Consumer complaint received 2019-10-08
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Struggling to pay your loan — Loan balance remaining after the vehicle is repossessed and sold
Company: ALLY FINANCIAL INC. (PA)

Due to being laid off XX/XX/XXXX of 2018, i was living off a fixed income and scrambling to look for work. A job i was offered in XXXX was cancelled due to the government shutdown and by XXXX i was looking for relief and waiting on unemployment. I spoke to Ally financial about my circumstances and voluntarily returned the work vehicle i also had financed with Ally financial to alleviate some of it. I notified them of my intent to keep my XXXX XXXX XXXX financed with them, as it was my daily driver. After falling behind, i attempted to cobble together enough to refinance my loan with a credit union but was denied due to layoff and no co-signer. Ally Financial offered no payment reduction option, no relief for someone effected by the government shutdown, and no aide to a veteran on a now fixed income after layoff and collecting unemployment. They took my vehicle first on XX/XX/XXXX and i willingly paid the tow fee and didnt notice what the tow company employees had stolen from the truck right away in the first instance ( a multi tool, pocket knife, first aid kit, work radio ) A police report was filed. They gave me a penalty interest rate of 9 % and demanded payment in full for my outstanding balance of {$20000.00}, as they were responding to my stating i was looking to refinance. I could not attain on a loan on my own short notice and with no family able to help. I found a pair of part time jobs, made a few payments as i could, and made a payment arrangement for the outstanding balance in full on Friday XX/XX/XXXX. The night of Thursday XX/XX/XXXX my vehicle was repossessed at XXXX with my work tools, a book bag with textbooks, and my passport. My vehicle was taken from my girlfriends apartment near my job in to another state the day before they could count me current. They still took their payment. Many items in my vehicle were missing when i was able to track my vehicle down to the same towing company an hour outside of XXXX in XXXX New Jersey. I remanded the vehicle and retrieved was was left of my possessions minus my passport which was missing. The vehicle was subsequently sold at auction for exactly {$7000.00} leaving me with a balance of {$13000.00} which has already been sold to XXXX for collections in less than 3 months. The exact same vehicle with the same number of miles still regularly sells for over {$20000.00} at dozens of dealers and in private sale everywhere within my tristate area. They failed their customer, took a big chunk of the money i had set to pay them in their towing and losses to tow company thefts with no apology or correction, failed to sell for a fair market value by accepting less than 33 % of the true value of a vehicle renowned for its resale, failed to communicate with me anything in writing though i requested it from every caller and receive all other mail without issue, had different people called incessantly with no regard to my work or school hours, and have now saddled me with a debt that essentially leaves me facing bankruptcy though I paid for 2+ years without issue and am now stuck renting instead of owning a home i was working towards. They never even told me my vehicle would be up for auction or I would have purchased it back for the same $ 7k. Please help. My situation feels discriminatory as Im XXXX  and a XXXX veteran. How can I protect others from towing company repossession abuse and Ally financials usury of working class people?