Consumer complaint received 2023-04-14
Company: CREDIT ACCEPTANCE CORPORATION
State: IN
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Struggling to pay your loan
Sub-issue: Loan balance remaining after the vehicle is repossessed and sold

Complaint:
I was having a hard time making my payments on my car after COVID-19 started. I worked at XXXX XXXX  at the time. My hours at work got reduced from 40 hours a week to 15-20 hours a week depending on the amount of work that was needing to be done. I contacted Credit Acceptance Corp. and asked if I could defer my payments until my work hours picked back up. I was informed that I should not have bought a vehicle that I could not pay the loan on. I am aware that no one could have predicted that COVID-19 was going to happen or that my hours at work would be cut in half. I tried to explain to the guy I talked to on the phone that my hours were only going to be like this for a few weeks, maybe a month. The guy informed me that I could pay the payment late, but that there would be a late charge and he would not be responsible if my car got repossessed. I got behind in my payments, because my hours at work were cut in half for over a month and a half. I once again contacted Credit Acceptance Corp. I asked if there was a way to refinance my loan and see if my payments would go down so I could afford to keep my vehicle. I was told that they would not refinance my loan and that that was something that their company did not do. I tried refinancing my loan through several different loan companies as well to see if maybe I could switch companies and have someone easier to work with. No lender that I contacted would touch my loan or refinance me, because my loan was through Credit Acceptance Corp. In XXXX of XXXX my grandmother passed away. I was her POA and had to take time off of work to deal with legal things for her and plan her funeral. I then got even further behind on my loan since I had to take time off work for her funeral and planning and legal things pertaining to her passing. I tried in XXXX of XXXX  to trade my vehicle in on a different vehicle. I was informed by the dealership that I could not trade my vehicle in, because of it having a loan through Credit Acceptance Corp. I then gave up on trying to pay for the vehicle and called Credit Acceptance Corp. I asked again if they would work with me on my late payments. I was told no and that they were going to repossess my car. I informed them the address and time the car would be parked at my house for them to come and take it. I voluntarily chose to surrender my car for repossession. I was given no other choice at that time. I am now being sued by XXXX XXXX XXXX for not paying off my loan. They sold the vehicle at auction and did not get close to the loan pay off price of the vehicle. They are now telling me that I have to pay the remaining balance on the loan, which I feel is wrong. It was never my intention to default on my loan and have to give my car up for repossession. I was not in control of my hours being cut at work and COVID-19 happening and changing my financial situation.

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 non-monetary relief