Consumer complaint received 2022-02-04
Company: FIRST HERITAGE CREDIT LLC
State: MS
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Installment loan
Issue: Problem with the payoff process at the end of the loan

Complaint:
Sir, I am complaining about the method of business used in my case and presumably in all cases, by 1st Heritage XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( full address enclosed ). If this practice is used in all their loan processes, many people have been and are today, being cheated out of thousands of dollars. 
I offer two scenarios, both of which can be substantiated by my testimony and anecdotal evidence and/or the testimony and position taken by 1st Heritage themselves. 
I borrowed money from 1st Heritage over a year ago and have been paying monthly installments on this loan since that time. I am a retired XXXX veteran and recently came into a sum of money from the VA. Deciding to pay all my loans and get out of debt, I called 1st Heritage to get the payoff amount. 
Scenario number one ; I called 1st Heritage around XXXX XXXX, XXXX, and asked them how much they needed for me to pay the loan completely and close the account. I was advised, an amount of approximately {$2400.00}. I didnt write this amount down and I didnt record the call. 1st Heritage will dispute the amount, asserting instead that they had told me an amount closer to {$2500.00}. They didnt record the call either so this amount is their word against mine however, I ask that you consider two things, ( anecdotally ). First, if my intention was to pay off the full amount, why would I have intentionally shorted them by less than {$100.00}? Second, since I was sending them such a large amount, ( I immediately scheduled a payment since I use online banking with XXXX XXXX here in XXXX Mississippi ) is it likely that I would have gotten this amount wrong since I was sending such a large amount. At any rate, I sent them {$2500.00}, approximately {$50.00} more than they quoted, in an attempt to make sure the required payoff amount was covered. My scenario number one asserts that they intentionally misled me about the amount I was told to send, ostensibly so they could keep the account open and add more interest to the payoff amount. 
Scenario number two ; Later, I received a statement from 1st Heritage, ( statement date, XXXX XX/XX/XXXX ), indicating that I had a balance on the account of {$1600.00}, with a payment due of {$190.00}, indicating additionally that they had received my payment of {$2500.00} on the XXXX of XXXX. I called them immediately and was told that the {$2500.00} was short of the full amount owed, and that there was actually an additional {$50.00} approximately, owed on the loan, over and above the {$2500.00}, and further, that extra {$50.00} had increased, due to interest, to approximately {$320.00}. In short, to pay the loan in full, I had to give them an additional {$320.00}. This meant that the extra {$50.00} ( they alleged was still owed on the account ) had increased six times the full amount, to {$320.00}, in less than three weeks. I asked them how that could possibly be, even if they were right in that I had sent the wrong amount, with the {$2500.00}, and I was told that they charged the amount the state of Mississippi allowed them to charge and that the increase of six-fold was allowable under Mississippi law, ( in the interim I went to 1st Heritage two days ago with cash and paid this {$320.00} and obtained a paid in full receipt ). 
At any rate, I sent a complaint to the Mississippi XXXX and was advised to further contact your office. The state XXXX has asked for a response from 1st Heritage  and I have asked for a full accounting of my transaction with them from the beginning of the loan process. Neither of these has been received as of this date, XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. 
If 1st Heritage is allowed to add on such outrageous interest to a loan, many people will be indebted to them their entire lives. I was fortunate in that I had come into a sum of unexpected income, but even I have been cheated, in my opinion. I am appealing to your office for regress and to move to keep this from ever happening to anyone else. If such criminal behavior is allowable under Mississippi law, this too needs to be addressed or at least the public needs to be made aware so people will be warned and decline to do business with such loan-sharking operations. 
I have the documentation to substantiate these claims other than the accounting Id asked for from 1st Heritage. I have been in communication with XXXX from the Mississippi state XXXX office, XXXX XXXX. She agreed to allow me to give her first name. I will attach the original letter I sent to the XXXX, if the website allows for such, otherwise I will mail, it traditionally. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, Mississippi XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief