Consumer complaint received 2019-01-11
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: WA
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Lease
Issue: Managing the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Billing problem

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter from Chase Auto Finance ( the leasing company my car loan is through ) that I owed them {$140.00} for property taxes on my leased vehicle. I called them following receipt of this letter and they informed me that they were billed by the Texas municipality for different amounts totaling {$620.00} and that I was responsible for paying them ( Chase ) this amount since they ( Chase ) paid the state of Texas on my behalf. I called the Texas municipality and spoke with different departments such as the Tax Appraisals office and the Comptroller of Public Accounts, all of which told me this circumstance is the first they've ever heard of an issue like this. The letter that Chase sent with this bill also stated " If you would like to verify the excise/property tax charge, please contact the Comptroller of Public Accounts '' yet when I did, they were not able to find any record of me or my vehicle for a property tax. The Tax Appraisal office looked up my name, my sister 's name, VIN, and nothing came up. They also informed me that Texas does charge property tax on vehicles if they are for personal use. I will explain my vehicle lease : My vehicle lease originated in CA in XX/XX/XXXX, where I reside, and the vehicle has always been registered and insured in CA. My sister cosigned with me on the lease and she included her Texas address and I included my CA address. My vehicle has never been in Texas, was leased in CA, registered in CA, insured in CA so I should not have received a property tax from Chase originating from the state of Texas. It's important to note that I have not received this property tax bill for the years of XX/XX/XXXXand XX/XX/XXXX, but I did receive it for the tax year of XX/XX/XXXX. Just today, XX/XX/XXXXI received another letter from Chase saying I owe them another {$400.00} for property taxes on my leased vehicle for the XX/XX/XXXXyear. This is a grand total of {$1100.00} that I've been billed, {$700.00} of which I've paid already, for a property tax on my lease.

After several phone calls to Chase about this issue, I was told to send them a copy of my registration. I emailed, faxed, and mailed them copies of my registrations dating from XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX, a copy of my CA ID, and CA proof of insurance. These items were sent for the second time on XX/XX/XXXX via email and I physically mailed them everything at the beginning of XX/XX/XXXX. I followed up with them a couple of times after sending this information and each time I was forced to re-explain the situation to their representatives and each time they simply told me I had to pay this amount and that I could possibly receive a refund if the state of Texas issues Chase a refund. I escalated my case to a supervisor, who assured me that Chase was going to do their due diligence to rectify this issue. After a month, I received a letter from Chase after they internally investigated this issue and the letter said : " XX/XX/XXXX Thank you for asking about property tax for the leased vehicle above. Texas does not issue refunds if a vehicle lease is moved or terminated within the tax year. '' This meant that they did not thoroughly look at the documentation that they requested from me ( CA vehicle registration and CA insurance ). I followed up based on this letter and they asked me to resend them everything I had already sent, so I did. Then I received a letter on XX/XX/XXXX that said : " Thank you for contacting us about Property Tax on the lease account above. In order to assist you, we need additional documents. Please send a copy of this letter and information shown below as soon as possible : Other : Please provide a copy of your current registration and a copy of your insurance card ... Sincerely, Lease Retail Services Representative '' I received a second letter also dated XX/XX/XXXX that said : " I am writing to you concerning the above referenced lease. Per our call to XXXX XXXX, VA, the customer may have registered in XXXX XXXX, VA, but they live in XXXX XXXX, VA. XXXX XXXX does not border XXXX XXXX from any direction. XXXX XXXX notified  XXXX XXXX so the property tax billing would be received from the correct jurisdiction. The bill is valid for the residential and garaging address ... Sincerely, Title Research Representative. '' That letter was completely out of scope on my situation. I have no affiliation with the state of VA and never have. I have no idea where they even got those counties from and throughout this whole time ( XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX ) Chase reassured me that they were going to investigate my account and request a refund from the state of Texas given that my vehicle was never there.

This whole situation has led me to believe that Chase may have made an error ( it does not help that I'm receiving information about completely irrelevant information ) and they are not doing their due diligence to fix this. Each time I speak with a different representative at the number they provide on the billing letter, I receive a different explanation. One of the times, a representative told me that my case was already closed on Chase 's side because they determined that my vehicle was in TX and that state does not issue refunds. Again, my car has never been in TX, it has always been in CA and I have proof of registration and insurance that I've provided to them.

I hope that this situation makes sense and I apologize for all the details, it was hard to explain without going into detail.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief