Consumer complaint received 2020-06-03
Company: Bridgecrest Acceptance Corporation
State: CA
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Struggling to pay your loan
Sub-issue: Denied request to lower payments

Complaint:
To whom may correspond, I receive a call from Bridgecrest related to this complain this morning. They alleged the account has been charged off and cant do anything to reinstall the account. They said because XXXX POLICIES, it i dnt think make sense as the loan is with BRIDGECREST, Only wait to have the car repossessed as soon the California authorities allow them due to COVID-19 pandemic, after it, they could evaluate the possibility to reinstall the account paying all the past due plus fees. If surrender voluntary they cant offer anything else than pay off the full vehicle value or lost the vehicle, but recommend making payments as we could before the repossession takes effect. I understand they wont help and working out any solution to resolve this matter. As I understand they wont comply with California law due to this pandemic. 
As mentioned, we are willing to make payments as soon Ill receive my unemployment PUA payment, knowing after we will be viable to work as soon the markets reopen on my activity, Ill be secured on my position as XXXX  XXXX as before. Please help on this as we would like to address this matter understanding itll be the best for both parties. 

Our request for forbearance as California law mentioned AB-2501 COVID-19 : homeowner, tenant, and consumer relief doesnt take on account for this company Bridgecrest. 

We are victims of a hardship due to health issues and the pandemic and only want to work it out with ( BRIDGECREST company partnering with XXXX  ) on the best manner. 

Below you can find a copy of the California law passed due to this matter as support. We just request please to reevaluate this matter after the person who contacted us this morning mentioned ( after revision with his higher-level manager its nothing they could offer us to resolve this matter. ) Thank you in advance for your support. 

3273.31. ( a ) A consumer experiencing a financial hardship during the COVID-19 emergency may request forbearance from any vehicle-secured credit obligation, regardless of delinquency status, by submitting a request to the servicer of vehicle-secured credit, either orally or in writing, affirming that the borrower is experiencing hardship during the COVID-19 emergency. A borrower shall not be required to provide any additional documentation to receive such forbearance. ( b ) A servicer of vehicle-secured credit shall provide the forbearance requested pursuant to subdivision ( a ) for a period of 90 days.

If the borrower affirms that they continue to experience hardship within the 30 days prior to the expiration of the initial forbearance period, the servicer of vehicle-secured credit shall extend the forbearance period upon request of the borrower for an additional 90 days. Those forbearance periods shall continue to be extended upon request of the borrower throughout the duration of the COVID-19 emergency and the 180-day period following that emergency. ( c ) During the period of a forbearance under this chapter, a servicer of vehicle-secured credit shall not assess, accrue, or apply to a borrowers account any fees, penalties, or additional interest beyond the amounts scheduled or calculated as if the borrower made all contractual payments on time and in full under the terms of the vehicle-secured credit obligation contract in effect at the time the borrower enters into the forbearance.3273.32. ( a ) Before the completion of a forbearance period provided by this article, the holder of a vehicle-secured credit obligation shall evaluate a consumers ability to return to making regular payments. ( b ) If the consumer is able to return to making regular payments based on the evaluation required by subdivision ( a ), the holder of the vehicle-secured credit obligation shall : ( 1 ) Modify the consumers vehicle-secured credit obligation to extend the term for the same period as the length of the forbearance, with all payments that were not made during the forbearance distributed at the same intervals as the consumers existing payment schedule and evenly distributed across those intervals, with no penalties, late fees, or additional interest accrued beyond the amounts scheduled or calculated as if the consumer made all contractual payments on time and in full under the terms of the vehicle-secured credit obligation contract in effect at the time the consumer entered into the forbearance, and with no modification fee charged to the consumer. ( 2 ) Notify the borrower in writing of the modification required by paragraph ( 1 ), including provision of a new payment schedule and date of maturity, and that the consumer shall have the election of prepaying the suspended payments at any time, in a lump sum or otherwise. ( 3 ) Not require the consumer to waive any other claim provided by law in order to accept the terms of a modification. ( c ) If the consumer is not able to return to making regular payments based on the evaluation required by subdivision ( a ), the holder of the vehicle-secured credit obligation may proceed with a written notice of intent to repossess the vehicle as required by law only after the expiration of the COVID-19 emergency and the 180-day period following that emergency. 3273.33.

Notwithstanding Sections 2983.2 or 2983.8, or any other provision of law, no deficiency judgment shall lie in any event after the sale or other disposition of a mobilehome or motor vehicle for failure by a consumer to make a payment that was due during the COVID-19 emergency or the 180-day period following that emergency unless the servicer of the vehicle-secured credit obligation has complied with all provisions of this chapter. 3273.34. The provisions of this title are severable. If any provision of this title or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.

SEC. 3. Section 22698 is added to the Financial Code, to read : 22698. ( a ) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the following shall apply during the COVID-19 emergency and the 180-day period following that emergency : ( 1 ) Within 60 days of enactment of this section, a program administrator shall notify each property owner with an outstanding assessment contract that the property owner is entitled to forbearance on the next annual PACE assessment owed pursuant to the assessment contract if the property owner is facing a financial hardship, directly or indirectly, due to the COVID-19 emergency. 
The notification shall specify how the property owner may elect to accept the offer of forbearance. ( 2 ) A program administrator shall provide forbearance on the next annual PACE assessment owed by a property owner that accepts the offer pursuant to paragraph ( 1 ). ( 3 ) A program administrator may require the property owner to pay the amount of the forborne PACE assessment in the year following the scheduled end of the assessment contract. A program administrator may not charge additional fees or interest related to the forborne PACE assessment. ( 4 ) A program administrator shall not exercise any contractual rights of acceleration related to unpaid assessments during the COVID-19 emergency. ( b ) For the purposes of this section, COVID-19 emergency means the period that begins upon the date of the enactment of this section and ends on the date that the state declares the emergency related to the COVID-19 disease has ended. SEC. 4.

Section 23039 is added to the Financial Code, to read : 23039. ( a ) Notwithstanding any other provision of this division, the following shall apply during the COVID-19 emergency and the 180-day period following such emergency : ( 1 ) A fee for a deferred deposit transaction shall not exceed 5 percent of the face amount of the check. ( 2 ) A licensee shall offer a customer the option to enter into a payment plan that provides an extension of time for repayment of an existing deferred deposit transaction. The payment plan shall include the following terms : ( A ) The plan shall not contain any additional fee or charge of any kind. ( B ) The plan shall provide the customer with the option to repay the outstanding amount of the existing deferred deposit transaction over a 60-day period in four equal installments. ( 3 ) At least three days prior to the date to which deposit of check has been deferred ( due date ) according to the agreement provided by the licensee to the customer pursuant to subdivision ( e ) of Section 23035, a licensee shall notify a customer of their option to enter into a payment plan pursuant to paragraph ( 1 ). If at any time, the customer attempts to pay the licensee for an outstanding amount of an existing deferred deposit transaction, the licensee shall immediately notify the customer of their option to enter into a payment plan pursuant to paragraph ( 1 ). ( 4 ) A licensee shall not enter into a deferred deposit transaction with a customer within 14 days of the customer fully repaying a previous transaction. ( 5 ) A licensee shall not charge any late fee for the return of a dishonored check by a depository institution in a deferred deposit transaction. ( b ) For the purposes of this section, COVID-19 emergency means the period that begins upon the date of the enactment of this section and ends on the date that the state declares the emergency related to the COVID-19 disease has ended.SEC.

5. The provisions of this act are severable. If any provision of this act or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.SEC.

6. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.

Please, revise my account. after called customer service, the only answer was pay off the vehicle full balance or wait to have it repossessed. Due to COVID-19 we struggle financially. we have a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX  kids, If we can have the two deferred payments mentioned to other customers on XXXX, we could clear the past due probably at the end of the month and get the account up to date. I'm just waiting for my PUA as self employed to be paid as has been approved retroactive back to XXXX, but because the many applications the process its been very slow. Please Help, we would like to resolve this matter for both parties. Thank you in Advance Desired Outcome/Settlement Desired Settlement : Billing Adjustment Get support to bring my account current with a payment plan as I've expressed on my complain in Comply with California Law better than what they said over the phone, needing to pay of the full balance or wait till the car is repossessed. We want work out a solution without ending up having the car repossess. Thank you in Advanced. 

After talking with customer service cant believe they ( Bridgecrest ) just offer to pay off the loan or wait until the car is repossessed. We wanted to resolve the problem, but they wont give any option. 

Very disappointed. 

User 's recommendation : check with another lenders before sign any car loan as they wont help to customers affected by the cover-19 pandemic.

Thank you in Advance

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation