Consumer complaint received 2021-12-31
Company: Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc.
State: GA
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Billing problem

Complaint:
Subprime auto loan - Lender : Santander Consumer Finance Purchase date : XX/XX/XXXX *secondary resigning of finance contract on XX/XX/XXXX. Finance Amt : {$31000.00} APR : 22.05 % Terms : 72 months / 6 years Monthly Payment : {$780.00} down payment : {$2500.00} & no trade two additional contracts were included in the finance contract signed the second time on XX/XX/XXXX, they included a GAP insurance policy adding {$640.00}, along with an extended warranty plan for {$3300.00} both of which were approved to be included in the financed amount by Santander adding them onto the top of my loan amount & charged 22.05 % interest rate. The dealership finance manager informed me that Santander required both of those items to be included in the loan as a condition for my approval -- -mind you this happened when I was asked to come back in on XX/XX/XXXX to resign the finance contract that had minor term changes primarily being the payment amount and due date but when I was sitting down to resign the revised contract the two additional contracts were added in, with the above explanation given to me as to why the resigning and changes in terms occurred. Not anything I could do at that point to attempt to have some leverage I had totaled out my other vehicle and had been driving the used but new to me vehicle for two full weeks & had no other transportation source, while already having paid {$2500.00} down payment, with the reason being that the two additional coverage contracts a requirement by Santander in order to approve the loan- I just had to accept it for what it was at that point. I was in the weaker spot to stand up against this wrong for what was right. 
my monthly payment obligation was ; {$780.00}, a much larger payment than what I had on my prior car I totaled, that payment was $ 340 month, now I was liable for double that amount every month. 

Below is an outline of my payment history up to the point I was forced to file a XXXX XXXX to avoid having the vehicle repossessed. The very date I was told if I did not have {$1600.00}- which was equal to two payments & two late fees, then by XX/XX/XXXX my vehicle would be dispatched for pick up on a repo. Payments due on the XXXX of each month ; YearXX/XX/XXXXmonth Payment amt paid Date payment made How payment reported to be applied to my balance XXXX {$820.00} XX/XX/XXXX w/late payment I paid the late charge as apart of that XXXX so XXXX {$39.00} late fee. payment made was applied ALL towards interest nothing applied toward principle no late fee paid from the XXXX paymt XXXX {$820.00} XX/XX/XXXX none of my {$820.00} was applied to the principle nor the late fee paid XXXX {$850.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$230.00} applied to principle no late fee paid -- i paid it in my paymt XXXX {$800.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$220.00} applied to principle no late fee paid -- no funds for late fee XXXX {$880.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$210.00} applied to principle no late fee paid- I paid it in my paymt XXXX {$760.00} XX/XX/XXXX none of my {$760.00} was applied to the principle - no funds for late fee Year : XXXX XXXX Deferment approved for defer Late fee of {$39.00} was billed to my account, payment deferred XXXX XXXX {$850.00} XX/XX/XXXX none of my {$850.00} was applied to principle- paid late fee-not applied XXXX {$900.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$22.00} applied to principle {$870.00} interest-paid ate fee-not applied XXXX {$610.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$57.00} applied to principle {$550.00} interest-paid late fee-not applied XXXX Deferment approved for defer Late fee of {$39.00} was billed to my account payment t, deferred ma XXXX {$900.00} XX/XX/XXXX none of {$900.00} was applied to principle - late fee paid not applied XXXX {$390.00} XX/XX/XXXX None applied to principle - late fee not paid by paymt - billed acct XXXX {$200.00} XX/XX/XXXX None applied to principle - late fee already billed on XX/XX/XXXX paymt XXXX {$1200.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$590.00} principle paid+ {$30.00} misc fee + {$39.00} late fee billed XXXX- {$1200.00} XX/XX/XXXX RETURNED PAYMENT BY BANK that XXXX payment was effectively {$780.00} + {$410.00} towards XXXX payment due leaving {$370.00} due for XXXX returned XXXX No payment made - received a letter from Santander stating that I had until XX/XX/XXXX to submit {$1600.00} or after that date if that payment amt is not made the car will be dispatched for pick by a repo company. Only option I had at that time in order to ensure I maintained my source of transportation was to enter into a XXXXXXXX XXXX bankruptcy - the car ( outside of some minor bills that I included in the case ) was the primary reason and only real reason I moved to file a chp XXXX the payments were unmanageable i am on a fixed income on XXXX from XXXX every month. that is why I had trouble meeting that obligation of nearly {$800.00} a month. Once my XXXX XXXX was filed it was mainly to be able to catch up on the past due payments and also ensure I kept my vehicle to be sure I had a form of reliable transportation. Filed my XXXX case XX/XX/XXXX, the same day that Santander informed me that if I did not have the {$1600.00} payment made my loan would go into default status and the vehicle would be scheduled for repo. I began making payments in my case starting in XXXX and have made every monthly payment ( not easy but I have maintained each payment in my case on time and at the amount due. Thus far I have paid {$16000.00} into my Santander claim with a balance due of {$18000.00}. not including the 7.5 % interest rate that is also paid monthly as well. Santander maintained their position as the lienholder and lender until approx. XX/XX/XXXX at which time they SOLD the loan to XXXX, whom is a debt collection firm, who in turn transferred the servicing rights to XXXX a debt collector agency who services charged off accounts/loans from lenders. Santander ironically SOLD my loan off to XXXX because Santander was 1. involved in the class action lawsuit ordeal which my loan meets the criteria to qualify for some form of restitution and relief in the settlement remedies issued. but Santander has written my loan off as a charge off account, and sold it at a significant discount to XXXX who has XXXX assigned as the servicer. I contacted both Santander as well as the settlement firm that has been hired to administer the lawsuit claims and manage the consumers that receive restitution in the settlement, and both of the companies were useless in helping me find resolution and answers as to confirmation that my loan qualifies and what type of settlement will I be due. Santander no longer has my account information in their system bc the loan has been fully charged off from their books as of XXXX and it was subsequently sold to XXXX a debt buyer for charged off auto loans from Santander. I then proceeded to contact XXXX regarding my eligibility to participate in the class action settlement based upon the criteria set forth in the class action terms and conditions; informing the XXXX agent that my loan met all the required items needed to be eligible for the settlement. Rightfully so, my loan obtained from Santander in XX/XX/XXXX is the primary and number one reason I am in a XXXX  XXXX bankruptcy presently. XXXX customer rep informed me that he would not be able to provide me with any information relative to my loan being apart of the settlement and suggested I have my lawyer call them for further insight. I then called the third party administrator ; XXXX XXXX who told me that if I did not receive a post card or email in XXXX XXXX timeframe then they do not have any means to check if my loan is included in Santander 's list of consumer auto loans which meet the criteria for inclusion in the settlement restitution. They told me to contact Santander directly. I then gave Santander a call a second time to see if I could get someone more knowledgeable or at least willing to put more effort into helping me to find out if my loan met their criteria and how I would go about pursuing a claim. The gentlemen I spoke with did seemingly appear to try to find out this information for me, but no luck in finding a definitive answer for me. He suggested that I contact XXXX consulting the third party administrator whom he said would be able to check the records to find out if my loan was indeed on the list of consumers whom were listed in the settlement. Because I highly respect the CFPB and it's mission and results achieved since being formed, also having personal experiences in working with your organization in the past seeking assistance to resolve other consumer financial matters and having them resolved in the right kind of manner and with upmost success and fairness in upholding the laws and legal aspects of consumers and financial related matters that have wrongly affected them. I have the upmost confidence and belief in the CFPB from past history and felt that your organization could be a useful resources that I could leverage next to get to the bottom of this problem. You are results oriented and one of the very few govt groups that actually take these matters seriously and prove it by the results your staff obtain in the resolution of consumer complaints filed with your team. I am once again leaning on your organization for help in resolving this complaint and helping me find the fair and just resolution to ensure I am treated accordingly and not being taken advantage of due to my bankruptcy circumstances being that I filed a XXXX XXXXXXXX on XX/XX/XXXX not by choice but out of mere desperation because of the fact that the santander consumer auto loan put me into a financial bind that I was not able to find my way out of at the time. 
I read over the settlement summary as it contains the criteria that a consumer must meet in order to qualify for one of the three restitution awards that Santander has funded for certain types of relief based on the criteria a consumer loan must meet in order to be eligible for such specific relief measures. 

Santander is using the bankruptcy case I filed as of XX/XX/XXXX as a measure to charge off the loan and then further to that they chose to sell the charge off debt to a bad debt buyer ; whom is listed as an official collection agency who specifically buys bad debts that have been defaulted on, charged off by the originating lender and left for holding the consumer to the rest of their original contract terms for collecting the remainder of the balance due as per the contract terms. I have a hard time being able to reason with the idea that Santander whom originated an unfair setup to fail from the beginning putting me into a negative subprime auto loan which went into an official default with Santander as of ; XX/XX/XXXX, the same date I filed for relief and protection under XXXX XXXXXXXX no other choice but that route at the time. 
Another " Irony '' in this matter, XXXX acquired the charged off loan from Santander on XXXX, Santander decided to charge off the loan as of XXXX, once XXXX acquired the loan, they then created a new account number, detaching from the Santander account number which was the key component as to how Santander and XXXX the administrator of the class action settlement, would utilize in order to identify my loan as qualifying for the settlement and to execute the necessary communication to notify me of this action and what the remedy would be that my loan criteria met. The date that Santander and XXXX began notifying the consumers whose loans qualified for the settlement were initially contacted on XXXX. This is the exact date that XXXX assigned my " file '' to XXXX portfolio services whom would be servicing my loan. the same date of when santander began initiating contact with consumers whose loans met the criteria to receive settlement. that is outside of just being a mere coincidence., its financial trickery at its finest in my humble belief. And a new account number was created before XXXX received the file on the loan. In my opinion after reviewing the facts and figures of these series of events, I think Santander knew my loan had just less than one month well before any hearings or plan was even close to being confirmed, they knew that the easy way out was to pass the buck so that i would not be in a line of sight to be able to make contact with to notify of the settlement and how my loan would be handled. 

Last point I would like to bring to your attention is the manner in which Santander managed my auto loan accounting details was far from any standard that they are required to adhere to in order to minimize and avoid taking advantage of an average consumer. Nearly half of my payments made monthly were never used to pay towards the principal, they were applied towards the interest portion of the loan which the other half of the payments made had the expected principal applied. I made the payments late each month but once again when I did pay the bill, which was generally about 10 days or so past the actual due date due to conflict with when the payment was due and when I was paid didnt XXXX. I always added an extra {$40.00} bucks to cover the late fee that I knew I would assume by paying the bill later than the grace period but not past 30 days at first. Never not one time did Santander ever use those funds to settle the late charges they continued to add to the late charges cumulative total and kept increasing late charge totals month after month and never applied my extra {$40.00} to cover the late charges as I had instructed them to. They instead used that extra money I was paying thinking I was paying the late fees so they didn't rack up and build a bigger problem, they used those late payment funds to apply towards their interest fees. my APR was 22.05 % - of which is about the same as a credit card - I probably could have gotten a credit card cheaper than that rate, I am going to attach all of my documentation which will provide proof of my claims and statements made pertaining to Santander and my subprime auto loan that landed my in a XXXX bankruptcy simply because of this loan it being the root cause of my filing protection.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation