Consumer complaint received 2020-09-21
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: NJ
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Struggling to pay your loan
Sub-issue: Loan balance remaining after the vehicle is repossessed and sold

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I filed a complaint with the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau regarding this matter. To summarize the complaint, Chase has been misreporting a closed, charged-off auto loan to major credit bureaus since XXXX. I believe they incorrectly handled the repossession of my vehicle, however they disagreed. What continues to remain unresolved is my requesting proof of this debt, which Chase has never furnished. 

In XXXX, my identity was stolen after I obtained an auto loan from Chase. Because of the costs associated with remedying the identity theft, I reached out to Chase to see if there was any way they would accommodate my situation. They did not. I defaulted on the auto loan after missing two payments in XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. My car was repossessed in XX/XX/XXXX, and I received a " Notice of Intent To Sell ''. The problems escalated when I tried to retrieve my personal belongings from the vehicle at the repossession agent 's lot. Long story short, I was not allowed to retrieve my personal belongings. I was also denied the date and time the sale of the vehicle took place, and was thus unable to verify if the sale was conducted in a proper manner. This was of no concern to Chase. In their response to my CFPB complaint, Chase was blatantly dishonest, while also failing to acknowledge the core of my complaint ; To this day, I have yet to see a deficiency notice.

Chase has been reporting a " charge-off '', with {$6700.00} as " written-off '', and a remaining balance of {$4300.00}. This is a total of {$11000.00} that they are holding me responsible for. The original loan amount was for {$32000.00}. The balance I owed when they repossessed my vehicle was {$1600.00}. That leaves ~ {$10000.00} that Chase claims I am responsible for, but hasnt accounted for, whatsoever. That doesnt even account for the monthly payments I made towards the original loan balance in the months prior to their repossessing the vehicle. There is no world where anyone would justify {$11000.00} in repossession costs for ~ {$1700.00} overdue balance on a vehicle that was worth ~ {$30000.00} ( after depreciation ) at the time. But I wouldnt know, as Ive yet to see a deficiency notice.

In their response to my CFPB complaint, Chase claims that they  charged off the account on XX/XX/XXXX, while maintaining that they have not spoken to me since XX/XX/XXXX. They have submitted documents that do prove that I was indeed late on my payments, and that they repossessed the vehicle. However, theyve simply disparaged my other requests, and have not furnished any post-sale notices that accounts for what I owe. They have not provided any documentation on how they arrived at the balance they have been reporting to credit bureaus. I only learned of these numbers through exploring my credit reports. 

If Chase believes they repossessed and sold the vehicle properly, why am I yet to see a deficiency notice, even after requesting it in writing through my complaint with the CFPB? They also failed to produce a deficiency notice in XX/XX/XXXX, when I disputed this information through XXXX and XXXX. In my original complaint, I mentioned how disputing this information resulted in a 100+ drop in  my credit score. When I disputed the information, Chase " updated '' the information of my credit report, which is what caused my score to drop. I simply requested that Chase produce the documents proving  the debt, which they did not do. XXXX and XXXX accepted Chase 's claim that the information was " verified as accurate '' without Chase producing any documents to prove this amount.

Aside from that, as another part of their response to my complaint, Chase has incorrectly " re-reported '' this account to credit bureaus again, on XX/XX/XXXX. Now, instead of showing only a " charge-off '' with a remaining balance of {$4300.00} out of the original {$32000.00} loan balance, they are now reporting the {$4300.00} as the entire balance, along with the {$6700.00} charge-off. This virtually restructures the debt to appear as if I owe 100 % of the entire balance, instead of {$4300.00} out of {$32000.00} ( 13 % of the entire balance ). This has again caused my credit score to drop by 125 points, over-night. Again, this was just a result of disputing the  information, and requesting proof of debt. How was Chase able to charge-off the same account in XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX? This is the exact type of practice that led me to file my original complaint with the CFPB. Again, neither Chase, XXXX  nor XXXX acknowledge any of this in their response to my complaint. 

Not only that, another part of Chase 's response to my complaint was to remove me as an authorized user on two of my mother 's credit cards, on XX/XX/XXXX. I know this can not be because of my credit history, because aside from this derogatory Chase Auto loan, my credit score was excellent. Ive spent countless dollars, along with my blood, sweat and tears to repair my credit from the Chase Auto loan disaster. My credit card utilization averages <1 %. Of the > {$90000.00} in available credit I have earned, I am only using ~ {$100.00}. It would be nave to think it's simply a coincidence that Chase removed me as an authorized user the very next day they  responded to my complaint. It is actually pretty clear that this was a retaliatory act. How dare I ask Chase to verify a debt, which again, they still have not done? Nowhere in Chase 's response to my complaint did they account for the cost of repossession. Nowhere did they state the date of sale for the vehicle. Nowhere did they state the amount the vehicle was sold for. Nowhere did they account for any repossession fees, storage fees, etc ... Nowhere does Chase show why {$6700.00} was " written-off '' and that there is {$4300.00} remaining. Nowhere has Chase explained how I am responsible for {$11000.00}, post-sale.   Chase has not acted in good faith with this account since XXXX, and they made it clear that they dont plan on acting in good faith with their retaliatory behavior in response to my CFPB complaint. Despite their intimidation tactics, there is no way I will simply take their word on how they arrived at those numbers. There is no reason for XXXX or XXXX  to take their word for those numbers either. Chase has had the opportunity to furnish these documents on multiple occasions, especially when they were required to by New Jersey law after the sale of the vehicle. They had the opportunity to furnish a deficiency notice when I disputed this information when I disputed this with  XXXX  and XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX. They had another opportunity to furnish this in my recent complaint with the CFPB. However, the fact is they have yet to provide anything that proves this charge-off/remaining balance, or proves that they are accurately reporting this account. They failed to provide the specific documents Ive requested, and yet again, XXXX  and XXXX have simply taken their word for it. 

How is the information provided by Chase enough for XXXX  and XXXX  to " verify '' this debt, when Chase has never furnished any sort of deficiency notice? As per Chase, they have not spoken with me since XX/XX/XXXX. If the charge-off on my account occurred on XX/XX/XXXX, that means Chase admits, in writing, that they have not spoken to me regarding anything post-sale of the vehicle. They have not spoken to me about any sort of deficiency notice at all.

If I have not been able to get Chase to provide me with a deficiency  notice for over five years, how can XXXX or XXXX simply accept Chase 's response to my disputes without having received a deficiency notice either? Surely, if XXXX/XXXX  is accepting Chase 's word for the validity of this account, they can produce this notice, no? Can XXXX/XXXX  prove how much my car was sold for? Can they show where Chase proved to them why {$6700.00} was correctly written off? Can they prove how I still " owe '' {$4300.00} after said charge-off? Can they prove how Chase arrived  at these numbers? If XXXX  or XXXX  can not prove this, then it's alarmingly irresponsible for them to allow Chase to keep reporting this unverified information. If they can prove this, then they have been withholding this information from me for at least two years.

To finalize, getting a bank as large as Chase to verify a debt should not be this difficult. Disputing this information in an attempt to verify this debt should not have a damaging impact on my credit. And it's insane that I even have to say this, but attempts to verify a debt should certainly not come with retaliation from the bank. Due to the  negligence of Chase, XXXX, and XXXX, this account should be removed from my credit reports. I won't relitigate how completely unprofessional Chase 's handling of the repossession took place, or how they failed to allow me to retrieve my personal belongings, or how they prevented me from attending the sale of the vehicle. The simple fact is that after five years, and multiple written requests, Chase has failed to provide me with a simple deficiency notice.

Again, asking for proof of a debt does not warrant retaliatory behavior, nor should it knock my credit score back down to where it  was five years ago. The amount of damage that this alone has done to my credit is enormous. All without Chase providing any sort of deficiency notice, or any sort of post-sale accounting of how Chase has arrived at these numbers. Ive attached Chases response to my original complaint, proving that they have yet to produce anything even remotely close to proving that I am responsible for anything near their {$11000.00}. With the exuberant amount Chase claims I am responsible for, and the incredible amount of time allowed for Chase to furnish a simple deficiency notice, after multiple written requests over all of these years, this is completely unacceptable. This account should never have been allowed to be reported to credit bureaus without these simple documents, and should be removed from my credit files immediately.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation