Consumer complaint received 2023-06-15
Company: Westlake Services, LLC
State: LA
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Problem with the interest rate

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX my husband and I purchased a used XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX from the XXXX XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. Vehicle price was around XXXX USD at sticker price. We decided to buy a warranty to go with it for around {$3000.00}. My husband asked the car salesman how much it would cost after interest and he said, " probably around $ XXXX ''. The whole process was long and time consuming and we were pretty tired at the end of the whole ordeal. I am XXXX and English is my second language but I am able to clearly understand what was being said by the seller, and so I signed the contract online which the seller envied me by email just by clicking on the small squares believing that the final price from the car it costs around XXXX. They told us that we were approved for a line of credit. The seller printed out the copy of the contract and handed it to me and my husband accepted the paperwork across the table. The numbers that appeared on the page looked and sounded familiar, except the high monthly payment of {$650.00} seemed excessive even though I paid {$2000.00} down payment and had an approved credit limit with good credit score but we needed the vehicle so I could work and then, almost at the end of signing all the paperwork, my husband decided that he and my stepson who I had with us at the time and he was XXXX XXXX XXXX, they went out to the car to rest while I finished signing a paper where I authorized the bank to do monthly withdrawals from my XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX account for the monthly car payment and a paper authorizing the license plate transfer from my old car to the XXXX. We took the XXXX home and naturally started making payments. I pointed out to my husband the difference between the amount that was going to the principal and the amount that was going to the interest rate and I knew that something was already wrong that this was the third car he had bought and as much as I am a foreigner at country I am fully capable of ascertaining the values and figures in question. When I saw the discrepancy between the two, my husband and I were baffled. They were charging me 20.79 % interest on the principle. The interest I'm paying on this car is DOUBLE and if not triple because in the month of XXXX alone I pay only {$31.00} in principal and more than {$600.00} in INTEREST! That's a robbery, and in the end a XXXX - XXXX car is going to cost almost XXXX. In just 7 monthly payments from XXXX to XXXX I paid just {$1200.00} in principal and {$3300.00} in interest ONLY! I have never heard or seen such disrespect in extorting and taking advantage of a person in this way. I looked up the Florida Statute on User in the State of Florida and it states that anything above 18 % is considered as such. This, in addition to an outrageous attempt to rob me, is a lack of respect for the customer, as my husband and I were deceived. I demand that this interest rate be recalculated before we can start a legal process where under the contract I have the right to return the car and get back all the money I paid. See attachments so you can briefly authenticate financial documents and evidence on Florida State Statute which clearly states the maximum allowable rate of 18 % and that 20.79 % is considered a crime!

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation