Consumer complaint received 2021-12-31
Company: Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc.
State: NY
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Lease
Issue: Managing the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Problem with fees charged

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I brought my XXXX XXXX XXXX to XXXX for them to buy out the lease from Chrysler Capital. The XXXX was in immaculate condition and due to the shortage of used cars, XXXX offered me substantially more than the end of the lease buyout price. The paperwork was done, the plates were off the car and I was ready to sign when XXXX informed me that the check amount that they were going to pay was {$1700.00} less than their offer. The reason given was that Chrysler Capital refused to give them a dealer buyout cost and would only allow XXXX to purchase the vehicle for the same amount that I would have to pay which would include the sales tax for the residual value of the car. Since dealers are exempt from paying sales tax the typical buyout purchase for dealers would only be the residual value plus a {$350.00} purchase option fee. I cancelled the deal with XXXX and went home to try to contact Chrysler Capital to resolve what was to me an obvious error on their part. 

This effort turned out to be a several month long exasperating and fruitless search for a straight or even consistent answer. I repeatedly requested a response in writing. Instead I received a wide variety of false justifications and conflicting excuses from the numerous representatives that I spoke with over the phone. I finally discovered that they feel they can get away with charging me this penalty disguised as sales tax for something I did not purchase by implementing an undisclosed policy that they say allows them to do this when a car is sold to certain dealers if there are less than 60 days left on the lease. 

This clearly falls into the category of a special or hidden loan term. There is absolutely nothing in my lease agreement referring to this policy. In fact ITEM No.17 NOTICES states " THIS LEASE CONTAINS THE ENTIRE AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND US XXXX No agreements exist between you and Lessor except as set forth in the lease. '' The same paragraph goes on to say that at the end of the original lease it may be extended by agreement at their discretion. I did in fact request an extension at the end of the lease but they denied my request. 

There is NOTHING in the lease agreement pointing to any potential or unforeseen costs for trading in or selling the car to a dealer toward the end of the lease. To the contrary in bold capitalized letters there IS such a warning regarding costs and penalties for ending the lease early. It states in bold letters : " EARLY TERMINATION. You may have to pay a substantial charge if you end this Lease early. The charge may be up to several thousand dollars. The actual charge will depend on when the Lease is terminated. The earlier you end the Lease, the greater this charge is likely to be. 

I have opened and reopened the complaint on this numerous times with Chrysler Capital because they repeatedly closed my complaints as if they were resolved. My last phone calls were to simply request a written response clarifying their justification. I last spoke with them on XX/XX/XXXX when I was told flatly that " the legal team will not allow any such letter '' and that " Chrysler Capital does not include policies and procedures in the contract ''. She also stated that she is " entering this into the file and closing the complaint with this resolution. '' I stated that " this is not by definition a resolution because I do not accept it. '' I have yet to hear from them again. 

Please help me to recover the {$1700.00} penalty from Chrysler Capital. I simply do not understand how a bank can establish a policy that precludes them from abiding by the truth in lending laws requiring lenders to inform consumers about potential fees or charges that are neither predictable nor transparent. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation