Consumer complaint received 2017-07-04
Company: Wakpamni Lake Community Corporation
State: HI
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Title loan
Issue: Struggling to pay your loan

Complaint:
Since XX/XX/XXXX, I have been paying XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX {$98.00} on my paydays. To date, they have taken {$1000.00} from me and I only borrowed {$500.00} from them. On XX/XX/XXXX, I emailed their customer service to find out how many payments I had left until the loan was paid in full and the representative who responded on XX/XX/XXXX stated the following : XXXX, You had made 6 payments towards your finance fees only. You have not made any payments towards your principal balance. Upon approval we had advised you we debit the finance fees only, and if you add anything towards your principal you would have to call into the office and advise us that 48 hour prior notice before your payday. Otherwise we debit the fees, and that does not apply towards your principal. <P/>My response on XX/XX/XXXX was : I 've been a good customer who had steadily made my payments on time and not missed one yet who is also facing more difficult times. This payment twice a month has been a burden on me. <P/>Your website is difficult to navigate as it does not show my contract and what I printed out in XX/XX/XXXX also does n't show the installment plan. It also does n't give accurate, up to date information about how much I 've paid and what is left. Something about that does n't sound right to me. <P/>Your response did not answer my original question- How many more payments are left? <P/>I 've made 6 payments. 6 times {$98.00} = {$580.00}, meaning I 've already paid over the {$500.00} that you 've loaned me. <P/>A {$510.00} payday loan ( which is the max we can borrow per state law in Hawai'i ) with a 14 day borrowing time frame would have an interest rate of 460.08 %, which would bring my final payoff amount to {$600.00}. <P/>Thank you for such a succinct response. <P/>Sincerely, XXXX The response from the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX representative was : XXXX This was provided to you in your loan bundle and was also relayed to you over the phone '' When your loan comes due, you have 3 options of payment : Pay just the finance fee and extend your loan until your next payday Pay the loan in full Pay the finance fee plus extra towards the principal. Anything extra will lower your next payment and the total payoff. <P/>You can extend your loan as many times as you need to as long as you pay the minimum finance Your principal balance is XXXX and your finance fees is XXXX There is no specific amount of payments to pay off your account, as mentioned it is up to you to call in and add towards your principal balance. <P/>Your finance fees does not apply to your principal balance, We are different from a payday loan company and we have different rules and policies on our end,. <P/>If you have any questions call into the office and speak to an agent, When I called on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke to representative, XXXX, I was told the same thing. All of the money I 've been paying them has not gone towards my principal rate. XXXX also said that if I wanted to pay back the full principal amount, I would need to call into the office two business days before to make the change. She also told me that it would take their agency over a month to send me back my car title. <P/>On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX, the company that has been debiting my account twice a month on my paydays, made a deposit of {$500.00} into my bank account. The contract from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX as well as their website provides conflicting information. The contract states they 've financed me {$530.00} and the website is saying {$540.00}. On XX/XX/XXXX, I also received an email from XXXX, a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX representative, stating they could only loan me {$500.00}. <P/>According to my findings on the Consumer Federation of America website ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ), car title loans are restricted in the state of Hawaii where I reside. Only 16 states allow three digit APR rates and Hawaii is not one of them. <P/>XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX is another tribally owned organization by Wakpamni Lake Community, on the grounds of XXXX XXXX XXXX of the XXXX XXXX XXXX, who I believe has scammed myself and others out of their money and they need to be put out of business as what they are doing is illegal.

Company response to consumer: Untimely response