Consumer complaint received 2020-05-13
Company: Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe
State: CA
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Payday loan
Issue: Problem with the payoff process at the end of the loan

Complaint:
I took out an online loan through Rushmore Financial, which is an entity of FSST Financial Services, LLC. I was not aware of their affiliation with the tribe prior to taking out the loan. The original amount was for {$1000.00}, and was deposited into my checking account on XX/XX/2020. Since XX/XX/2020, I was making payments of {$330.00}, which were all finance fees and not going to my principal loan balance. So far, as of my last payment on XX/XX/2020, I have made a total of {$820.00} ACH payments to them, yet I still owe a balance of {$1000.00}. 

I wanted a copy of my contract, to look over the loan agreements, as well as my payment schedule. I spoke with a customer service representative, and I was informed that I can not get my contract via email due to the fact that " Electronic documentation can be altered. It has to be faxed or mailed. '' However, none of my original documentation was ever emailed or mailed to me, nor was it even offered to be emailed or mailed when I first applied. 

The reason I was requesting this information is because I called on XX/XX/XXXX to get the payoff amount for my current loan without any fees, as I would have liked to pay off my balance on Friday, XX/XX/XXXX. However, I was informed by " XXXX '' that I have to call 3 days in advance in order to setup this arrangement. But, I have no documentation stating how far in advance I would have to call in order to do that. I asked if there was anyway that I could just make this payment on the XXXX be my final pay off amount. I was told no. Instead, she told me to call back on the XXXX, after the finance fee payment on the XXXX was processed, in order to set that up. I had until XXXX CST on Monday, XX/XX/2020 to arrange that. If I did not make that cutoff, I would be hit with another finance fee. I did not want to pay for another finance fee when I wanted to pay off the entire loan. 

I asked to speak to a supervisor, who called me back. I spoke with " XXXX '' at Rushmore Financial, and it come to my attention after doing research prior to his phone call that per California State Law, Rushmore Financial is not legally licensed to do short-term/pay day loans in the state of California. I told him of this, to which he informed me that since they are under the umbrella of a XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  ), they have no obligation to follow local or state laws in the state of California. This is not true, per state and federal laws. 

It is also illegal to lend a loan of any kind without providing the consumer with a copy of the signed contract via email, mail or fax. I informed XXXX of this as well, as this was not offered to me upon signing the contract, and I still do not have a copy of the signed contract. They sent over recordings of the original phone call, stating that I would have to sign it. But, the contract was not emailed to me, nor did I get a copy of it sent to me after signing it. I was told on the phone by XXXX that since I did not request a copy or make my own copy prior to signing, it " disappears '' and I no longer have access to it. I have to request for it to be sent to me via mail or fax. XXXX informed me, as well as their customer service team via email, that I am still obligated to pay the loan and that they would be processing the ACH withdrawal on XX/XX/XXXX for {$330.00}. 

I arranged a Stop Payment Order with my bank to block that from happening, and I informed Rushmore Financial of this. They then told me that if my payment did not go through, I would be hit with a {$100.00} fee, and owe {$1300.00} and it would be sent to their collections department. I have informed them that I would be filing formal complaints, and sending a cease and desist letter via USPS. They have now offered to send my original signed contract as of today, XX/XX/XXXX and stated that they just need confirmation of my address to send it USPS or fax number. I have not responded to that email for confirmation. All of this is documented in my email correspondence. I also have taken screenshots of the call time lengths, and dates of the calls, to show that I did indeed speak to people at Rushmore Financial.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation