Consumer complaint received 2020-03-07
Company: Sierra Holdings LLC
State: TX
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Auto debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt was paid

Complaint:
I opened a car loan with Sierra Auto Finance back in XX/XX/XXXX for {$14000.00} and my monthly payments were {$350.00}. After making payments for 2 years, I figured I would review the loan balance and add up all of my payments. Per the payment log of all of my emailed receipts, I decided to request a pay off of the loan to see the progress of my payments. I was hoping to pay my car loan off in full or at least refinance the loan to lower my payment since I figured that I paid a good portion of my loan off. I received the pay off amount on XX/XX/XXXX and it was for {$10000.00}. 

I was shocked at the amount trying to figure out the math and what happened. I then decided to call customer service back to see if there was a mistake. I got the run around and no one could explain to me what was going on. Everyone was extremely rude and I was treated like I was inhumane. I did not think this was fair and could not believe after all of the money that I paid out over the last 2 years that I was being treated the way that I did. 

Despite the rude and unfair treatment, I decided to keep making my payments as I needed the car. I even paid a little more or sometimes doubled my payments to try and reduce the loan amount at a faster rate. On XX/XX/XXXX, I got into a car accident. The car was still drivable, but the airbags deployed and I was in need of a new car. So I called Sierra Auto Finance to let them know what happened, hoping to resolve the loan balance in full. This way I would be able to apply for another car. The customer service rep stated that I could give the car back since I did not owe that much on the loan and they would sell the car in auction and deduct the amount that the car sold for. Then they would subtract that from my overall balance. I cleaned and vacuumed the car even though it had been wrecked just to show my appreciation and to make things easier for them. A tow truck came and picked that car up and the keys and thanked me for having the car cleaned.

I didt here back from Sierra Auto Finance for months. I never got a new loan amount or a price for what the car sold for. Nothing showing my new loan balance after the deductions. So I just figured that maybe the loan was paid off with the money that they received from selling the car in auction. I even made a payment through the portal as I transitioned out of the wrecked car on XX/XX/XXXX. I wanted to show them that I was still trying to take care of the loan without even having the car. I then hired XXXX to reach out to them regarding this matter because I figured something was not right. 

I was abruptly and swiftly notified by XXXX that Sierra Auto Finance reported the loan on my credit as bad debt/write off and that I owe {$11000.00}!!! It knocked my score down tremendously and made me feel even worse for trusting and investing in this company. I quickly tried to reach out with no response or way in getting in contact with them. I also leaned in the process that they went out of business as I was trying to file a complaint with the XXXX. No wonder they have a 1.8 star rating and a massive amount of complaints about people going through my same situation or worse. 

I have all of my receipts of payments, pictures of the wrecked car along with the insurance claim, the pay off requests attempts, and my credit report showing the inaccuracies. I want this removed from my credit immediately because this is not fair or is it best business practices.

Company response to consumer: Untimely response