Consumer complaint received 2018-08-31
Company: BANK OF THE WEST
State: WY
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Problems at the end of the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Unable to receive car title or other problem after the loan is paid off

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I sold a car that I had a loan on, through Bank of the West. The private party, met me at a bank branch with a cashiers check, and it was deposited into my account to pay off the loan for {$35000.00}. A bank personal notarized a bill of sale, and an authorization form, so that the bank could send the new owner the title of the car. I had asked if I could get some kind of proof that the account was paid off, but they said the payoff would not be posted until midnight that night. The following week, on XX/XX/XXXX, I called the customer service number that the local bank had provided me, to see if the account was paid off and closed. I was informed that the account had officially closed on XX/XX/XXXX.  The same day, I cancelled my auto bill pay from my other bank, for sending payments to Bank of the West. On XX/XX/XXXX, while checking my other bank account, I noticed that a payment of {$320.00} had been cashed on XX/XX/XXXX, by Bank of the West, for the account that was closed. Immediately, I called the local Bank of the West branch, and they informed me that the check was cashed, and that they would send out a check to be delivered at the address they had on file, within 7 business days. During that phone call, I also requested that they provide me with some kind of proof that the account was paid off. The branch manager told me to call the customer service number, at XXXX, and request a lien release, because they could not do that locally. After hanging up with the local branch, I called the customer service number, and was told that I would be receiving a lien release in the mail, along with the title. I explained that I had sold the car, and signed an authorization form for the bank to send the new owner the title of the car. They said they had made a note on my account to send me a copy as well. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I went to the car dealership to let them know that I had sold my car, and to send the refunds for the GAP insurance and the car warranty, totaling {$3100.00}, to my address, instead of the bank. They informed me that I would need proof of payoff. I gave them a copy of the bill of sale, and the authorization form the bank had me fill out, but they said they needed a lien release that shows the account was paid in full, and there was no longer a loan on the car. From the dealership, I called Bank of the West, with the financial officer from the dealership present, and requested some kind of letter that proved that the account was paid in full. The person said that the bank usually sends that out within 5 days of the account being closed, and that she could see on my account that had not been processed yet. We asked for a letter, and she said she could not send one, but would mail one out. By this time, the account had been closed for 11 days. The dealership had already mailed the check for the cancelled car warranty, on XX/XX/XXXX, to Bank of the West in XXXX, CA. The check had not been cashed by this time, and in order for her to stop payment, I needed the lien release from the bank. The customer service represented had said that it may take up to 14 days to receive the letter, so I went to the local branch and a banker there, wrote a letter that stated the account was closed and paid off. It was one sentence long, and the dealership was not sure if she could accept it, due to it not being a legal form, and that it wasnt signed. On XX/XX/XXXX, I had still not received a lien release from Bank of the West, nor had I received the {$320.00} of over payment back. When I called the local branch, they referred me to the customer service center. When I called, the person was able to see that the payment had been cashed on XX/XX/XXXX, but had not been applied to any of my accounts. They transferred me to the loan department, where the woman was unable to see that there had been an over payment, due to the account being closed. She instructed me to send proof that there was a payment sent after the account was closed, and provided me with a fax number. After sending the fax, the woman said it had not gone through, so I resent it 6 times. It showed on my end that it went through, but showed it had not gone through on her end. 

She instructed me to take a letter to the local branch, and they could email it to the customer service center. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called our local branch to see if they had sent off the proof of payment, and he stated that he had, and that I could call customer service to find out the status. I called the customer service number again, and was transferred to the loan department. The lady that answered my call, said she could not see anything on my account, since it was closed. I asked to speak with a supervisor, and was transferred to a woman who identified herself as the loan department supervisor. I explained my situation to her, and she said she could that there was an overpayment towards the account. When I inquired about where my reimbursement was, she said that they were reviewing it, and it could take weeks, to months to get the money returned to me. When I asked if I could please get a lien release or proof that the loan was paid off, the supervisor told me that they had already sent that information on XX/XX/XXXX. I told her that I had not received anything in the mail, and she asked if the address on my account was current, which is was. She said there was nothing she could do about that fact I had not received it. I explained that in order to retrieve my refund form the car dealership, that I needed proof the account was paid off in full, from the bank, and I also needed a copy to bring to the courthouse, as our state requires. She literally told me that was not her problem. After that, she reiterated that the over payment would be sent out after an investigation was conducted, and the case was reviewed, and that they are not under any legal obligations to give me a time frame of when that would be, then proceeded to tell me that the bill of sale that we gave to the new buyers, should be enough proof, and hung up on me. The problem with the bill of sale is, it does not show that the account is paid in full, it only shows I sold the car to somebody else. 

After the supervisor hung up on me, I called back to see if I could get the name of the person I last spoke to. The person from the checking department, said she did not have access to that information, and that she would request that somebody call me back. I would just like my over payment reimbursed and proof that my car loan is paid off, so that I can retrieve my refund and notify the courthouse

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation