Consumer complaint received 2024-10-09
Product: Payday loan, title loan, personal loan, or advance loan — Installment loan
Issue: Problem when making payments — 
Company: TRUIST FINANCIAL CORPORATION (MA)

Beware, while It is incredibly easy to apply for a home improvement credit account with this company, that is the ONLY easy part - creating the relationship. You are lured in with the promise of an interest free period - 18 months in my case, and apply for the account through the vendor you plan to use for the home improvement work. XXXX Then you need to look out for an email to which you need to respond by signing your contract, certification of work completion and other forms through their privately designed e-sign system. XXXX I used the loan number to try to register the loan account on-line and ended up calling customer service but was informed I couldn't access any of the loan details because the vendor hadn't completed their portion of the process. I waited a week and tried again. No luck and I'm starting to worry about when the first payment date was. If you miss a payment then you are on the hook for a serious amount of interest. Then I got a Welcome letter dated XXXX in the mail with instructions to register my account. My log-in credentials worked once where I saw the loan amount and loan number but no other pages within the borrower portal worked. I tried again a few days later and my credentials no longer worked. I re-registered but could not fully login because the site was under maintenance and continued to be day after day after day. All other portions of the website work and look modern. Why just the borrower facing portion and why for days on end? This was the first sign that this lender does not have the best interests of the borrower in mind. I finally called customer service XXXX and was told the site was down for maintenance and I could fill out a form and mail it with a voided check. This was the second indication. What lender in this day and age uses a voided check to set up an ACH anymore, not XXXX who really wants automatic payments - because then the consumer might actually achieve an interest free loan- and secondly XXXX who is unconcerned with the possible identity theft of their borrower 's data. The Welcome letter also said my payment due date is XXXX and payments could not be mailed to the physical address on the letter and had to be mailed to the address on my first statement which would include a pre-printed payment coupon and arrive within 20 days of this Welcome letter. That means it should have arrived XXXX ( 9 days before the due date ) Today is XXXX and nothing has arrived in my mailbox. These communications and hiccups are all designed to extend that first month out to the bitter end so borrowers miss a payment. It is all part of a ploy to try to cause the borrower to miss a payment and be responsible for all of the interest while also putting your personal data at risk for identity theft by using outdated methods of submitting sensitive information. I am fortunate that I have the ability to pay off the loan and exit this relationship by using their automatic phone system. Unless of course there are more conveniently timed hindrances to that process. I feel that I have escaped a classic predatory lending situation but there are so many future borrowers who wouldn't be able to escape by just paying off the balance like I did.