Consumer complaint received 2020-01-11
Company: STATE FARM BANK, FSB
State: IN
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Loan sold or transferred to another company

Complaint:
RECORD OF CONVERSATION WITH STATE FARM BANK AND XXXX XXXX *All conversations were recorded by SFB or XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX Received a letter in the mail from State Farm Bank ( SFB ) dated XX/XX/XXXX stating, Pursuant to the terms of your contract your entire payoff balance is now due and payable in full. The letter was regarding an auto loan on a XXXX XXXX XXXX that I co-signed on in XX/XX/XXXX. ( # XXXX ). This is the first communication of any type that I have received from SFB indicating that the loan I co-signed on was past due or delinquent in any way. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX CST I phoned State Farm Bank. I  spoke to XXXX who informed me that he could not give me any details as the account in question was no longer with SFB. He state the account was referred to XXXX XXXX and instructed me to call them. He gave me a number of XXXX where they could be reached. 
XX/XX/XXXX I phoned XXXX XXXX. I spoke to XXXX XXXX who asked me to confirm my address and last four digits of my SSN. He stated the call was recorded and he stated that this was an attempt to collect a debt. XXXX told me the balance owed to SFB was {$18000.00} and needed to be paid. I explained that the letter I received on XX/XX/XXXX was the first that I was aware that the loan I co-signed on was delinquent. He apologized and stated he had no record of the events leading up to the point that the account was referred to XXXX  XXXX. I explained that as a co-signer I realized I was responsible for payment of the note if the primary borrower failed to pay, but I felt some type of communication with me, the co-borrower, should have been normal and respectful protocol on behalf of SFB and that I needed some answers regarding the loan. I told XXXX I needed 2-3 days to work through the details and potential financing and that I would call back no later than Monday, XX/XX/XXXX with my intentions. I asked him if he would be making notes of our conversation on the account to avoid further action and he said yes. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX  CST I phoned SFB again. I spoke to a representative ( failed to write her name down ) who informed me that the call was recorded and she proceeded to tell me that she could not provide me with any information because the account was no longer being handled by SFB. I insisted on speaking with a supervisor. She transferred me to XXXX with the Recovery Department at SFB. XXXX stated the call was being recorded. She said that that account I was listed as co-borrower on was 283 days past due! I asked why SFB did not inform me that the account was delinquent way before it was 283 days past due. XXXX stated that their records indicated they called me. I confirmed my cell phone number with her, and she said yes, that was the number they had on file for me. I asked for the dates as to when SFB supposedly called me. She couldnt provide me with dates of the calls but stated that their caller ID is an 877 number and that their calls purposely appear as robo calls which often causes customers to not answer their calls. I asked for dates when SFB may have left a voice mail message for me and she stated that there were no notes indicating that SFB had left me any voice mail messages. I asked XXXX how SFB expected me, the co-borrower, to know that a loan I co-signed on had become delinquent and she stated that SFB communicates only with the primary note holder. I asked when State Farm Bank sent me a letter to notify me that the loan was delinquent, and she stated that the notes did not reflect that SFB had sent any letter prior to the one just sent to me on XX/XX/XXXX. I told her that I have never received a phone call or voice mail message from SFB and that I felt as a so called State Farm Bank valued customer that I should have been granted the same respect of being notified that the loan had become delinquent that they claim they give to the primary loan customer. I stated that I would have taken care of any delinquency had I known about it, and that if they checked my credit they would see that I have an excellent credit record. I requested a copy of the transaction history on the loan and XXXX stated that she could not provide that to me as the account had been referred to XXXX XXXX. I became frustrated and told her the next phone call SFB received would be from my attorney. I stated that I felt that SFB had selectively avoided contact with me by purposely appearing as a robo caller to their customers and was purposely avoiding timely communication with their customers simply because the customer was a co-borrower and not a primary borrower. I stated that I feel SFB customers are selectively treated differently based on who signed a contract first, yet the financial obligation is exactly the same. I asked XXXX for the name of the CEO of State Farm Bank. The second SFB representative that was also on the line at the same time gave me his name, XXXX XXXX. I told her I had intentions of contacting him. 
XX/XX/XXXX I went to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX which is my personal financial institution. I met with loan officer, XXXX XXXX. Together we called SFB. We spoke to XXXX who provided us with a ten day pay off balance of {$18000.00}. XXXX asked what the daily interest rate was, and he stated it was XXXX interest daily. XXXX said that sounded odd as there is always a daily interest rate and XXXX agreed it was odd to him too but said that was what SFBs system said. XXXX asked if the car was in repossession and XXXX stated he could not answer that and volunteered to transfer the call to XXXX XXXX. The call was transferred to XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX answered. He stated the call was recorded, asked me to verify my address and last four of my SSN and then stated the call was an attempt to collect a debt. XXXX requested the itemized charges on the account so that she could justify loaning me the money. XXXX said that he could not email them to her, but that he would request that SFB mail them to me. XXXX asked again about the status of repossession and XXXX stated that it was currently in repossession status, but he would cease all repossession efforts considering our commitment to refinance and pay the loan once the itemized statement was received. XXXX requested that XXXX send him a consent form signed by me that gave him permission to speak with her in my absence. I signed it and she emailed it to him. 
XX/XX/XXXX Received loan transaction history from SFB in the mail. I called XXXX XXXX and spoke to XXXX XXXX. He stated the call was recorded and asked me to confirm my add and last four of my SSN. He  confirmed the loan balance of {$17000.00} and interest of {$1100.00}. I explained that I was going to the Credit Union after the holiday ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) and that I would be paying the balance. I asked if there was any opportunity to settle the interest charges since SFB failed to provide me with any form of proper and timely communication or notification that the loan had become delinquent. He said that was possible, but that I would be sent a 1099c if the interest was adjusted off. He also stated that the credit reporting status would reflect a settlement charge off rather than a paid in full charge off if we agreed to a settlement. I asked him to confirm that repossession efforts were still on hold as I was concerned that the car might be repossessed and sold for pennies while I was trying to rectify the situation. He said he could not confirm that and that he did not know why XXXX XXXX would tell me that the repossession efforts were ceased because they do not do that. I told him that perhaps he should go back and listen to the recorded call where I spoke with XXXX XXXX and that is exactly what he told me. I also told XXXX that I was represented by an attorney on this case. He asked for my attorneys name, attorney firm name, and telephone number. I gave it to him ( Attorney XXXX XXXX with XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX ). 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX with XXXX at the XXXX XXXX and together we called XXXX XXXX. We asked for XXXX XXXX, but XXXX XXXX was who answered the phone. XXXX stated the call recoding policy and that this was an attempt to collect a debt. XXXX confirmed the balance owed was {$18000.00}. He once again stated that I was a valued customer of XXXX. I asked XXXX to confirm how the account would be credit reported once I paid it in full because my XXXX XXXX had dropped from XXXX to XXXX due to this issue. XXXX stated that XXXX XXXX did not report to the credit bureaus and that I needed to talk with SFB. We told XXXX we would call him back then as soon as we could confirm the credit reporting status with SFB. We asked him to give us 30 minutes. He agreed. 
XX/XX/XXXX Called SFB and spoke with XXXX. XXXX confirmed that the account was currently being reported as a charge off with a balance. XXXX stated that after the balance is paid in full it will take anywhere from 30-60 days for the credit reporting status to be updated to the status of charge off with XXXX balance. I informed XXXX that I was disputing the debt and the credit reporting status as a result of SFB failing to timely notify me of delinquency which is my right as a consumer and a co-borrower at SFB. He stated that he would mail me a SFB direct dispute form and verified my address. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX and I called XXXX XXXX  again. We spoke with XXXX XXXX and provided him with my personal bank routing number and bank account number. XXXX XXXX confirmed that the payment in full amount due was {$18000.00}. I was required to push a button on the phone on two separate occasions to give consent for the payment to be auto withdrawn from my bank account. The payment was processed. XXXX XXXX with XXXX XXXX told me one last time that I was a valued customer of SFB and then he provided me with a payment reference number of XXXX. 
XXXX I called SFB to inquire about the direct dispute form that I had not received and to confirm that my account was reflecting as paid in full. I spoke with XXXX. He could not see my account in his system. I explained how it had been referred to XXXX XXXX and that I paid it in full to them last week. He transferred me to XXXX with SFB. I requested a copy of an itemized bill that added up to the {$18000.00} for my records and she stated she could not provide that to me because my account was with XXXX XXXX. I explained the history to her including the fact that I paid the balance of {$18000.00} to XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. She stated there was no record of my payment in their system. I asked her to call them, but she said she could not do that either. I tried to 3-way call XXXX XXXX after putting Brie on hold but was put on hold for quite some time at XXXX XXXX. I disconnected the 3-way call attempt and reconnected with Brie. She confirmed the last payment made to the account was XX/XX/XXXX, but later came back on the call to say that the payment was reversed. Brie stated that the balance due on the account was {$180000.00} and that if I paid {$18000.00} the account would not be satisfied in full. I explained my frustration with the lack of communication between SFB and their vendor XXXX XXXX. I gave up at this point. I had spent days/weeks trying to resolve the matter only to be told that the balance I paid to SFBs collection company was not the correct amount and that I still SFB money. I felt as if I had been taken advantage of through this entire process of me trying to take care of the delinquency and was getting nowhere with SFB. A financial institution, such as SFB,  has an obligation to the consumer to communicate an accurate balance due. They also have an obligation to know the protocol and practices of their contracted collection vendor, and to provide the vendor with the proper amount due on an account. 
XX/XX/XXXX I called XXXX XXXX and spoke with XXXX XXXX. I shared the past details with her and she confirmed that the account was referred to XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and their system indicated everything was paid in full and resolved on their end. I explained that SFB said differently and asked her to call them. She said she would, but that my permission for XXXX XXXX to speak with SFB was only good for 24 hours. What? They are a collection vendor contracted by SFB. Why do they need my permission to speak about my account detail with their client? I told her I was so frustrated at this point that I was going to refer this to my attorney. She said she would do her best to get someone to call me back by Monday, XX/XX/XXXX. I ended the call.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation