Consumer complaint received 2020-05-08
Company: AMERICAN HONDA FINANCE CORP
State: MO
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Lease
Issue: Problems at the end of the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Problem with paying off the loan

Complaint:
I purchased a Lease vehicle from Honda Financial Services ( HFS ) in XXXX and paid the account as agreed, missing no payments and ultimately buying out the lease and refinancing with a different bank in XXXX of XXXX when my lease was up. The credit bureau reflects that the account was paid and closed, reporting no negative bureau impact in the three years I had the vehicle. Then, after 11 months of no reporting activity, in XX/XX/XXXX, I started getting calls from Honda on a past due amount. I called and advised that I had received a phone call about a past due amount and wanted to know what it was about. The rep told me that Honda finance was billed for my state property tax. I advised the rep at that time that I disputed the amount b/c I had already paid taxes at the time I had titled my vehicle and received new plates for car. I told Honda that i didn't feel it was owed since we had already paid. I told them that if we got a new bill or got a billing from the state that shows it was past due, I would call them back. We never received the bill or proof of billing of the property tax from Honda. The rep did tell me that on lease vehicles in MO that the previous lease owner gets the bill even if the unit was sold. I told them I understood but I still needed to check with the state. We never got a notice of property tax owed NOR DID WE EVER RECEIVE A WRITTEN BILL OR STATEMENT FROM HONDA FOR THE AMOUNT DUE FROM HONDA FINANCIAL. 

In XXXX of XXXX we finally received our personal property tax notice from the state of Missouri that only had the amount listed for our other Honda product, a XXXX XXXX XXXX. As soon as we reviewed the notice from the state, validated that we hadn't been billed ( or paid ), I went online and paid the amount showing due. It was then that I was made aware that they had reopened my credit report, and counted the account as 30+, 60+ and 90+ days past due. 

The next day I called HFS and was mistreated from the start. I was talked over, refused to ability to speak to a supervisor, told that it didn't matter who I talked to that I would just be routed back to the same person and was disrespected as a paying customer. She told me that I just needed to pay the amount. I advised her that if she was looking at her records she could see that there was a pending payment from the night prior. She didn't apologize for her misstep. I continued to push to talk to someone more professional. This same person cut me off in mid sentence and put me on hold to transfer. She didn't tell me what she was doing or who I was being transferred to. The phone rang and it the same person back on the line and she proceeded to tell me that there was nobody else to help me. I again insisted that there is always someone else and I expected better treatment as a consumer. Her communication skill was lacking at best for ANY consumer but a perfect paying customer should not have to deal with that insulting behavior. I again asked to be transferred and she eventually did. I eventually talked to a another rep who claimed to be an escalation specialist. She told me that they would escalate my concern. I told them that I knew my records show that I called in and told HFS that I disputed the balance and needed to confirm with the state the amount was in fact due and not previously paid. She couldn't help me with my concern. I advised that this was very poor customer service and advised that this was no way to treat people who worked hard to keep a clear bureau etc. I asked for a dispute team or another department who could help. She then gave me a number for their warranty department. After spending another 15 min telling my story to that poor rep, he told me he wasn't sure why i got transferred to them and after asking for another number, was transferred to a " local '' zone office that would help me. 

I again outlined my concerns with the situation, reminded them that I was a perfect payer who disputed the amount due and still wasn't 100 % sure that HFS was billed in error. I asked if there was a way for them to make a customer service consideration to remove the delinquency mark as a multi-product Honda owner to see the confusion that was created by 1. lack of billing/communication to me about the amount 2. a disputed amount due 3. the ( Honda admittedly ) tricky nuances of moving across state lines and where the property tax statement is sent. She again stated that there was nothing that could be done. 

In summary, Honda finance was DECEPTIVE in the manner in which they closed my bureau, reported it as paid for almost a full year and then reopened the account to report a past due amount due to property tax w/o notifying me in writing of the amount due. Honda also never produced the statement showing the billing due for property tax. Honda was also notified that I DISPUTED the amount due based on previous titling of the Honda with the state and that we hadn't seen a tax bill from the state or HONDA. Honda is OBLIGATED to notify me of any ADVERSE ACTION that can and will be taken including any potential impact to a credit bureau and that was also not done. There is no reason for a consumer to believe that the account would be re-opened after 11 months being closed and then reporting adversely to the bureau.

Honda is obligated to ensure a statement is sent outlining the details of the billing. Honda is obligated to prove that the statement was 1. Sent and that 2. I was adequately notified of the potential impact. In my phone conversation with the representative in XX/XX/XXXX, I was never notified of any potential adverse action that could occur even though I was disputing the amount due. I was also not made aware that my account ( previously reported as closed and not past due ) had been reopened with a potential impact to my credit report. In general, HFS has involved themselves in deceptive, misleading and harmful conduct. Further more, it's personnel were abusive in their treatment of me, their condescending tone and the little care they had for my time or concern by transferring me to so many people who could not help.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation