Consumer complaint received 2017-03-23
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: TX
Product: Consumer Loan
Sub-product: Vehicle loan
Issue: Problems when you are unable to pay

Complaint:
I recently fell on hard times due to the loss of a job back in XX/XX/2016 ; at no fault of my own.I reached out to my creditors to alert them of my hardship in hopes of getting some assistance. Each time I 've spoken to a representative from Chase Auto Finance, whether they call me ( multiple calls daily on an auto-dialer to my cell phone ) or I call in, I am threatened with repossession. " XXXX XXXX, in reviewing the notes on your account, I do see that the account is being reviewed for repossession. '' The account can be 10 days past due, and the threats continue throughout the call, even when I 've given them a date in which the payment will be made. Not one time, has a representative offered a hardship deferment or a payment arrangement to get the account back on track. It 's become unbearable to even speak to them at this point. I reached out to them one last time and got a representative by the name of XXXX ( he read his employee ID off so fast, I could barely catch it ) possible employee ID : XXXX. I began to tell him about the hardship I faced that from a job loss and shortly after purchasing the vehicle ( using my offer letter for a new job ) in XX/XX/XXXX. He interrupted me to tell me my account is being reviewed for repossession. While the comment was hard to ignore, I moved on to ask if they had a deferment option for one of the payments ( currently 2 behind ) and explained my plan to take care of the other. He then said that I had an affordability issue. How he came to that conclusion without asking me for my income & debt, I 'm not sure. I expressed to him that this account was not the only one behind so when I began to work last month, I had to catch up priority items such as electric and water first which took up the majority of my first XXXX paychecks ; however, they did receive a payment from my first paycheck. I had to advise him again that affordability did not apply to this situation. I can and will be able to make the payments going forward as I actually make more money now than I did when they financed the vehicle. I also explained how I was able to maintain the payments from XX/XX/XXXX thru XX/XX/XXXX which included unemployment and selling items on XXXX. I wanted to express to him that I will make the payment no matter the cost. He went back to saying " See, since you have to sell stuff, you ca n't afford this payment. '' I had to ask him to stop talking and actively listen as I was answering his question regarding how I made the payments during the time I was unemployed. He then placed me on hold for several minutes, came back and said that I do not qualify for a deferment because the account is so new and in order to qualify for the deferment, I would need to make both payments by XX/XX/XXXX or my vehicle will be reposessed. I was hoping that did n't make sense to him because if I could pay both payments, I would no longer need a deferment. He then threatened me with repossession again. I am uncertain if this threat tactic is coming from the top, but it needs to stop. That threat is not going to move anyone any faster to cure the account if they simply do not have it. What it will make us do is allow them to repossess the vehicle and file complaints on their tactics as any smart consumer knows that it costs banks more to process and repossess a vehicle than it does to work with their customer who is facing a temporary hardship. IF there was an affordability issue based on my income, that means, I did NOT qualify for the loan to begin with and the loan should not have been approved. I can afford my payments, and I can afford to make two payments, I just can not do so all at once. I find it unsettling that NONE of the reps I have encountered over the last several months presented options to keep me as a customer. Even a payment arrangement to give me a little more time would have sufficed.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation