Consumer complaint received 2021-02-17
Company: NISSAN MOTOR ACCEPTANCE COMPANY LLC
State: FL
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Investigation took more than 30 days

Complaint:
Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp did not respond to any of the consumer violations in my previous complaint, instead they merely provided copies of a reply to an older complaint with a different agency, that reply did not address any of the consumer violations they committed. The older complaint with a different agency has been amended, that agency is now investigating the violations brought up in the amendment. Please have NMAC reply specifically to the consumer violations made in this complaint. 

As a joint borrower on a used auto loan with Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. ( NMAC ) ; the other borrower was my daughter and received the vehicle. She is paying the loan via auto-pay directly from her bank. Per the NMAC loan agreement I accept responsibility for the loan and payments if she is unable to pay for any reason. I was told by the dealership submitting the loan I was co-signing the loan, not co-borrowing, this mattered in that at the time I didn't think much of it when I didn't receive completed copies of the loan documents nor did I receive any communications about the loan or its status afterwards. Ten months later, due to the problem I am writing about and will describe, I received copies of the loan documents showing I am a co-borrower, not a guarantor, or co-signor. This is important because as a co-borrower NMAC violated my rights under consumer laws and protections in several ways, not provided me copies of the loan documents, not providing any communications regarding the loan or its status, and not giving me any option or choice to receive any communications regarding the loan or its status. 

This all came to my attention when I received a notice on XX/XX/2020 from a bank I had a credit account that it was being closed due to an issue in my credit report. Up until that point I had a perfect credit record for over 30 years. When I checked my credit report I saw NMAC reported late payments for XXXX and XX/XX/2020 ( unknowingly to me something had gone wrong with my daughters auto pay which is not the issue of this complaint ). I immediately called NMAC on XX/XX/2020 at approximately XXXX and spoke to XXXX . I asked her why didn't I receive any communication from NMAC about the missed payments so that I could make the payment per the agreement and protect my credit rating. She confirmed on that call there was no record of NAMC trying to contact me via any means about the missed payments. I explained the importance of one 's credit score and asked her how could I be expected to make a payment if they did not inform me the co-borrower 's auto payment failed? She told me she would put all of that in the notes regarding our call, including that she found no record of NAMC trying to contact me about the failed autopay and the risk of the loan being late. She also said in order for NAMC to remove the stain on my credit report I'd have to submit a dispute with the credit reporting agencies, the credit examiners at NMAC would be able to review the notes she made in conjunction with their review of my dispute. I tried disputing the report three times, XXXX, XXXX, & XX/XX/2020 in conjunction with calling NAMC each time, in spite of what I was told on the phone by XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX and XXXX XX/XX/2020 XXXX, and XXXX XX/XX/2020 XXXX, the late payment stood however, I noticed they changed the description of my loan responsibility from a guarantor/co-signor to a joint borrower. 

As I said earlier in my complaint I originally thought I was guaranteeing the loan, it was only in XXXX, ten months after the loan origination, when I received the loan documents requesting them for three months, that I learned I was a co-borrower. As a co-borrower I should have received copies of the signed contracts after they were approved, I did not, and I should have also been given the same option as the other co-borrower to choose a preferred form of communication regarding statements and the status of the loan, I also did not get that option or any communications whatsoever about the loan until I learned and complained about the stain on my credit 8 months later. The first loan statement I received was nine months after the start of the loan in XX/XX/2020 ; it took two more months and multiple requests to receive copies of the loan documents I had signed. While NMAC clearly violated consumer laws and protection not sending me the signed agreements, nor communicating the loan status, or even giving me an option to receive loan status communications ; my primary concern is the late payments they reported to my credit, which was until then was perfect. Any reasonable co-borrower would expect to be informed by the lender if the auto-pay by the other co-borrower making the payments had lapsed, in order to have the chance of making the payments thereby protecting their credit score. I was never given this chance, nor did I have any reason to believe there was a payment problem. Had NMAC simply contacted me which they were obligated to do because I am a co-borrower, the payments in would have been made promptly.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation