Consumer complaint received 2020-06-04
Company: General Motors Financial Company, Inc.
State: MA
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/2018, the complainant expressed interest in the purchase of a car identified as a 2018 XXXX XXXX from XXXX XXXX dealership, located at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, MA, XXXX. A Motor Vehicle Purchase Contract was drawn up and handed to him by the salesperson XXXX XXXX to present to the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) to process the auto loan he had requested for indicating the purchase price as {$55000.00} + Tax and Fees. XXXX bank issued a cheque worth {$35000.00} to the order of XXXX XXXX XXXX, for the vehicle. At the back of the check it was clearly indicated that " Endorsement by licensed Dealership herein acknowledges and guarantees full payment of the vehicle described free and clear of all other liens and the amount does not exceed 120 % of the vehicle retail value ''. 
It also stated that, " Endorsement financial institution, acknowledges the pay-off of the loan previously secured by the vehicle described, and the subsequent release of any lien ( s ). '' However, when the check was presented to XXXX XXXX the salesperson at XXXX XXXX dealership, the complainant was made aware that the check payment had an amount that was less than what was needed to purchase the vehicle. The complainant states that he requested to get another vehicle that would fit within the amount offered by XXXX bank, since he could not afford monthly payments exceeding {$600.00}. The complainant states that XXXX the sales person assured him that he would call XXXX Bank to ask them to increase the amount offered, so that he could keep the XXXX. The complainant states that he insisted that while discussing about the increment with XXXX bank, he should remind them, that he could only afford monthly payments not exceeding {$600.00} as agreed in the contract. The Salesman XXXX left and later returned with paperwork for the complainant to sign off. The complainant states that he was told " Brother, you are all set '', which to him he states meant " I have spoken to XXXX Bank and they have agreed to increase the amount offered to cover the purchase of the vehicle. At this point he states that, the salesman pointed out areas on various forms for him to sign and initial. 
After a period of about 3 weeks, the complainant reports that he started receiving phone calls from XXXX bank inquiring about the certificate of title, which they said they had not received yet. This was followed by a written correspondence dated XX/XX/18 from XXXX Bank, stating that " according to the terms in the loan agreement, he was required to ensure that XXXX is accurately reflected as first lien holder on the certificate of title of the vehicle ', but by the date of the letter, XXXX had not received confirmation that it was recorded in this manner on the vehicle 's certificate of title. 

The complainant reached out to XXXX XXXX looking to speak to the salesperson XXXX XXXX to inquire why XXXX had not received the title yet, but was informed that he was no longer working for the company, they had let him go, and due to his limited comprehension of the English language, he states that he was not given straight answers regarding the vehicle 's certificate of title. 

The complainant reports that he received bills requesting for payment from GM Financial, that he was not expecting, since he had not entered into any agreement with this institution other than for services that included XXXX XXXX  and the internet which he believed he had paid for when he made the payment on XX/XX/2018, and he states that out of frustration, he returned to the dealership and his attempts to get an explanation from the staff at the dealership where not yielding any results but just frustrating him more, so he informed them, that he was handing the vehicle back to them, and he was told they couldn't take it back and was warned that he risked having the vehicle repossessed if he did not remit payments to GM Financial, they would sell off the car and recover their money. 

The complainant reached out to the General Manager XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX to try and understand why he was getting 2 bills instead of 1 bill, and also find out what was going on with the Vehicle 's certificate of title, since he had received the correspondences from XXXX bank, asking for it. The complainant was escorted by a friend to this meeting, that took place at the dealership on XX/XX/2018, and during that meeting, the General Manager asked the complainant " where did you get that huge downpayment from '' ( referring to the {$35000.00} ) and the complainant was startled by the inquiry and the response, was " it was not a down payment, that was an auto loan from XXXX Bank ''. The General Manager asked the complainant if he really needed the XXXX or if he was willing to choose an alternate vehicle. The Complainant replied, he was open to look at other alternatives since he had made it clear that he could only afford to pay monthly payments of up to {$600.00} according to his budget. The complainant was shown 2 different cars as options to consider on that day, a XXXX XXXX, and a XXXX XXXX. Nothing was concluded in that meeting, and a sales person who was appointed to show the complainant the other options, when asked if returning the vehicle was an option, the salesperson said no it wasn't. 

The General Manager promised to be in touch with the complainant soon, and that never happened.

The Complainant hired a lawyer to help with this case, and have XXXX XXXX do the right thing of listing XXXX as the first lien holder per the endorsement clause, that bound the dealership when they cashed the check, but to no avail. Attempts to resolve this matter have spun over 18 months and the complainant has suffered a huge financial constraint, since XXXX increased the interest rate from the agreed 3.49 % to 18 % for failure to have the vehicle 's certificate of title sent to XXXX, reflecting the same bank as first lien holder. 

Your assistance in this matter will be highly appreciated,

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation