Consumer complaint received 2019-08-28
Company: HUNTINGTON NATIONAL BANK, THE
State: OH
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Billing problem

Complaint:
In XX/XX/XXXX, I purchased a travel trailer from XXXX XXXX XXXX  in XXXX, Ohio. The loan for the vehicle was arranged through XXXX XXXX Bank and the installment loan terms were set at 11.25 % for 144 months with the first payment due on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I have cancelled checks, bank statements and receipts that demonstrate that 144 consecutive payments of {$220.00} were made between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. All but one was made within the 10-day due date grace period. Due to prior commitments I was unable to make it to the bank before they closed and I was assessed a {$40.00} late fee the payment was made one day late on XX/XX/XXXX and the late fee was paid. The total amount paid over the 12 years was {$32000.00} ( i.e., 144 payments of {$220.00} for a total of {$32000.00} plus the {$40.00} late fee ). 

Not all payments were made on the due date so I anticipated a final balance of around {$50.00} to account for cumulative miscellaneous interest. However, in a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, Huntington National Bank which took over the loan from XXXX after their merger a claim was made that I sill had an outstanding principal balance of {$480.00} and that I owed a further {$3.00} in interest on that balance. 

Repeat calls to Huntington have failed to resolve the discrepancy in payment history. Agents and supervisors for the bank have claimed that several payments were deferred or missed. On a few occasions, when the representative provided a date for an allegedly missed payment - and I indicated that I had a cancelled check and receipt that proves a payment was made - they simply stated that is not what the system shows. 

Nobody has been willing or able to provide documentation that a request to defer a payment was made or that shows a payment was missed. A statement provided by XXXX for tax purposes on XX/XX/XXXX indicates that the account was current and all payments made and applied. Please note : 1 ) I never received any notices by mail that suggested the loan was not current ; and 2 ) virtually all payments were made in-person at the local branch and I was never advised of an issue with the loan or the repayment schedule. 

It may also be important to note that the XXXX statement ledger from XXXX does not reflect a standard amortization schedule or simple interest formula - an issue that has persisted since the loan was arranged. The loan calculations fees, payment amount, and totals never matched the signed Promissory Note. As an example : their statement indicates that the first payment was dedicated fully to interest with none applied to the principal. When asked about this, I was advised that the system will catch-up something that apparently never happened. The issues with this loan may have been an isolated mistake but if habitual and applied to additional accounts it could be large scale fraud ( i.e., {$1.00} per installment for a single account is a rounding-error for a large company but if applied to millions of accounts with frequency it would be significant ). 

I have been advised that two cases were opened to reverse the deferral or investigate the misapplied payment but there has been no change in status. In fact, the last representative threatened me with additional late fees, interest and collection activity if I did not pay the balance they indicate in-full within the next 2 days. The agent refused to suspend the due date until the issue has been investigated and a proper balance calculated. 

At this point, it is clear that the customer service agents and supervisors representing Huntington National Bank have no interest in investigating let alone resolving - this issue. Attempts to escalate the problem within the company have failed. Unfortunately, it appears as though formal complaints and the threat of legal action may be required to gain proper attention to this problem. 

See attached : 1 ) list of all payments ; 2 ) the original purchase receipt ; and 3 ) the original promissory note.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief