Consumer complaint received 2024-03-20
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Problems at the end of the loan or lease — Unable to receive car title or other problem after the loan is paid off
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION (CO)

On or about XX/XX/XXXX, my car was deemed a total loss from an accident from earlier in the year. I had financed the car with CapitalOne Auto Financing, and had no issues for the life of the loan. However, closing the loan, and receiving payment from my XXXX insurance through CapitalOne was the most challenging, frustrating, and infuriating banking experiences I've ever had. And I've been a commercial real estate broker since XXXX, so I've seen all manner of banking arrangements, deals, etc. 

The check for the closed auto loan account was only just received on XX/XX/XXXX. It took CapitalOne almost XXXX full months to complete what should have been a very simple loan closing.I have attached the statement from my closed loan, dated XX/XX/XXXX, so you can see that even though we began the process in late XXXX, XXXX, the loan has been closed, and CapOne has been holding onto my money since at least XX/XX/XXXX. It's also worth noting that I had another auto loan closing with near identical circumstances recently ; my Colorado XXXX XXXX completed the transaction/closed the loan in 32 days. 

In any case, during that XXXX month span from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX, I placed several calls to CapitalOne, including on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX, among other dates. During these calls, I was deliberately lied to about the state of my account- I was told that my account/loan had been closed, only to be re-opened because, " ... your GAP insurance company cancelled payment to us, so we had to re-open your account ... '' You can only imagine my humiliation when I called my GAP insurance company, demanding an explanation as to why they had cancelled my payment, only to be told, " ... XXXX XXXX - they're not giving you accurate information ; I can see here that the check has been cashed by CapitalOne, and has cleared ... '' I was beyond embarrassed. 

I was lied to when I was told my payment had been sent out on the XX/XX/XXXX call, and lied to again on the XX/XX/XXXX call when I was told the payment had been mailed out on XX/XX/XXXX. ( Magically, that check " got lost in the mail ''. ) I had been all but invited to sue CapitalOne by XXXX of their representatives when expressing my frustration. My calls were repeatedly unansweredand/or unreturned. One time, I asked yet another representative - XXXX, from " The Office of the President '' at CapOne, why are you doing this?, in regards to the continued withholding of my payment, his response was an arrogant, " ... because we can ... '' This institution held on to {$2100.00} of my money for 119 days. Someone might look at that and ask, what's the big deal? Well, let 's break it down... 
For my XXXX taxes ( for the XXXX tax year ), my total earnings - Line XXXX of my XXXX was {$44000.00}. That {$2100.00} represents approximately 4.728 % of my annual income for the year. It's a higher percentage of my taxable incomefor the year. XXXX. And CapitalOne simply held onto that money ... because they can... 

It is absurd to think they can do that without anything resembling a valid reason for doing so, or without penalty.I know that if I'm ever late on a payment to them, the first late fee is {$30.00}, and subsequent fees are {$41.00}. If I'm ever late on a payment toCapOne, the fee is immediate and exorbitant.I think it's only fair to punish them in the same way they punish their borrowers. 

A CapitalOne late fee ( {$30.00} ), represents XXXX of my total earnings/annual net income last year ( {$44000.00} ). Comparatively, CapitalOne Financial had total earnings/annual net income of $ XXXX in XXXX, and XXXX of that number is {>= $1,000,000}. 

In my estimation, and in the rules that CapitalOne has set for its consumers, that seems like a reasonable and equal punishment, with ground rules that they set. If my logic is in any way flawed, by all means, please explain it to me. 

Please let me know how I can enforce this fee for their transgression. I'm not asking for any more or any less than what they are perfectly ok with imposing on me, as well as the financial burden they've placed on me. 

This is in no way a joke- I am very serious about this. I can not express the levels of anger, embarrassment, frustration, etc. I've experienced while going through this process with CapitalOne over the past XXXX MONTHS, not to mention the tangible financial hardship this has caused through my inability to access my own money, deteriorating credit score, inability to secure financing for a new auto, etc.

I'd be willing to explore other avenues, and/or fine/penalty amounts due to me by CapOne, but this seems as good as place as any to begin. I'm unwilling to be bullied by a financial institution just because they have almost infinitely more resources than I do. I'm hoping the CFPB can provide some sort of relief to me, and penalty to CapitalOne for taking advantage of their borrowers.From my discussions with 2-3 representatives of CapitalOne, this is a fairly common occurrence with their auto loan customers... or it's a recent issue they've been having with borrowers.

I'm certain you're going to want to research this, so since I had many of my conversations with " The Office of the President '', I know/I 'm pretty certain all the calls are/were recorded.There were several times when their reps were apologizing to me for the several lies that had been told, and they did/said this in front of other representatives.

I am wildly frustrated, and I don't accept having been taken advantage of.

Please advise what my recourse might be.

Additionally, I'm available at any time to provide additional details, insight, and color commentary to any/all of the above. I welcome your thoughts. 

Thank you, and best regards, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX