Consumer complaint received 2021-05-26
Company: AMERICAN HONDA FINANCE CORP
State: CA
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Lease
Issue: Struggling to pay your loan
Sub-issue: Loan balance remaining after the vehicle is repossessed and sold

Complaint:
My vehicle was stolen on XX/XX/2020. I followed protocol : filed a police report followed by a insurance claim ( XXXX XXXX XXXX. ). Claim was executed the following day. During the claim process I was notified the vehicle had been recovered ( XX/XX/2020. ) I was working out of town at the time. I notified my insurance and they told me I was responsible for the pick/release from the tow yard : which was located about 2 hours away from me. I contacted the yard ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX ) to ask the condition of the vehicle, they replied " all four wheels are present ''. I asked if there was any noticeable or any major damage that might make it not road worthy. the question did not get answered. I eventually was able to arrange tow transport and the funds for the Tow bill ( $ XXXX ). I prepared and went to have the vehicle released. 
I arrived to the yard on XX/XX/2020, paid the toe bill and the XXXX XXXX did not release my car due to " it is buried, and blocked '' and they didn't have the time to move vehicles and make a path to remove my vehicle from their lot. the XXXX XXXX told me to come back the following day. Normally this would have a common understanding and agreement, however I explained the situation that I'm not local ( 2hour travel without traffic and bringing the tow truck for transport cost money. It couldn't have taken more than 10-15 minutes for them to remove the vehicle, however it was not to their concern and that tomorrow worked better for them as it was already end of business day ( If that was true they would not have allowed me into the office verify identity, verify ownership of vehicle and process the payment ). 
I unfortunately had a high priority call into work the same night that took me out of town for about 4 days. that quickly turned into 7 days as i was stuck in bad weather conditions in XXXX, NV. I was unable to pick up the car for the following week. I kept in touch with the dealer ( XXXX XXXX. XXXX. and told them the situation as they were asking for the car. The lease had matured XXXX ). At this moment I was very confused. I made an online request and submitted a lease extension, which had been approved for a 6 month extension. 
Eventually after that week of being stuck in the snow i arrived home to terrible news : my mother was ill with covid-19. She is a frontline worker and had been exposed. I immediately put my full concentration and attended to my XXXX year old mother. This was a very difficult time and had to be extremely cautious and safe and my XXXX year old father who is diabetic needed to be very carful at home to not contract the virus. i had to be present and attentive for an entire month making sure she doesn't get worse and fall victim to the virus, along with any medications, cooking and most important cleaning and keeping her isolated. 
During this period the tow yard continued to charge storage and wanted a additional $ XXXX to release the vehicle. ( the storage fees continued from the day after i had made my payment, about an additional 2weeks had accrued ). I told them that was ridiculous and not fair practice, they should have released the vehicle when I paid. The insurance company wouldn't help as they saw no part for them to play. They said storage would be reimbursed and that is all they can do. Contacting dealer finance service to update the status of the vehicle still at the tow yard along with the information of having my household under strict watch and caution due to a XXXX XXXX in the household.. XXXX XXXX XXXX was told by the XXXX XXXX that the vehicle was already released to the registered owner. After speaking to XXXX XXXX. XXXX. I explained that in fact the vehicle was at the Yard and had not been released. i informed XXXX XXXX. XXXX of the payment on the invoice. however new charges had been added and that I was in the process of paying the new charges and taking possession of the vehicle, i just needed a few days. 
The following week ( beginning of XX/XX/2020 ) the dealer went ahead and picked up the vehicle and repossessed it. they sent me a letter to have it paid off within 7 days or the vehicle will be sold at auction. I was very much overwhelmed with the situation at home along with loosing the money that i paid the XXXX XXXX and transport cost. It seemed my only option was trying to find funding for the loan. ( in the amount of $ XXXX ) This was not a easy task, especially under the circumstances of only 7 days to have the funds and payment to be cleared. This became even more of a daunting task when the world was coming to a stop due to the pandemic, and a extremely sensitive time at home. I explained the timeframe is not practical and unfair. I asked the dealer that I want to come and inspect the vehicle before I make the decision of the purchase since the vehicle had been stolen and I was not aware of the condition. The Dealer denied my inspection request of the vehicle. my only option offered by the dealer was to pay the Payoff amount ( $ XXXX ). The dealer continued to sell the vehicle at a auction below market value ( $ XXXX ). Ending with a balance I am told pay to close the account ( $ XXXX ). This has caused too much hardship on me and my family and being treated so horribly with no options has left me in disbelief. The utter disrespect and have the XXXX XXXX and XXXX take advantage instead of helping in such a unforeseen time in out country has left me in debt and hurting my well being. No remorse for their actions and not a single care was displayed.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation