Consumer complaint received 2023-09-16
Company: NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: VA
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Other problem

Complaint:
My husband, an XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX  had a credit card debt with Navy Federal that resulted in just recently them taking every cent from our joint account leaving us with absolutely nothing to live off of. The ONLY reason it was even brought back up after all these years is because my husband actually reached out last month to discuss a payoff, set up payments. So in the end he reached out to try to make things right and in return Navy Federal took everything he had and was extremely harsh about it. The first representative he spoke with told him ill get you transferred but you aint getting no money back he said excuse me? and she repeated i will transfer you but you wont get nothing back. Another representative he spoke with told him the agreement he signed for the credit card could not be accessed online that he would look and see if he could send the agreement which we now know was not true and hes legally obligated to provide such documentation. We reached out and explained that i had been ill the last few years and unable to work so my husband was carrying the load himself and we had been struggling to get by the last few years but i took a job just XXXX months ago while XXXX  just to try helping him tackle these debts and get back on track..The money navy federal took included my last check before my XXXX XXXX. I was preparing to pay the {$1500.00} owed to my XXXX for the XXXX  of the XXXX  i am currently XXXX  with due any day. Those funds were due to her that day and i now have nothing at all to pay towards the birth of XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  last year. Due to the financial hardship weve been experiencing our mortgage was also on hold while we worked on getting a loan modification as we had fallen behind. After XXXX months of waiting we were finally approved with a {$700.00} mortgage increase now making it {$2100.00} with the first payment being due XX/XX/XXXX and we now have NOTHING to pay towards our first mortgage payment after waiting XXXX months! We have to be on a XXXX month trial with this new mortgage so if we do not make payment or are late we will lose our home. It seems that is exactly what is about to happen because we have absolutely no way of replacing what Navy Federal took. I will have to get rid of my current XXXX  plan and will not be able to XXXX  with the XXXX ive seen my whole entire XXXX because i am now unable to pay her the necessary fees before XXXX. Also, this took place XXXX days before my XXXX XXXX XXXX daughters birthday so we also have NOTHING to contribute to her birthday. We had absolutely no food left in the home the day this took place and i was planning on grocery shopping after work. Weve had to have family members come together just to feed the children. I worked so hard to make the funds that they took so that we could comfortably start working towards things and bettering our credit. Even in my last month of XXXX i was taking everyday my workplace had available, barely seeing my family anymore and risking another XXXX XXXX like we experienced last year only to have the XXXX  we had snatched from us. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX I am trying so hard not to allow that to happen to this XXXX  but i dont see how my family will recover from this. This has already started a spiral downhill and i am trying to prepare for us to lose so much. We explained the hardship they would be causing and that my husband had literally just reached out to try to figure things out with them and it got us nowhere. They took everything and then considered the amount they took as a settlement. This is such harsh treatment and i know that the financial hardship caused was not considered at all. The representative i spoke with told me this isnt the normal route Navy Federal takes. He said once the account was switched back they typically would send out letters themselves before taking action. We did not receive anything before this, definitely not a letter explaining their intent to offset. I am aware of our options in this situation as weve been able to speak to a few people about the way the process was handled considering my husband reaching out to work with them just a month ago as well as some of the things we were told during the phone calls but we are hoping to not have to stall things out. I did ask for atleast the funds in the account that were mine to be recovered and that was refused as well. They stated that the system sees it as my husbands funds. He did in fact reach out to THEM about this debt to try to work on paying them and this was the end result. We havent had the funds to do so anytime prior but the entire point of me taking a job was for situations like this. It would a little less harsh had he not reached out to try to figure things out just a month ago. Navy Federal speaks so much of their dedication to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and their families but is capable of ruining one family in the matter of seconds and allowing their representative to be ruthless and cold about it. Mentally i am afraid for both my husband and I.

Id also like to add i was not linked to this credit card we just had a joint account together which is the account they drained.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation