Consumer complaint received 2021-02-27
Company: Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc.
State: CA
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Investigation took more than 30 days

Complaint:
Santander, XXXX XXXX , XXXX, and the Credit Reporting Agencies Took out a loan with Santander for a vehicle in XXXX of XXXX. 

I defaulted on the loan and was late several times. My credit and finances were very poor at the start of the loan, and I struggled to keep up with payments throughout the time I had the car. I called the lender ( Santander ) several times throughout the possession of the car and they allowed me to " defer payments '' to the end of the loan without truly informing me of the future financial detriment that would cause, nor did they simply inform me of the implications of the deferments at all. Ultimately, I was unable to keep up with the extremely high car payments of nearly {$600.00} a month with an astronomical interest rate and was left to come out from work to being without a vehicle after an unwitnessed repossession of my vehicle. 

Following the repo, I was sent several letters by Santander stating the car had been auctioned and that I was still financially responsible for the difference. 

In XXXX of XXXX, I was made aware only through various social media platforms that there had been a " COALITION OF 34 STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL SETTLEMENT WITH SANTANDER CONSUMER USA '' in which I have always been a resident of one of the states included. In doing thorough research on the settlement, I recognized that I visibly fell within all the criteria to be a recipient of the settlement relief. I resided in a qualifying state at the time of the loan and still do ; my credit score was very subpar upon being approved for the loan ; I fell behind on months of payments during several periods within my possession of the car ; and I had the car repossessed after several years with the loan during a long-term loan agreement with the lender. 
The following are the criteria which I meet, but still somehow have not received ANY resolution or relief, per the settlement outline on XXXX XXXX XXXX Consumers may be eligible for the following types of relief : 1. Restitution : Santander must pay {$65.00} XXXX in restitution to be divided amongst the 33 states and the District of Columbia. Over 265,000 consumers across the settlement states will be eligible for this restitution. 
a. Who qualifies? You must have a gotten a loan with Santander between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX and Santander must have given you a certain internal score at the time you got the loan. Consumers will NOT know their own internal score. Additionally, neither states nor the settlement administrator know consumers internal scores. This is why consumers will have to wait for notice from the settlement administrator. 
b. How much will restitution be per consumer? 
i. The final restitution amount per consumer is not yet known, but the amount will be at least {$220.00} per consumer. 
c. When can I expect restitution? 
i. We do not yet have a date certain by which eligible consumers can expect a notice from the settlement administrator. Please check this website for updates.

2. Deficiency Waivers : Santander is required to forgive the remaining balance on certain loans. Santander will also request that the loans be removed from consumers credit reports. As with restitution, consumers who qualify for this relief will have to have had a certain internal score given to them by Santander at the time they got their loans. Consumers will NOT know their own internal score. Additionally, neither states nor the settlement administrator know consumers internal scores. Consumers who qualify for this relief will receive notice directly from Santander, and not the settlement administrator. We will update this website when we know of an anticipated timeline for said notice. At a minimum, to qualify for this relief, you must meet the following : a. You got your loan between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX ; and b. Your car was repossessed or your account was charged off by Santander within the first 12 months after you got the loan. Making a late payment or missing payments does not qualify you for a Deficiency Waiver ; and c. You had a certain internal score. Consumers will NOT know their own internal score. Additionally, neither states nor the settlement administrator know consumers internal scores.

3. Loan Forgiveness and Car Title : For certain consumers, Santander sent the consumer title to the car and forgave the balance of the loan. Santander did this until the value of the total amount of loan forgiveness across the participating states reached {$45.00} XXXX. Santander will also request that the loans be removed from consumers credit reports. If you qualified for this relief, you should have received notice from Santander in XX/XX/XXXX. 
The consumers who qualified for this relief : a. Defaulted on the loan but the vehicle was not repossessed ; and b. Had a certain internal score. Consumers will NOT know their own internal score. Additionally, neither states nor the settlement administrator know consumers internal scores. 

Despite this, I never received a postcard stating I was qualified to be a part of the dispersion of settlement relief. I was hoping to be free financially and mentally from the burden of having been a client of Santander, and I kept reading on the Settlement website for consumers that postcards had been mailed out in XXXX, and that they may take time to be delivered. I have never received mine. In XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX, I have contacted several entities about my eligibility. I first contacted XXXX XXXX, XXXX the handler of the settlement, several times in XXXX and XXXX of XXXX to assure myself that I was indeed a recipient of relief and that perhaps they didnt have my correct information to mail me the appropriate postcard of eligibility. I spoke to several people who I gave three possible addresses to that could have been on file at the time my loan was active with Santander. Several times I called back, thinking the last rep may have misspelled my name or address or created other errors in looking me up. None of them could find my name in their system. They instructed me to reach out to Santander directly. I then called Santander, who immediately notified me of my current outstanding debt, and asked how I would like to take care of it. I informed them I would like information on my eligibility in the settlement, and they then said they had no knowledge of that information or who could give it to me. I deferred back to the Attorney General in my state, and spoke with someone at the Attorney Generals Press Department, and then to another gentleman who instructed me to email the AG directly at XXXX XXXX XXXX ( my state ) .gov, informing them that I am a victim of Santander and their predatory sales practices. I received a very generic response basically stating the same information given to me by every representative I had spoken to by phone, with no offering of assistance or resolution. 
Regarding the information being continually reported on my credit reports, there are SO MANY issues to outline. Please keep this in mind : I was successfully able to dispute the account from Santander off of my XXXX  credit report on XX/XX/XXXX after learning from other consumers how to do so, with no guidance from the agencies actually involved. However, for some reason, the other two major bureaus XXXX  and XXXX continually report the account as Verified as Accurate every time I dispute the account as invalid due to the litigation, which is the same factual basis I used to successfully get the account off of my XXXX  report. In making several secondary attempts at disputing the account for deletion, I was told on the phone by XXXX that they do not use other bureaus results to remove or verify information, although I have been made aware that credit reporting of an account has to be uniform in order to be considered accurate. In accordance with the FCRA, if an item is reported differently or inaccurately on even one bureau report, the information is considered invalid and must be deleted. These other two major bureaus report differing dates of delinquencies, and contradictory time frames and years of the 30, 60, and 90-day late periods, conflicting the actual dates/years I was late. I have also logged into my still active online account with Santander, and it shows I have a current payment due as of XX/XX/XXXX, although they report the account charged off as of XXXX. There are monthly scheduled payments being falsely reported on my XXXX report, which I have NEVER agreed to with Santander ; I have never scheduled payments or amounts to be paid with them. Since XXXX  found validity in deleting the account, I submitted copies of the deletion to both other bureaus, expecting them to utilize the evidence to support the deletions on their end, but they will not. All they continue to do is update the account with a statement : Litigation pending despite several attempts at removing it.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation