Consumer complaint received 2020-08-26
Company: TRUIST FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: KS
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Billing problem

Complaint:
I have a vehicle loan through SunTrust Bank. On XX/XX/XXXX, I was furloughed from employment XXXX   to Covid-19, and on XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted SunTrust to inquire as to what options I had to defer payments without affecting my credit report. The representative said paperwork would be emailed and I should sign and return upon receipt. This would defer payment for 3 months and those payments would be moved " to the back '' of my loan. I never received such paperwork. After many follow up calls, alternative emails given, and mailing address verified, the paperwork still failed to arrive. Their response was that they, too, had many people on furlough, and the rest were working from home. While I understood that, I needed to make sure our credit wasn't affected as I had previously made timely payments over the amount that was due. On XX/XX/XXXX, my vehicle was repossessed. The day my vehicle was repossessed, a representative offered to send me the infamous paperwork via fax. Had this been an option from the beginning, this would be a non-issue. I was able to receive, sign, and return the information in about an hour. 
I contacted SunTrust Bank to inquire about the paperwork very frequently, yet no one ever asked about any payments that had " been missed '' or advised me as to any impending repossession. No calls were made to me, no mail was sent asking for payment. I paid {$140.00} to the impound company and {$560.00} to SunTrust Bank as a " repossession fee ''. None of these monies went toward my vehicle payments. My credit report now shows late payments for the months of XXXX, XXXX, XXXX. Since then, I've gone back to work, yet my wife has now been furloughed since XX/XX/XXXX. Miraculously, after the repossession, SunTrust is now able to reach me via email and I was able to defer payment until XX/XX/XXXX by simply signing the form electronically. On the paperwork that was faxed over to me, which I singed and returned, it states that Three payments were deferred and my next payment would be in XX/XX/XXXX. That says to me that the months of XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX should show as current since those were " deferred ''. In my attempt to correct the issue, I filed a XXXX   complaint which yielded no results. The representative now says there is no records of my many phone calls yet she somehow has records of phone calls I've never received. They are refusing to submit corrections to the credit reporting agencies, or allow those fees to go toward my car note. Despite the representative 's initial statements that she were able to help in the situation, she now says there is nothing SunTrust is willing to do. Daily interest continues to accrue, which is fine, yet it is my belief that the company was unscrupulous in repossessing the vehicle to receive additional fees especially during a time in which millions are struggling.

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