Consumer complaint received 2023-08-07
Company: Upstart Holdings, Inc.
State: CA
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Installment loan
Issue: Problem with the payoff process at the end of the loan

Complaint:
Here is a copy of the letter I wrote to Upstart as a last resort. I removed all personal information and can provide images, documents, bank records and email exchanges to support all details below. I also attached this word document in full. I appreciate your time to review the information and help resolving this. Thank you. 

Loan # : XXXX XXXX XXXX ( spouse ) Mobile : XXXX Email : XXXX Loan # : XXXX Start date : Start XXXX Payoff Date : XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  Hello Upstart, I am writing this letter with the up most urgency, frustration, and need for resolution of the matter I am about to present by today XXXX  XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX In a very simplified statement, I have paid off our Upstart loan in full ( confirmed by XXXX XXXX ) and due to a very unfortunate clerical error and previously lost check by Upstart the loan has accidentally been reinstated. After endless attempts to resolve this matter over the last two months with phone calls, emails, and filed investigations with customer service agents, managers, supervisors, back-office investigators we can not reach any Upstart employee with the capacity to resolve this issue. 

Now I will present a series of events that will clearly show that the loan is paid in full, and the actions taken by Upstart show negligence and a potential, tomorrow if not resolved, to be a clear violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act for false reporting. As I write this letter, Upstart is threatening to send myself to collections on XX/XX/XXXX for a loan that we have already paid in full and no longer have with your company. 

Here is the summary of the events and documents that will clearly show my Upstart loan is paid in full as of XX/XX/XXXX ( please see confirmation email from Upstart and XXXX XXXX confirmation ). 

***Please note this must be resolved on Monday XX/XX/XXXX. I am currently filling a report and calling the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, The Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ( FDIC ), California Attorney General, The XXXX XXXX XXXX, and seeking legal protection if needed. I will not stop until you assure me this never happens to a borrower again. 

Here are the events : Loan start date XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX  complete a cash out refinance through our home lender XXXX with the goal of paying off higher interest debt. The title company used was XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX issued XXXX XXXX XXXX # XXXX on XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  : Mailed to Upstart via United States Postal Service ( standard mail ) Called several times during the month of XXXX to confirm if payment received. Upstart informed to call back and check not received. 
XX/XX/XXXX called Upstart again and informed check had not been received and Upstart recommended sending a new check. Also, Upstart stated that if a payment was not made by XX/XX/XXXX ( for the month of XXXX ) the account would be late and I would be reported to collections. 
Payment was made on XX/XX/XXXX, in the amount of {$1200.00}. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX was contacted and asked to cancel the XXXX check # : XXXX A new check was issued. Check # XXXX in the amount of {$39000.00}. The check was mailed overnight on Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX via United States Postal Service. 
Email confirmation was received from Upstart on Friday, XX/XX/XXXX stating that the loan was paid in full, and the loan was overpaid by {$2100.00}. 
Friday XX/XX/XXXX over payment re-fund was not received. I placed a call on XX/XX/XXXX, and spoke with Upstart customer service agent XXXX and she provided the following information : o The loan is paid in full, and a refund is due ( confirmation above by email and below by app screenshot ) : o To receive a refund, I needed to call to initiate the bank transfer ( Please note this is in direct conflict to what the email confirmation above states ) o XXXX initiated the refund and over payment in the amount of {$2100.00}. Which was received in our XXXX XXXX checking account. please, see screenshot below : o XXXX also stated that the first lost/misplaced check was found and would you like for that check to be canceled? We confirmed that XXXX XXXX XXXX had already canceled the first check, the loan had been paid in full on XX/XX/XXXX, and yes please cancel the first check that Upstart had lost. 
After our phone call with XXXX, we received the email on Tuesday XX/XX/XXXX from Upstart employee XXXX that our over payment had been issued and loan was paid in full as of the check received on XX/XX/XXXX : Thursday XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX we received and email that the payment on XX/XX/XXXX for {$39000.00} had failed and we owed a {$15.00} fee. 
Friday XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX  : I Called Upstart in reference to the message saying our payment had failed and an investigation was opened. 
Wednesday XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Called Upstart four separate times during my workday and with my husband XXXX XXXX to hopefully talk to an Upstart employee that could quickly resolve this issue. Additionally, investigations filed, and the following email received stating that we owe {$1200.00} ( includes a late fee ) Wednesday XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX  : Email received from XXXX at Upstart stating that an in depth investigation was now occurring Wednesday XX/XX/XXXX : Multiple documents sent to XXXX clearly showing that check had cleared XXXX XXXX and loan closed and an explanation from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX : Wednesday XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX  : The following two emails were received from XXXX stating the following : o YES, we did cancel the first check with your customer service agent XXXX because we already sent the second check ( which can be viewed above ), cashed by Upstart, confirmed by XXXX XXXX, confirmed by XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, overpayment received, and we did not want a situation where you would TRY TO DEPOSIT A SECOND CHECK. Which unfortunately you did. 
Thursday XX/XX/XXXX : Called Upstart and spoke with customer service employee XXXX you informed us that XXXX was in contact with the Upstart Treasury department and she would have an answer for us by Friday XX/XX/XXXX. 
Friday XX/XX/XXXX : Final email from XXXX at Upstart stating the following : As you can see there is some serious confusion happening here. First, yes, we did cancel the 1st check ( Check # : XXXX ), that you likely misplaced, and sent a second check ( Check # : XXXX ) which cashed by Upstart on XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX is saying that somehow our lender XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX canceled a check that you deposited weeks earlier on XX/XX/XXXX ( see image above with deposit date ). None of this makes any sense at all. 
Friday XX/XX/XXXX : With XXXX XXXX from XXXX XXXX XXXX services and my husband XXXX XXXX we called Upstart to hopefully bring this to resolution before we are reported to collections. We talked to Upstart employee XXXX who was helpful and tried everything she could to reach a manager but was unable to. She did inform us of two Upstart managers named XXXX and XXXX who could potentially assist us with this is matter. We have not heard from either. 

In summary over the last two months, my husband and I spent over a minimum of 6 hours on the phone with Upstart, 10 hours combined of lost work time, 16 hours of combined XXXX, and a very stressful family vacation knowing this was not being resolved. I hope you can imagine the extreme emotional stress of paying of a loan of over {$39000.00} and then having it reinstated and the complete and utter negligence of Upstart to resolve what is likely a simple clerical or computer error. The reality is we do not have our money, totally {$39000.00}, for over the last two months and neither does XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. In addition, Upstart is threatening to send us to collections end of day on XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  for a loan that has been paid in full and about to make a negligent false claim to the credit bureaus. 
This must be resolved by today Monday XX/XX/XXXX, not tomorrow, not this week, today. We have also just emailed this to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX who will assist us with escalating this to the appropriate parties at Upstart.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation