Consumer complaint received 2024-07-18
Product: Payday loan, title loan, personal loan, or advance loan — Personal line of credit
Issue: Charged fees or interest you didn't expect — 
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION (TN)

XXXX years ago, I took out an XXXX loan via 5th 3rd Bank for a company I was establishing, XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX. The agreement was that I would have a line of credit for the first XXXX years and pay only interest during that time. Throughout the years, I have received multiple erroneous late notices with late fees attached. Each of these notices has resulted in the late fees being canceled after an exorbitant amount of time talking with someone on the phone or at a local branch. 

In XXXX, I received notice that my XXXX XXXX payment was {$0.00} over due, and today a new notice arrived saying I am {$94.00} overdue, plus a fee of {$9.00}. As the attachments show, I paid the exact amounts of " Total Payment Due '' on my statements for both months. 
When I received the XXXX notice, I emailed my " personal banker '', XXXX XXXX XXXX, at " XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX After several attempts to speak on the phone that day, XXXX XXXX XXXX called me back at XXXX and said he would look into the notice. I asked that they remove the letter 's statement that I was past due - even if it was just one penny because I go to great length to have my account paid on time ( see more below ). XXXX XXXX XXXX said he would look into it, but I have not received any communications from anyone at 5th 3rd until the now notice of being overdue that arrived today. Even though I think XXXX XXXX XXXX is a wonderful person, there is a pattern. I met with XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX for help with a similar problem. He called the commercial loan department and spoke to XXXX. She filed ticket # XXXX and said both of us would receive emails in less than a week regarding an explanation/resolution. To date, neither of us have received that promised email. 

In the past, I've been charged late fees when I paid 5th 3rd one or more days before the interest was due. Since the exact amount of interest designated on my statement had not accrued the day I paid, they applied the interest that had accrued up to the day I paid and then applied the excess to the principal. This process was never explained to me at the bank. Then the day the interest was due, they said I was overdue the amount they had applied to the principal and issued a late fee. 

I use to go into the branch and pay early with a check from another bank in order to give 5th 3rd time to process the check. That did not fix this problem. Now I pay them cash on the XXXX of each month, yet there is still a problem. 

I think the problem for XXXX is that they wanted me to pay {$94.00} to the principal as well at {$940.00} for the interest. Since the statement said, " total payment due '', and there have been problems in the past with paying any amount other than what was designated in that box, I didn't pay the principal they say is due. 

The ultimate problem is the confusion created by 5th 3rd 's statements. I have asked for help from XXXX XXXX XXXX as well as other managers at different branches regarding items on different statements, and they have not understood them either.