Consumer complaint received 2024-03-23
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Repossession — Account reinstatement or redemption after repossession
Company: Bridgecrest Acceptance Corporation (GA)

I was let go from my job during the pandemic and notified my lender ( Bridgecrest ) about the need for deferral of payments until I could get unemployment or find a new job. 

Once I received unemployment beginning in XX/XX/XXXX, I became current on my account, but soon after going back to work, my employer folded and I was forced to go back on unemployment in XX/XX/XXXX -- Bridgecrest notified XX/XX/XXXX. 

I began having health issues soon after this suffering from XXXX, in XX/XX/XXXX I was admitted to the hospital for 22 days to help find the issue. The cause/source could not be identified, and I was given medication to manage the issue. 

By XX/XX/XXXX my unemployment benefits were starting to dry up, and I began to rely on my parents to pay Bridgecrest each month until I could get back up on my feet. I began to feel ill again, and spent another 7 days in the hospital. 

The toll of not having decent employment and looming threat of losing my home took a toll on my health and family. I took myself off the medication for XXXX since it was affecting my XXXX and causing them to fail. 

The XXXX XXXX began to correct itself after stopping the medication, but since I was still unemployed, and needed medical assistance, I went on XXXX, and informed Bridgecrest about this financial hardship in XX/XX/XXXX. 

By XX/XX/XXXX, the XXXX were becoming more prevalent and intensifying with each passing one. The worst two XXXX came back to back with a new best friend, the XXXX, on XX/XX/XXXX & XXXX, XXXX, causing me to be admitted to the hospital and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  for 27 days to alleviate the XXXX  in my XXXX and allow my XXXX to heal. 

By XX/XX/XXXX my parents began making health decisions for me based upon my healthcare directive, as well as obtaining a power of attorney with fiduciary responsibility. While I was in the XXXX, Bridgecrest would call my phone up to three times an hour, every other hour. My mother answered the phone XXXX off because of the frequency of the calls, when the representative disclosed account information she was not authorized to receive without my permission ( that my account was up for repossession ). In realizing her error, the rep stated she was looking at an old account on her screen and the proceeded to disconnect my mother, making it seem as if it were her phone having the issue. The disconnected phone line was done to update and change notes on the account, and then issue a writ of repossession after the fact. This galvanized my parents to expedite the request for the POA. Once obtained, my parents reached out to Bridgecrest to update them on my situation and question the salacious information uttered by the poorly trained employees at Bridgecrest. 

The POA was sent by my retained counsel XX/XX/XXXX. When attempting to get the payoff amount from Bridgecrest, no one would comply with the request, and would only state what the total past due amount was. My counsel had to then go ahead and light a torch under them to finally get a payoff amount of {$7100.00} ; the total payoff amount was not disclosed because Bridgecrest would then lose money on my account since I was paying the car note twice each month once for the total amount ( {$250.00} ), and another marked as 'FOR PRINCIPAL ONLY ' in the amount of half of the total due each month ( {$120.00} ) in effort to amortize the interest at a faster rate, cutting the loan length from 60 to 36 months. No one would give a payoff total because that would open the door for the loan to be paid much faster than it already was, and thus would deprive Bridgecrest of additional profit ... on paper, they've yet to turn an actual profit based on their SEC filings after paying lenders and employees. 

My parents paid the vehicle in full on XX/XX/XXXX because it was evident to them in one phone conversation with the untrained employees at Bridgecrest that they're the XXXX and XXXX type of business they wouldn't want any of their family and friends doing business with. 

Bridgecrest claims they repossessed the vehicle although they'd have a seriously tough time in doing so since I live in a gated community with a XXXX XXXX  ( all of whom are current and retired XXXX XXXX  and XXXX XXXX XXXX ) and would rely on their on-job training ( something missing at Bridgecrest and XXXX ) to verify the validity of the writ before providing access into the community. Even if access were provided, it would be difficult for them to retrieve the vehicle since the garage only has a 7 ' clearance. 

Bridgecrest refuses to comply with the basic civil norms of correcting a mistake that they've created on their own, an issue that prevents me from obtaining and securing credit, or a new place to live.