Consumer complaint received 2018-02-03
Company: ENOVA INTERNATIONAL, INC.
State: NY
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Payday loan
Issue: Struggling to pay your loan

Complaint:
I borrowed {$3000.00} on Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX. Today is XX/XX/XXXX and I still owe {$2800.00} after payments. My monthly payment is {$380.00}. The interest rate is 149.86 %. After starting a new job which paid a bit better in XX/XX/XXXX, where I  get paid only once a month, at the end of the month, I decided I needed help to work on paying off debt I had which I was unable to afford. I knew I would never be able to pay this debt off. With the interest rate as is, by the time I completed paying I would have paid {$9100.00} in total which is completely illogical and unreasonable and predatory. 

In XX/XX/XXXX I instituted a 90 day hold on my credit and my accounts due to my wallet, passport, all IDs and cards being stolen. My XX/XX/XXXX payment to XXXX  was also stopped by my bank. 

At this time, I also enrolled with a debt management plan ( DMP ) that  same month to reduce my overall debt, help me manage my debt, and to improve my credit. My DMP contacted XXXX and submitted a proposal to settle the account in XX/XX/XXXX but due to some error/delay on XXXX, the plan did not become effective that month and I did not learn this until almost a month later at the end of XX/XX/XXXX. By this time XX/XX/XXXX payment was past due despite XXXX  receiving and accepting my DMP in XX/XX/XXXX. 

During Late XX/XX/XXXX I called XXXX who told me the XXXX agent who received my XX/XX/XXXX DMP info forgot to fax over the paper work or something similar. 

My account was actually falling past due, because of the delay by XXXX  in starting the plan, with interest rapidly accumulating all that time and I was never told, even when I spoke to XXXX directly during that XX/XX/XXXX call. 

I am the one who initiated the late XX/XX/XXXX call to XXXX   with my debt management plan representative to ensure that once and for all everything was set in place. My DMP had already begun to send payments prior to this call which to XXXX  cashed. XXXX XXXX   did not mention that XX/XX/XXXX payment was past due and not part of the plan despite already receiving a payment from my DMP that obviously applied to XX/XX/XXXX payment since it was received so soon after the DMP letters end of XX/XX/XXXX. 

After the late XX/XX/XXXX call with XXXX  me and my DMP representative, XXXX finally got my DMP all necessary documents. During that call the XXXX agent actually proposed a new lower payment to me directly to ME and asked ME directly if I would accept a new lower payment of {$140.00} a month. I of course told the agent I agree to this amount and was happy I would finally be able to manage payments. After that my DMP agent on the line thanked the XXXX   agent as well. 

It is now XX/XX/XXXX and I check my credit report to see that I have been reported as past due from XXXX since XX/XX/XXXX and up to 90 days delinquent. I called XXXX to find out what is going on. It was then I learned the real terms of my plan and that XX/XX/XXXX payment was even pastdue and not part of my plan or even considered in the whole strategy to reduce my debt via the plan XXXX  proposed to me during that late XX/XX/XXXX call. 

XXXX  intentionally failed to tell me that the new lower payment does not matter when it comes to credit reporting and they will still actually report me past due since {$140.00} is not the full amount of {$380.00}. XXXX XXXX  is the one who proposed the XXXX amount to me. It was the amount they said they would accept, to ultimately get the loan repaid and to " help me '' manage payments. Had I know I would receive negative marks and would be considered past due even though I was paying what they told me to pay, I would have never told the agent I agreed to the plan and the lesser amount. The XXXX agent intentionally misled me to believe that my new payment of {$140.00} would indeed by my new modified monthly payment on the loan with a more reasonable interest rate. 

Additionally, at the time the proposal was made, the agent did not inform me that my XX/XX/XXXX due payment would not be included in the plan, nor would have the new lower monthly rate thus XX/XX/XXXX payment was marked passed due to this date. No reasonable person would want to make monthly payments only to still be reported negatively. The purpose of debt management plans is to eliminate debt and to improve credit. In fact throughout the whole conversation it was never mentioned that I was ever past due and that XX/XX/XXXX would remain outstanding despite the plan. 

I have now received several derogatory marks to my credit. I called XXXX  and explained all that happened, how I was misled and spoke to several agents and managers yet no one at XXXX  took responsibility for the agents misleading comments which effectively fraudulently induced me to accepting the plan. I also explained why the XXXX payment was even blocked by my bank and yet XXXX   refused to help. The listened to that late XX/XX/XXXX call and could confirm I was indeed on the call and that I was spoken to directly by the XXXX  agent and that it was never mentioned me paying {$140.00} didnt matter in regards to credit reporting and that I would still be reported as late. 

Last week, the week of XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke to a XXXX agent who is the one who actually finally revealed to me, the truth about my plan only after I asked several questions. She told me that my account would continue to be reported negatively even if I made the payments of {$140.00} because it was not the full {$380.00} amount. Upon hearing this I immediately cancelled the plan. I was grateful that someone at XXXX  offered to finally tell me the truth and even offered to bring the account current via several payments. As of today I only have {$380.00} left to make the account current. 

I spoke to several agents today XX/XX/XXXX and they all refused to take responsibility for how I was misled when I initially accepted the plan, they did not want to remove any derogatory marks reported to my credit as a result of their intentional delays, miscommunication and witholding of all information needed for me to make a true informed decision about the plan. They told me I could only dispute the credit bureau and they would not give me copies or transcripts of our conversations without a subpoena. 

I still can not afford these payments every month. The interest rate is too high and XXXX wont help me and now has damaged my credit severely. I had never missed a payment before XX/XX/XXXX and in fact had a previous XXXX  loan that I paid in full. 

Despite the reasonable case I made, and despite the fact I was induced fraudulently by the agent to accept the plan, XXXX  has stated several times they will not correct the derogatory marks on my credit report. They are acting completely unreasonable. Had it been clearly communicated that XX/XX/XXXX payment was not part of the plan and still past due I would done something about it. I would never ever let something go past due for 60+ days. The account was in good standing prior to XX/XX/XXXX, my decision to work with XXXX  on the plan was a show of goodfaith and effort on my end to actually keep the account in good standing and paying of my debt. 

I sought to speak to someone higher than a manager and they said I could not. They said I could not get the information of who the mangers report to, even though there is someone they report to and I could not speak to them by phone or email. It is completely unreasonable for a company like this to not make available to its debtors the opportunity to escalate issues like this, especially when agents had mislead a customer. I cant even get proof they misled me without a subpoena according to them, despite them re listening to the call today and telling me that I indeed heard what I heard. Instead they said they did not have to tell me XX/XX/XXXX was past due and that XX/XX/XXXX was not part of the plan and that I should have asked. How can someone make a truly informed decision and plan to pay off their debt if agents intentionally withhold information and are this inadequate and not thorough? Instead of behaving honestly, they behaved very deceptively throughout this whole ordeal. 

I am merely trying to improve my life and credit and eliminate debt and they wont help. I was trying to protect the little money I had when I had my credit froze and accounts blocked. With loans at 149 % it is almost cruel to leave people without any options when they are willing to work with the company. 

The derogatory marks do not accurately reflect the situation.

Company public response: Company disputes the facts presented in the complaint
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation