Consumer complaint received 2019-06-23
Company: HUNTINGTON NATIONAL BANK, THE
State: TX
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Problems at the end of the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Problem with paying off the loan

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I signed a car loan agreement to finance my 2008 XXXX XXXX XXXX   car. 
The loan amount was {$5400.00}, that is the amount that was financed. The interest was 8.54 %. The total amount to be paid back was {$6500.00}, in 48 months payments. The amount per month was {$130.00}. The payments began on XX/XX/XXXX and were to end on XX/XX/XXXX. Fortunately I made some payments that were much more than the monthly required amount of {$130.00}. That means that the final payment is now to be well before XX/XX/XXXX. In fact I did my last payment in XX/XX/XXXX. In addition I have mailed them a final payment of {$180.00} ( {$50.00} deferral fee and {$130.00} for the payment I skipped XX/XX/XXXX ). 
During the term of loan I received no communication, no monthly account statement and no notice of late payments. Also I have been making my payment on time every month with the exception of the skipped payment in XX/XX/XXXX. 
I have called the bank to let them know I moved from the address that was on the loan agreement. Then called the bank again to let them know I had moved out of state. Then a year later when I moved again to a different address. All 3 times I gave them my new address and the individuals I spoke with each time, stated to me that the address was updated. 
According to the instructions in the payment book provided to me at the beginning of the loan it is stated that " we will send you a statement for your final payment amount in advance of your due date ''. The due date is the XXXX of each month and installment payment is considered late after the XXXX ( XXXX ) of the month. When I had not received any statement, letter or even phone call by XX/XX/XXXX I contacted the bank and was told they would send the invoice after reviewing my account. I contacted them again in XX/XX/XXXX regarding any balance that was still outstanding and was told the same thing. Then with no response from the bank I sent them a certified letter in XX/XX/XXXX including the skipped payment of {$180.00} ( as stated above ). That certified letter was returned to me marked " address unknown ''. This was because no one would sign for it as requested by me. It was then I resent it out to the same address as regular mail. Only then did they receive it, along with the payment. It was after receiving this letter that the bank contacted me by phone now telling me I owe them {$1100.00} due to late fees. According to one individual I spoke with she stated that the payments were late from the beginning. This was the first time I was notified of this. In XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX I contacted the bank requesting the outstanding balance statement or information be mailed to me : I have never any received any such mail. The only mail I received from the bank was after my last letter that included the skipped payment which was also requesting my car title, along with any other documents needed to transfer the title to my name. 

Note : This bank does offer the option to " pass a payment '. Once again I am referring to the instructions stated in the payment book. " Valid after making 12 consecutive, timely and full loan payments. '' I did choose this option with the XX/XX/XXXX payment ; I skipped only 1 payment. That is the skipped payment I referred to above. I was never notified by the bank in a letter or by phone call that I could not do this because I was presumably late on my payments. Also according to the instructions provided in the payment book there is " assessed '' a {$50.00} deferral fee but it does not state anything about late fees. 
It was not until I contacted the bank to request my payment history that I learned the bank was assessing {$35.00} late fees almost every month beginning in XX/XX/XXXX. Once again I was never notified by letter, phone calls or other means that I was late. 

This shows you how deceptive this bank works and how difficult it is to communicate and to get issues resolved with them. I am now at the end of my loan payment, and they are still trying to charge me additional {$1100.00} in late fees. It is important to note that this amount has since increased to over {$1700.00} from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. This amount is according to the individual that I last spoke to on the phone. As I am writing this, my account has been put on hold until XX/XX/XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief