Consumer complaint received 2022-01-17
Company: BARCLAYS BANK DELAWARE
State: NY
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Payday loan debt
Issue: Written notification about debt
Sub-issue: Notification didn't disclose it was an attempt to collect a debt

Complaint:
Hello. Our names are XXXX and XXXX XXXX, and we need your help with escaping from a financial deathtrap that we find ourselves in with tXXXX XXXX XXXXllowing companies : XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX a non-bank lender of consumer loans for the purchase of timeshare interests. 
XXXX. XXXX the issuer of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. 


In the XXXX, we purchased a one-week timeshare in XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX We happily used it for one week every year for decades. As of XXXX, our only financial obligation for this timeshare was a maintenance fee of approximately {$2000.00} every year, which equated to about {$160.00} per month. 


XX/XX/XXXX : ENCOUNTER WITH DIAMOND RESORTS On XX/XX/XXXX, we were on vacation in XXXX  XXXX, and we were contacted by XXXX XXXX to attend a presentation the following day at breakfast. At that presentation, a XXXX representative told us that our one-week timeshare ownership structure at XXXX  XXXX would soon no longer exist and that we needed to purchase points to continue vacationing. He said points were more valuable anyway because they could be passed to our children. The salesperson spoke very fast and gave us many documents to sign, without allowing us time to read them over. At the time, we were ages XXXX and XXXX. We are now ages XXXX and XXXX. 
Shortly after our vacation, we suffered many health problems ( discussed below ). XXXX and Barclays sent bills and we blindly paid them because we had too much else going on to question why they were asking for so much money. Only recently were we able to sit down with our son and go through all the XXXX paperwork. After doing so, we now know that the documents we signed on XX/XX/XXXX, obligated us to purchase XXXX XXXX points for the price of {$80000.00} plus {$3000.00} in closing costs. The paperwork shows that the XXXX points were paid for as follows as reflected in the enclosed ATTACHMENT XXXX, which includes : ( a ) {$8200.00} trade-in credit for our XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX that we would have kept if we werent told it was going away ), ( b ) {$11000.00} on a Barclays card with a 19.99 % interest rate, and ( c ) {$63000.00} in a XXXX XXXX loan with a 14.3969 % interest rate. 


LATE XXXX : HEALTH COMPLICATIONS Shortly after our XXXX XXXX vacation XXXX XXXX was diagnosed with XXXX XXXX and was told he would be undergoing XXXX treatment between XXXX and XXXX. In XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX underwent XXXX XXXX XXXX. Enclosed at ATTACHMENT 2 is a letter from our doctor XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, which details our health problems and explains that we are unable to travel. 


A few months after XXXX XXXX XXXX, we called XXXX and explained that we could not afford to pay the bills they and Barclays were sending us ; that we did not understand how we became obligated to pay them ; and that we could not travel even if we wanted to due to our health problems. We were told that getting out of the purchase would be very difficult. We spoke with XXXX Transition Department and were told to apply to the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Department. We were told we would need to submit many different medical documents and financial records. We did not understand what we needed to do so we called back. Each time we called, we were more and more confused about how to apply for a hardship and our time and understanding was, and is, limited due to our critical health problems and our age. 
We are hoping that reaching out through the CFPB will help resolve things quickly so we may have some peace as we work on improving our health. 


WHAT WEVE PAID FOR SOMETHING WE NEVER WANTED, NEVER USED, AND WILL NEVER USE Despite not understanding how we ended up owing such a large amount of money or how a credit card was opened in our name, while we were going through our major health complications in late XXXX through XXXX, we paid the amounts seen on the document enclosed as ATTACHMENT XXXX. During that time, we did not have the time or energy to question everything and were afraid of what would happen if we did not pay all the bills we received. Only recently were we able, with the help of our son, to piece everything together. In total, we have paid {$36000.00} for something we never wanted and that we have never, and will never, use. 


XX/XX/XXXX : UNEXPLAINED CHANGE IN INTEREST RATE AND PAYMENT AMOUNT We would also like to know why the monthly payment XXXX XXXX asked us to pay changed in XX/XX/XXXX. The Truth in Lending Act Disclosure given to us in XXXX ( enclosed as ATTACHMENT XXXX ) showed that our monthly payment would be {$990.00} with an interest rate of 14.3969 %. This is the amount statements show we were billed ( and paid ) monthly in letters received from XXXX XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX. 


The new monthly amount ( {$1000.00} ) was reflected in a letter from XXXX XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX ( enclosed as ATTACHMENT XXXX ). The letter displayed a list of possible explanations for the change in payment amount but none of those reasons applied to us. Specifically, all the reasons related to a change in how payments were made, including terminating participating in a SurePay Plan, closing a designated bank account, not maintaining a sufficient balance in the designated bank account, stopping payment on the SurePay Plan, revoking the SurePay Plan authorization, and not making payments on the SurePay plan when due. None of these reasons apply to our situation because we never signed up to pay via the SurePay Plan. 


While we now see that a box on the TILA disclosure is checked that mentions SurePay, we were never provided a SurePay Plan ( whatever that is ) to fill out and every monthly payment weve ever made was initiated by XXXX after receiving a monthly statement. Why is XXXX allowed to put one payment amount and interest rate in an official disclosure and then just change it months later? 


WHAT WE ARE ASKING OF XXXX AND BARCLAYS We recently received a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, which states that our current balance for the Diamond loan is {$61000.00}. It was just {$58000.00} in XXXX. We think the balance on the Barclays card is around {$8200.00}. Weve paid these two companies {$36000.00} for absolutely nothing. Money that we desperately need to use to care for ourselves in our old age. 


We are asking for the following : XXXX. Barclays : a. Return to us {$6200.00} that weve paid them. 
b. Cancel any remaining balance. 
c. Remove any negative credit reporting. 
XXXX. XXXX : a. Refund to us the {$30000.00} weve paid them. 
b. Cancel any remaining balance and memberships. 
XXXX. Return to us either our XXXX XXXXXXXX timeshare ( so we can gift it to our children ) or the additional {$8200.00} at which XXXX valued our XXXX XXXXXXXX timeshare when they told us it was going away. 
d. Remove any negative credit reporting. 
e. Take back their timeshare. 


If XXXX and Barclays refuse to do the above, we want them to explain to us ( and to the CFPB ) : XXXX. Why XXXX told us that our XXXX XXXXXXXX timeshare was going away and that we needed points to continue to vacation when we were there in XX/XX/XXXX. We now realize this was probably a lie. 
XXXX. Why XXXX decided to change the interest rate and payment on the XXXX loan nearly a year after they made a TILA disclosure reflecting a different payment and interest rate amount. 
XXXX. Why we were not given proper information about the opening of a Barclays credit card. 
XXXX. How much money they were paid when someone else used our timeshare interest in the past two years when we were unable to use it. We think they need to pay that money to us if they dont give us a refund. 



Thank you to the CFPB for your assistance. And thank you in advance to Diamond and Barclays for helping to fix this situation and improve our lives. 

Sincerely, XXXX and XXXX XXXX

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