Consumer complaint received 2022-12-06
Company: ALLY FINANCIAL INC.
State: TX
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Struggling to pay your loan
Sub-issue: Problem after you declared or threatened to declare bankruptcy

Complaint:
I was XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  on Saturday, XX/XX/2022, just before midnight. I was threatened, cursed, and yelled at by men who screamed at me in the parking garage. The guy screamed, " this is a repo, give me your keys. '' I was so shocked and afraid I frantically ran away from him. One of the men laughed in my face as I told him he was making a mistake. He followed me to the parking lot 's edge and grabbed for the keys. I told him to please tell me who he was working for. He said, " it doesn't matter ; give me your keys. '' I tried to take a photo of him and his vehicle, and he stood in my way. I pleaded for him to return my vehicle so I could retrieve the orders I needed to drop off. He told me, " that's not my problem ; give me your keys. '' Then, he called someone on the phone, and the guy on the phone said, " give me your keys, and we will return the vehicle to you. '' He then he informed me if I gave him the keys, it would save {$75.00} and allow me to retrieve the items in my vehicle. I feared for my life and decided to give him the keys. Unfortunately, I gave the guy the keys with the hopes of him bringing the vehicle back to the car so that I could retrieve the orders from the vehicle. I was bamcar and lied to, and he never returned the vehicle. I had to call my employer and cancel all the orders I was supposed to XXXX. They left me stranded in an unknown parking garage on a major highway in XXXX, Texas. I did not make it home until XXXX after calling countless family members. 

By the time I could get home, nearly three hours later, and after calming down enough to think, I called the XXXX police department, who confirmed that Ally Financial hired XXXX XXXX XXXX. I believe Ally Financial hired multiple towing companies to follow me. I haveemployedady had a run-in with repossession people hired by Ally Financial, who threatened me in a filling station parking lot. Good samaritans surrounded me to protect me physically, and Ally 's repossessed people backed off. This incident occurred a few days after I filed for XXXX XXXX XXXX  because Ally Financial refused to work with me. 

My vehicle was illegally repossessed on Saturday, XX/XX/XXXX, by Texas XXXX XXXX hired by Ally Financial. It was not a peaceful repossession and was taken from a private property garage. Ally Financial violated 392.301 of the Texas Debt Collection Act, which provides : ( a ) In debt collection, a debt collector may not use threats, coercion, or attempts to coerce that employ any of the following practices : ( 1 ) using or threatening to use violence or other criminal means to cause harm to a person or property of a person ; ( 2 ) accusing falsely or threatening to accuse falsely a person of fraud or any other crime ; ( 3 ) representing or threatening to represent to any person other than the consumer that a consumer is willfully refusing to pay a non-disputed consumer debt when the debt is in dispute and the consumer has notified in writing the debt collector of the dispute ; ( 4 ) threatening to sell or assign to another the obligation of the consumer and falsely representing that the result of the sale or assignment would be that the consumer would lose a defense to the consumer debt or would be subject to illegal collection attempts ; ( 5 ) threatening that the debtor will be arrested for nonpayment of a consumer debt without proper court proceedings ; ( 6 ) threatening to file a charge, complaint, or criminal action against a debtor when the debtor has not violated a criminal law ; ( 7 ) threatening that nonpayment of consumer debt will result in the seizure, repossession, or sale of the person 's property without proper court proceedings; or ( 8 ) threatening to take action prohibited by law.

Ally Financial also violated 392.302 of the Texas Finance Code, which provides : In debt collection, a debt collector may not oppress, harass, or abuse a person by : ( 1 ) using profane or obscene language or language intended to abuse unreasonably the hearer or reader ; ( 2 ) placing telephone calls without disclosing the name of the individual making the call and with the intent to annoy, harass, or threaten a person at the called number ; ( 3 ) causing a person to incur a long distance telephone toll, telegram fee, or other charge by a medium of communication without first disclosing the name of the person making the communication; or ( 4 ) causing a telephone to ring repeatedly or continuously, or making repeated or continuous telephone calls, with the intent to harass a person at the called number. 

Ally Financial allowed XXXX  XXXX XXXX to hold both the vehicle and the property inside the vehicle XXXX for almost a month. I have called XXXX XXXX XXXX to obtain my job 's property from the car, and I was informed that Ally Financial has to approve me to retrieve the property.

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