Consumer complaint received 2022-10-26
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: TX
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Billing problem

Complaint:
Company : Bank of America Background : Financed a loan through dealer on XX/XX/2022 that was through BoA. Applied for refinancing for loan shortly after through XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. Requested 10-day payoff quote through BoA for vehicle loan on XX/XX/2022 with " good through '' date of XX/XX/2022 at no later than XXXX. Sent the check by overnight delivery with XXXX on Saturday XX/XX/2022, and the check was marked as delivered on Monday morning XX/XX/2022. 

XX/XX/2022, XXXX XXXX : Outgoing call for 15 minutes on the phone with BoA requesting confirmation of check received and status of vehicle loan payoff. Representative stated that there was no record of check received. No notes on my account indicated that check had been received. I indicated I would call back at a later date. 

XX/XX/2022, XXXX XXXX : Outgoing call for 11 minutes on the phone with BoA requesting confirmation of check received and status of vehicle loan payoff. A different representative than the previous call again stated that there was no record of check received. Representative offered to open an investigation into the whereabouts of the check and assured me that they would let me know if/when they were able to locate the lost check and the status of my vehicle loan payoff. 

After two weeks of not hearing back and not seeing any notifications or changes to my account, I called back to determine the status of my account, as the date of first due payment had arrived and I didn't want late fees to be added to my account when I was trying to close out the loan. 

XX/XX/2022, XXXX XXXX : Outgoing call for 33 minutes. The BoA representative looked into my account in the same manner as the previous calls, but this time they came across a note that my check had been received and returned to the issuer of the check ( NFCU ) on XX/XX/2022. The justification for returning the check was that BoA had not received the title from the dealer and was unable to post a check without the collateral available to release as a condition of the check. I told them I understood this, but did not understand why I hadn't been notified. They didn't have a reason, but they did escalate me to a higher level for better explanation of the situation. The higher level explanation was just more repetition in explaining that they were unable to accept the check and that it was my credit union 's responsibility to notify me the check was rejected. There was never any rationale given as to why the call on XX/XX/2022 was unable to notify me of the returned check. At the suggestion of the representative, a complaint was logged with the bank at this time. 

XX/XX/2022, XXXX CST : Outgoing call for XXXX minutes. I notified BoA that I had contacted XXXX regarding the issue with BoA returning the check. XXXX proposed the solution of depositing the funds directly into my account so that I could close out my loan with BoA and stop accruing interest for a loan that I had tried to pay off 2+ weeks prior. At this time, I notified the representative that I did not find it fair to be required to pay the accrued interest between the time the initial payoff check had been received/returned and present, because I was able to immediately remedy the issue they had once I was aware of the problem. I had called diligently the week the check was expected to be received so as to avoid any initial problems, and I only stopped calling once I was told that an investigation would take place to discover the whereabouts of my check. She told me she would have to again escalate the matter to their Escalation Team and that they would get back to me. 

XX/XX/2022, XXXX CST : Incoming call for 5 minutes. I was called by a member of the escalation team notifying me that he was able to waive {$50.00} of the accrued interest to date, but that he lacked the authority to waive any more than that. I let him know that while appreciated, I did not intend to pay any of the accrued interest. ( Interest accrual was {$5.00} a day, and I had notified personnel on multiple calls that the two week period I waited for a response before getting back to them was essentially {$84.00} in interest as a direct result of BoA error. ) He said he could escalate the issue further and they would get back to me. 

XX/XX/2022, XXXX CST : Missed call/Voicemail left requesting that I call them back at a different number than I have previously been calling. Outgoing call for 13 minutes, and I later found that it was the XXXX, FL office I was calling. The representative I spoke with was not the one handling my case, but I caught her up and she said she would see what they could do before getting back to me. I learned on this call, as she had access to more specific logs, that the check was returned on or about XX/XX/2022 at just past XXXX EST. 

XX/XX/2022, XXXX CST : Incoming call for 15 minutes. In the final call with BoA, I was told that my request for waived interest following my original payoff date had been denied by Manager XXXX XXXX. The representative said that my prior calls were reviewed and the bank did not accept fault for the incident. I reminded the representative that it took me less than 48 hours to secure funding after speaking with my bank, and that would have been the original response had I been told my check had been returned when I called the bank 2+ weeks prior. He stated that he understood, but there was nothing that he could do. I requested transcripts of our interactions up to this point and was told that they could only be provided in response to a legal request. I notified him that I had no option then but to route my complaint through the CFPB, and that I would go ahead and make my payoff for the vehicle loan at that time. He stated he could give me the payoff quote current as of XX/XX/2022 and took my information for the payoff. 

My issue with this series of interactions has been that it was abundantly clear the representative I spoke with as of XX/XX/2022 should have been capable of informing me of the situation. Assuming that he didn't have the information available at that time, he stated he was opening an investigation that should have been resolved very quickly given the series of events, and someone from BoA should have been able to notify me of the returned check. It is unfair that I owe interest for a time period that I was awaiting a response from BoA after I had made more than reasonable attempts to obtain the information previously. Every BoA representative I have spoke with since it was found the check was returned has acknowledged that this was done prior to my inquiry and that they understand my concern. All calls were recorded and supposedly reviewed by Manager XXXX, and yet he denies culpability on behalf of the bank.

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 explanation