Consumer complaint received 2022-07-04
Company: Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc.
State: CA
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Problem with the interest rate

Complaint:
Basic usury laws in California are in the State Constitution at Article 15. For consumer loans, the parties may contract for interest on a loan primarily for personal, family or household purposes at a rate not exceeding ten percent ( 10 % ) per year. 

Dealer-Loaner relationship involved 5-6 hours of wait time, alterations of information on car lease, auto repairer at XXXX XXXX XXXX lying about warranty when I attempted to fix mechanical issues that was covered under warranty. Repairer checked my vin in the system and told me that I had a XXXX mile warranty which he claimed was weird because customers at the XXXX XXXX XXXX normally have a XXXX mile warranty. 

In Santanders dispute response, their paperwork that included the auto gallery dealerships installment sale contract, which they believe is " accurate '' shows that I had a XXXX mile warranty available from the beginning. 

Paperwork also incorrectly states that I have a 60 month, XXXX mile warranty when XXXX only offers 10 year, XXXX mile warranty which they may alter on their website when they receive my complaint. 

Penalties An individual or organization found to have originated a usurious loan in California is subject to penalties including : payment to the borrower of triple the amount of interest collected in the year before the borrower brings suit. 
forfeiture to the borrower on all interest on the loan, even if the entire loan wasnt usurious. 

Credit Agencies denied altering disputed information about consumers Car Loan company " Santander Consumer USA '' after creditors were aware of Santanders predatory practices that created a lawsuit involving over 33 states going after Santander and their sub prime lending practices. 

Credit Agencies along with Car loan company violated Section 623 ( a ) ( 1 ) ( A ) of FCRA prohibits a furnisher from furnishing any information relating to a consumer to any CRA if it knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the information is inaccurate. 

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, furnishers who furnish information about consumers to consumer reporting agencies must : Provide complete and accurate information to the credit reporting agencies. 

Violation of The Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ) is a federal law that requires : Lenders, employers, insurance companies, and anyone using a consumer report to exercise fairness, confidentiality, and accuracy in preparing, submitting, using, and disclosing credit information. 

Santander Consumer USA and XXXX XXXX XXXX don't want to admit fault, but public court documents show the dishonest sales tactics involving waiting 5-6 hours to get approved for a car, multiple agents coming to us and looking worried, waiting for us to look drained and then tell them that they are almost done and then asking for more money to put down. 

In the span of five years, I've had daily calls from Santander claiming that I was behind before I ever even had any late payments. 40 min- 1 hour long phone calls while I get interrogated when I can't afford a XX/XX/XXXX monthly car loan when the car loaned to me was aXX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXXXX/XX/XXXX that was a lemon. 

Within the first week I tried to take the car back to XX/XX/XXXX and they denied any returns. The brakes would sometimes not work, the car would randomly shut off, the car would burst forward when I would brake at a red light. The car also had a huge recall for the passenger airbag which is a huge safety issue in a sub-compact car with XX/XX/XXXX horsepower. 

Santander Consumer USA violated the FCRA, in which Santander told me in a dispute response, " We report account information to the 4 major credit reporting agencies ( XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX ) ... however, reporting may differ between agencies. '' Santander Consumer USA admitted to being aware of inaccuracies but does not follow the FCRA, as Santander is responsible for giving the bureaus accurate information. Santander Consumer USA faced a 33 state lawsuit due to their notorious predatory lending. 

With the violation of " Article 15 : Usury laws '' in the California constitution, loaning me a car with an 18 % APR. Loans can not exceed 10 % per year in California. The final sales price was {$27000.00} for a {$13000.00} car!. 

Before having the car for a full five years, the XXXX XX/XX/XXXX transmission completely stopped working leaving me stranded on the road. Every automotive repair technician I talked to about my car situation while only having it for over 4 years pointed out that I was blatantly scammed and targeted by both XXXX XXXX XXXX and Santander Consumer USA, and there are plenty of lawsuits, complaints, and concerns that prove it. I paid over {$80.00} a month to get an oil change due to mechanical issues with the car 's oil components that was noticed within the first day of driving the car as the car leaked a lot of oil. Over {$2000.00} was spent alone just to replace the transmission of the car. 

Santander Consumer USA and XXXX XXXX XXXX 's response to my complaint will be the ultimate factor of deciding whether my loan will be forgiven and report a 100 % paid off balance like it should have been for the XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXXXX/XX/XXXX that's has little to no market value and priced at {$3000.00} when in excellent condition on sites like XXXX XXXX XXXX. Keep in mind my car was never in excellent condition and cost me around {$7000.00} in repairs over the lifetime of the car. 

This car should have never been charged off by any company that scammed me, harassed me by phone daily, and intimidated me and my son by using our vulnerability for a car as a tool against us. The high monthly payments, high APR, and constant repairs created a point of life within three months of owning this car, my son and I couldn't afford our living space and had to sleep in this car for weeks as we were XX/XX/XXXX because of Santander Consumer USA and XXXX XXXX XXXX wanting to profit and target people that were vulnerable. 

Do note that Santander Consumer USA 's dispute response specified reporting personal information to the four major credit bureaus. Santander states " We report account information to the 4 major credit reporting agencies ( XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX )... however, reporting may differ between agencies. '' Credit Agencies are obligated to update consumer information based on what the lending company reports every month. The lack of proper reporting to all four bureaus and the lack of a proper investigation which by law prohibits third party credit agency involvement due to an agencies non-personal credit reporting puts all crediting and loan companies at risk.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation