Consumer complaint received 2017-02-06
Company: AMERICAN HONDA FINANCE CORP
State: MA
Product: Consumer Loan
Sub-product: Vehicle lease
Issue: Taking out the loan or lease

Complaint:
In XX/XX/XXXX I leased a XXXX Pilot from XXXX XXXX dealership in XXXX, Massachusetts. It was a closed end lease with XXXX payments of {$380.00}, comprised of {$360.00} " Base Monthly/Single Payment '' and {$18.00} " monthly sales/use tax ''. This was my XXXX lease with XXXX XXXX, & my only complaint about the first was that I was charged XXXX Taxes of hundreds of dollars outside of the lease payments so I wanted to make sure this did n't happen again. This new lease date was XXXX/XXXX/XXXX. I received a " Welcome '' packet in the mail from American Honda Finance Corporation dated XX/XX/XXXX. The envelope has the written message " Important leasing documents enclosed ''. Inside the envelope the letter says " Thank you for leasing your XX/XX/XXXX XXXX Pilot LX through American Honda Finance Corporation XXXX XXXX XXXX even though my lease was with XXXX XXXX XXXX? XXXX. The letter says " As a reminder, you are responsible for state imposed personal property taxes, which will be paid directly to the taxing authority on your behalf by XXXX, invoiced to your monthly lease statement XXXX XXXX ) and due along with your regularly scheduled lease payments. '' I presumed they were referring to the " Sales/Use '' tax included in the monthly payment pursuant to the lease. Next I received a monthly lease statement, which contained an " Important Message '' " XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, your account number and payment mailing address will change to a system upgrade. See next month 's statement enclosure for more details. '' The following month I received a " Monthly Statement '' with an " Account XXXX '' instead of a monthly lease statement with a lease number. This statement also contained a bill for {$300.00}. for " Property/Excise Taxes '' in XXXX to the Monthly Payment and tax. 

I disputed the property taxes repeatedly throughout the lease both verbally and in writing sent certified mail. I was told verbally several times they would fix it XXXX but then would not ). I received monthly statements that said " reversed '' or " waived '' but then I would be charged multiple late fees ( XXXX x {$19.00} on XXXX statement alone XXXX, " miscellaneous fees '' without explanation. XXXX repeatedly misapplied my monthly payments to the fees despite my objections. They basically stone walled me. In XX/XX/XXXX I refused to pay until they fixed the problem. They repossessed the vehicle without any advanced notice. The police report confirms they never had provided documentation of authorization. I filed a smalls claim complaint. XXXX agreed to reverse the repossession and late and to extend the lease on month to month basis so I could find another vehicle, if I dismissed the complaint, so I dismissed the complaint. XXXX soon as I returned the signed lease extension, the same practices started again. In XX/XX/XXXX they repossessed the vehicle again without notice or authorization. This time I told them to keep it. They sent me a notice of " XXXX Off '' effective XX/XX/XXXX. I filed another complaint in small claims court and we attempted XXXX. Their rep XXXX XXXX brought me a copy of the lease ( I did not have XXXX for some strange reason ) and a XXXX page document labeled " XXXX '' of all fees charged. These did not match the statements nor the amounts on their website so I then filed a complaint with the XXXX Attorney 's Office, who referred me to a Community Action Org. who did nothing. From XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX AHFC continued collection efforts of the charge off amount XXXX {$4500.00} XXXX. Each time I would request validation of the debt they would stop collection efforts, until XX/XX/XXXX, when I was provided with documents showing XXXX XXXX had actually SOLD the vehicle to XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX so how could they lease it to me? I discovered on XX/XX/XXXX that AHFC furnished false information to XXXX, XXXX and XXXX claiming the charge off and repo were in XX/XX/XXXX. Only XXXX reported that it was disputed debt.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation