Consumer complaint received 2016-11-28
Company: TMX Finance LLC
State: CA
Product: Consumer Loan
Sub-product: Vehicle loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease

Complaint:
My name is XXXX XXXX and I am filing a complaint against Titlemax of XXXX located at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, CA XXXX. Phone : XXXX. For Misrepresentation / Fraud/ Predatory Lending On XX/XX/XXXX I stopped by the aforementioned Titlemax office to inquire about a possible title loan on my XXXX XXXX. My original desired amount to borrow was {$3000.00}. I was told by XXXX XXXX XXXX ( General Manager ) that my auto qualified for {$6000.00} and I would get a much better rate if I borrowed more than the {$3000.00}. That the interest rate would be much lower if I borrowed more. In the end, I said I do n't need that much but I guess I would borrow {$5000.00} since the rate was better than borrowing {$3000.00}. 

I was provided a contract and received a check for {$5000.00}. I asked XXXX who is no longer with the company what my late fee is in the event that I 'm late and he pointed to the contract and said {$10.00} for up to 10 days late. It seemed fair to me. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I made my first cash payment of {$500.00} per month. ( see attached ). I was n't sure why there was a {$1.00} interest carryover charge but paid no mind to it. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I called and spoke to the new ( General Manager ) XXXX XXXX, and told her I was out of town and would be there in a few days so I will just pay the {$10.00} late fee. She asked me what {$10.00} was I talking about and told her that is what it says on my contract. ( see attached ). She well, I do n't know anything about that. That the way it works here is every day that you are late ; you have to pay the daily interest. If you choose to just pay the monthly payment, we add that daily interest to the balance of your principle balance. Thus ballooning my balance. I told her that I thought that my balance goes down and amortizes with each payment and she said no that the loan is interest only. 
I read online that this is not legal in the state of California. Nevertheless, I went ahead and made my second payment. It was supposed to be {$500.00} but she said she did not have change so to just give her {$510.00} with an interest carryover of {$84.00} making my new balance {$5100.00}. 

The next few days, they kept calling me to let re-finance my current loan. That there is still {$1000.00} available to loan me. I was n't interested but a few weeks later I decided to do it. I spoke to an agent by the name of XXXX XXXX and she said all I needed was to make my XX/XX/XXXX payment. I stopped by the XXXX office on XX/XX/XXXX and met with XXXX. She asked me for my Credit Card to charge me for the XX/XX/XXXX payment and ran the card. She then came back to the desk and told me that I qualified for {$1200.00} more. She pulled out her calculator and notepad and said my new payment would barely change. That it would be {$510.00} per month, that me new payment date was XX/XX/XXXX per month and handed me a check. I assumed, not knowing how title loans worked that I did not have to sign a new contract since she gave me the check and said you 're good to go, have a nice day. On XX/XX/XXXX, I receive a friendly reminder that my payment is due on the 4th text message. I was concerned about that and immediately called Titlemax and told asked them to change the notifications since my next payment of {$510.00} is due on XX/XX/XXXX. The gentleman who answered the phone said that my payment is not {$510.00} per month. That it is {$620.00} and due tomorrow. I said what are you talking about? My payment, according to XXXX, is {$510.00} due on XX/XX/XXXX!! He asked me if I have a contract and Itold him I was never given one. That I only have my original contract back from XX/XX/XXXX. He said that they were having a problem with the computer and did not record the new payment and that I was n't given a new contract because they were also having a problem with the printer. I said well, you printed my check and also printed a copy of my credit ca

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation