Consumer complaint received 2021-01-05
Company: CREDIT ACCEPTANCE CORPORATION
State: MI
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Billing problem

Complaint:
Credit Acceptance Violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act and CARES Act by reporting me to the credit agencies as a result of their internal error while I was XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX hospitalize with XXXX ( I am attaching the hospital records for your review ). I really need your assistance to have Credit Acceptance correct their mistake, I need them to remove the negative reporting with the credit agencies as the negative reporting was caused by their negligence and poor training. My car payment automatically deducts from my bank account however on XXXX, I was a victim of identity theft and I had to change my bank accounts to prevent fraud. On XX/XX/2020, I called Credit Acceptance to make my current payment and provide them with my new debit card information for them to update their records so that going forward they could process the autopayment on the new card/account. The representative that I spoke to confirmed that current payment was processed, and that the payment method was updated with the new account, the representative also confirmed that going forward all auto payments would process on the new card. I thank the representative and hang up. On XX/XX/2020, I got XXXX XXXX with XXXX, I had to go to the hospital and was released the same day as my XXXX XXXX was not of concern, however I was XXXX XXXX and XXXX  and the illness did not get any better in fact it got worse. I had to go back to the hospital on XX/XX/XXXX, I got admitted to the hospital again because of XXXX XXXX and was not released until XX/XX/2020. My XXXX XXXX XXXX during a period of about two months. During this time, I did not have any energy or desire to check my bank statements or accounts, first because I was really XXXX  and also, I was not concerned with my finances as I knew I had everything in order. Prior to being hospitalized I was also working with my bank to finance a house so as soon as I felt better I check my credit report to see what my credit score was as I will soon be submitting an application for a mortgage. However, to my surprise, I noticed that Credit Acceptance had reported me for late payment. I could not believe it as on XX/XX/XXXX, prior to me XXXX XXXX with XXXX, I had called Credit Acceptance to provide my new payment method and their representative had confirmed enrollment on the autopay. I got extremely upset after finding out this and called Credit Acceptance again to see what they could do but the representative told me that they could not do anything. However, the representative that I spoke to on XX/XX/XXXX confirmed that I called on XX/XX/XXXX to update the information for the autopay and to make a payment and that I was provided a confirmation. However, she told me that they did not enrolled me on autopay because they can not process autopayments on debit cards. Well Credit Acceptance should have told me that the day that I called to get enrolled in the service that they can not process payment to debit card instead of providing confirmation of completed transaction. It is not my fault that Credit Acceptance does not properly trains its employees and because of this negligence now my credit score is ruined. They are unfairly limiting my ability to obtain credit, and this is all a result of their error. I should not have to find this out 3-months later after they unfairly reported me to the credit agencies for something that was not my fault. I feel that this is an unfair and deceptive practice that they have in place to take advantage of consumers particularly the ones that can not defend themselves such as is the case of people with XXXX and limited English. They do this to charge people with fees. When I called I told them I was hospitalized with XXXX and that it was not my fault that they could not process the payment because they should have been able to tell me that their system did not allowed them to process payments to debit cards. I asked them to contact the credit agencies to fix the negative reporting and they would not do it. I really need help ; all I want is for them to go to the credit agencies and remove the late payments. I am protected under the CARES Act as I had XXXX if this is happening to me, I am sure there are other people that are experiencing this. However, I believe this is part of a bigger issue it is not ethical that a company makes people believe that they will automatically withdraw their payments for them just to be surprised with late fees. My credit score was affected to the point that I now will not be able to finance the house that I wanted, and this is all just because Credit Acceptance ticked me into believing that I was enrolled for autopay. It is really sad to know that the government puts this law and regulations in place to help it citizens but in reality these company that take our money and can careless about the laws and regulation and the people that are giving them business. Unfortunately, I do not have the resources to get a lawyer but if you can guide me to where can I go to receive some assistance to legally fight, I would really appreciate it. I have contacted the local news to see if they can what happen to me so that other people that have experience problems like mine speak up or are in the look up for these predatory practices. I am really depressed that because of them I will now not be able to buy a house.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief