Consumer complaint received 2020-06-27
Company: OneMain Finance Corporation
State: CA
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Installment loan
Issue: Struggling to pay your loan

Complaint:
I applied and was approved for a One Main loan product in XXXX of XXXX. At the time I was receiving a full time income. The loan was for {$10000.00} to be repaid in 48 months. I have made payments on time, every month for nearly three years, totaling over {$10000.00} in payments. Yet, somehow I still owe {$5200.00}, or over 50 % of the loan ( note that that is not the payoff amount, because interest is still accruing ). I was appalled to learn that I can't even access previous statements or the history of payments on my online account so I can't even add up how much was put towards interest vs the principal balance. There is nowhere in my online account or statement provided by One Main that shows me how much the principal balance is being reduced by. This lack of transparency is extremely troubling. 

In XXXX of XXXX, I left my job to pursue my XXXX full time. Five months later, Coronavirus happened and I had over $ 10k worth of income lost in XXXX alone. I was able to pivot my XXXX to an online model and have managed to keep up with most of my bills ( largely due to being approved for unemployment assistance as XXXX XXXX, after being denied EIDL and PPP due to the fact I was employed in XXXX ) during the length of the pandemic. This has also been due to the fact that most companies have been willing to offer some sort of payment relief or deferment during this unprecedented time. 

I called One Main in XXXX to explain my situation and ask for a long term relief option since I no longer had the income to support this loan. They advised we take it one month at a time, and offered a one time deferment, which I accepted. In XXXX, they offered me the option to make a half payment, which I also accepted. I asked again for a longer term option such as a reduced payment, and they again told me to take it one month at a time and to call back if I couldn't make XXXX XXXX payment. 

I called in XXXX to explain I wouldn't be able to make my payment in full and again asked for a longer term option. The person was extremely agitated, telling me there was no sort of longer term option due to my " creditworthiness ''. ( Had he run my credit recently? how does he know? ) and demanded I pay by next week - " immediately '' - he said. I explained ( again ) my situation - that I was only receiving {$450.00} a week in unemployment income and my main focus was on paying my rent and asked again for a lower payment option or asked if it would be possible to make a half payment instead. He told me that wasn't an option and began to become extremely agitated. I told him I wouldn't be able to do make a full payment by next week, as of now I was short on rent and I needed to prioritize paying that. Coronavirus cases are rising in California ( where I live ) and the {$600.00} I am receiving extra from unemployment is about to run out, and businesses are having to re-close due to the Governor 's new orders. He then told me if I didn't pay by next week, he'd have to send my account to collections. He said that due to my " creditworthiness '' there weren't many people that would be willing to help me when I would need it in the future, and if I didn't pay he wouldn't be able to help me either and I'd be left with no options. I explained again that I wished I could pay but I just didn't have any other options and understood I'd have to go to collections. He then told me I needed to call someone to ask to borrow the money. I explained I didn't have anyone to ask to borrow the money. My mother is in a state XXXX-run XXXXXXXX XXXX  rampid with corona virus, 3000 miles away from me. I have no other family. He then spent an additional 10 minutes telling me how I could just call someone else, they didn't have to be local to me, they could call in and make a payment on my behalf. I tell him again I have no one to ask! I explain again that I am sorry and I really want to be able to make my payment but I have to prioritize paying rent and there is just nothing I can do right now and understand I will need to go to collections. California has been shut down for months and cases are continuing to rise. I have to make sure my rent is paid, there is nothing I can do. He then suggests, in a threatening manner, that I do not pay my rent and pay them instead. He goes on to tell me he " didn't know the rules in XXXX, but here in XXXX XXXX they can't kick you out for not paying, they actually let you stay there for up to a year without paying ''. He is starting to get extremely agitated at this point and starting to become upset that I can not pay and spends a significant amount of time trying to convince me that it was fine for me not to pay my rent bc " they couldn't do anything about it ''. At this point I am starting to feel threatened and tell him I will call him back so that I could get off the phone. HOW is it acceptable for someone to lie about a situation that would cause HOMELESSNESS? During a global pandemic! 

Instead of having ANY compassion during a time when 40 million people are unemployed and millions more are experiencing financial hardship, this grown man advises a young single woman who has clearly stated she has no family, and is on unemployment income, to give up BASIC SHELTER during a worldwide pandemic, in order to pay a consumer debt. Advising - rather convincingly - that I would be able to stay in my apartment after not paying rent is not only completely false, but it is dangerous and violent, and should be treated as such. As someone with a previous career in property management, I can assure you that if I didn't know any better and had believed him, which was certainly his intention, I would have been greeted by a sherriff next week to find my belongings on the lawn and I would have literally nowhere to go. 

At a time when we globally are facing an unprecedented crisis, advising someone to become homeless during a health pandemic, is not only predatory but should be considered illegal. 

Please note that I have already PAID over the amount initially borrowed. The remaining $ XXXX + I owe is all for interest. 

I will not be resting until this matter has been addressed and will seek legal action if necessary. The way this company speaks to it's customers is is completely unacceptable and this particular issue should be considered a public health threat.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation