Consumer complaint received 2022-12-23
Company: Westlake Services, LLC
State: NJ
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Installment loan
Issue: Getting the loan

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2021 I signed a Retail Installment Contract which was provided to me, by a used car dealership XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX who at the time was acting as the agent for XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX who is the principle and the financial institution whom the my loan was assigned to. XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX  have an agreement in place which provides them with loans, cars, tracking devices, legal representation, along with anything else a dealership would need to keep its operation running other then its employees but they may even provide training to teach XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX employees how to identify new customers ( victoms  ) for XXXX XXXX which fit a specific profile that they are looking for such as minorities, people who are struggling financially and has a credit rating below the national average, customers who are not educated regarding the true cost of financing, and any customer who is unable to secure their own financing. I should have been able to secure financing through a bank which was not subprime based on my XXXX XXXX XXXX and thought that XXXX  XXXX XXXX would approach various lenders to find me my best option. At no time was it ever stated to me that they were acting as an agent of XXXX XXXX, that they would be the sole lender whom they would be approaching " on my behalf '', or that the Underwriting priniciples used to determine the cost of my financing were different then those used by other major lenders which would have given me a loan with more favorable terms that could all be viewed in the contract both oarties agreed to rather then including language which I still have not seen until this day by reference in the contract signed. Before entering into the agreement the required disclosures were never made- cost of financing, actual interest rate applied, all of the fees or the paymeny schedule that I would need to follow. These details were not provided to me until after I electronically signed the installment agreement at which time i was not given an opportunity to review the contract 's full terms and conditions ( which completly favor the lender ) or provided with the required disclosures in violation of New Jersey and Federal Law - Truth in Lending Act. This was not as a result of an honest mistake meaning they forgot but rather the actions of XXXX XXXX XXXX agent for the principle Westlake Financial Services who jointly and systematically prey on people who are vulnerable, ignorant and in need which have limited funds which would include myself. I just as the countless others who have had to deal with the scrupulous practices of Westlake Financial which has the benefit of the experience and financial resources not available to me or there other victoms whose only chance at rescinding the agreement or otherwise altering same I believe is legally justified but just as the countless other victoms I too can not afford the benefit of legal counsell which is the only remedy available in this circumstance. If the failure to disclose the true cost of financing wasnt bad enough, I was tricked into obtaining additional financing when I requested thst my monthly payment date be moved to accommodate my pay day, that now leaves me with s baloon payment whose terms were briefly advised without disclosing any details of my true cost of financing or how this new debt could be paid back to avoid the interest that I can only guess accrues monthly. Ive lesrned from reading the 100 's of complaints that this may be one of the tools used by Westlake Financial to retain ownership of the csr and its title which is all done in an effort to sell each vehicle more then once because they have no intention of ever releasing the cars they finance. In summary, XXXX XXXX through there ever increasing hold on subprime financing targets people liie myself which they identify have the means to pay the monthly installment XXXX XXXX the time of purchase but have credit history 's which make it probable that they will eventually hit hard economic times allowing XXXX XXXX who obtains the loans through there agents who never disclose their conflict of interest and breach their duty to there customers like myself who unbeknownst to them are entering into an agreement with terms that are not all disclosed and favor the lender with no affordable remedy that would allow them or myself to reach a fair, legall or amicable resolution without waiting for tge next class action suite to be filed which is only s matter of time. Even a class action suite however fails to cost Westlake Financial enough to change their illegal lending behavior because their profits far exceed the penalties even when taking into account the penalties which they expect to recieve. The Truth in Lending Act was passed for financial institutions just like XXXX XXXXXXXX  whom continue to prey on people like myself who have been defrauded by their agents with the knowledge and training provided by the principle who have created a system for indetifying targets and by failing to disclose whom the principle is representing gain the trust of people like myself seeking their assistance procuring financing for a car which my family can not live without.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation