Consumer complaint received 2024-04-30
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: FIRST CITIZENS BANCSHARES, INC. (NC)

I was XXXX  with First Citizens Bank in XXXX, NC in XXXX. Since the XXXX  auto loan refinance rates were decent, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity. I refinanced my XXXX XXXX XXXX  in XXXX of XXXX with First Citizens Bank hoping to lower my monthly payments since I was paying for my upcoming XXXX  in XXXX. I was mailed the title by mistake from my previous loan holder ( XXXX & XXXX ) in the refinance process so I mailed that to the First Citizens Bank loan department and then later completed the remainder of my paperwork and mailed the DMV fee via check so the loan would be funded. I made all my payments on time with no problem for many years. XXXX XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. My husband & I decided we were going to payoff my auto loan since we were hoping to start a family soon and knew we would want another vehicle in the near future, and we were also excited about not having payments for a little while. We paid off the auto loan in XXXX of XXXX. Flash forward to today, XX/XX/XXXX. I still have not received a title after many failed attempts with a number of DMV 's and communications with First Citizens Bank. I made the first attempt in XXXX of XXXX to inquire about my title after I received the loan payoff letter from First Citizens Bank. I went to my local tag office where they informed me that my lien has not been released out of First Citizens Bank electronic lien title system. I have since called the bank 3-5 times over the past couple of months trying to resolve this issue and to figure out what the miscommunication is between the bank and the DMV. After a third attempt at the tag office on XX/XX/XXXX to inquire about a duplicate title request, I was informed First Citizens Bank still has not released my lien. Feeling frustrated and completely out of options, I call the bank again. This time I received a completely different answer than I have in previous months- somehow during the refinance or payoff process my lien was INCORRECTLY sent to a bank in Tennessee by the name of XXXX XXXX XXXX . Not only am I dumbfounded by this information but I quite literally don't know how to resolve it. They suggest I reach out to this bank and they provide me with a number from XXXX to do so. Not only are there hundreds of banks by this name that are not related but this number was incorrect. When I called this Florida based branch they insisted they have no record of me in their system and that they can not help me, they send me back to First Citizens Bank where I started. I call back the First Citizens Bank customer service number once again to ask more questions and figure out how this happened and where to go to simply get my lien released so I can order my duplicate title and buy another vehicle since we are now expecting a baby in XXXX. Time is of the essence now- keep in mind it has now been 6 months since we paid off the loan. This customer service experience resulted in two people telling me to " XXXX this XXXX XXXX XXXX and reach out to as many locations as I can to figure out who will help release this lien ''. I had to sit there and verify that they indeed were refusing to take responsibility for whatever mistake had been done in their system and realize I may not have any way to get my lien released. After digging and doing some research I found the bank location that is stated on the DMV print out I was given. It is a XXXX XXXX Bank out of XXXX, TN. When I was able to get ahold of a customer service agent she refused to look me up in their system because she said this literally " made no sense whatsoever and we have no way to pull you up if your loan was never actually with us. '' When I hung up the phone I felt upset and confused. At this point in time I have exhausted all of my options and I have no way to get this lien released. I don't think it's a coincidence that these two banks have similar names. Something was done on the backend of this paperwork or when the loan was paid off and now I am having to pay for it. I am in awe of the customer service from First Citizens Bank and considering I used to be an employee of theirs, I am shocked and saddened by how they have handed me off and tried to get rid of me instead of giving me a solution. First Citizens Bank claims they released my lien on XX/XX/XXXX however, if my lien was mistakenly sent to another bank like they claim, how did they release the lien? None of this makes sense and I really need someone to look into this and figure out who is responsible and how to fix this situation so I don't have to pay for someone else 's mistake. I will attach any and all copies related to this loan. Thankyou!