cold and kept repeating herself and told me it was my fault, Im responsible for the loan, and if I wouldve contacted Navy Federal before they took the money, then they could have helped me. She said there was absolutely nothing they would do to help me. 

I only received XXXX emails from Navy Federal. Ive recently made contact with Navy Federal over the phone for various reasons and over the last 2 years, and it wasnt mentioned to me that my loan was defaulted or at risk for defaulting. They genuinely never gave me any sufficient information to explain this process to me. Since XXXX I have only received XXXX different emails with settlement options. The manager told me none of those options apply now and the money they took from me wont go towards settling because I didnt call sooner, so the remaining balance after this is still over {$8000.00}. The only way she could help me moving forward was to set up payments. 

I was relying on this money to pay my bills, pay my rent, buy groceries, and give me time to secure better employment.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation