Consumer complaint received 2024-03-12
Product: Payday loan, title loan, personal loan, or advance loan — Personal line of credit
Issue: Problem when making payments — 
Company: Thaxton Investment Corporation (IN)

I have been sucked into the hamster wheel of Heights Finance for years, but at times, I've been able to either pay off my loan or get the balance really low before refinancing and pulling out more money. Last year, I reached out to the Heights Finance in XXXX, IN, where I had previously worked with XXXX, who I believed to be professional. This time, the call went to XXXX XXXX, who told me that XXXX was no longer with that branch. I told her I was interested in pulling out roughly {$500.00} and she said she would take my application and look at my account. Later, she reached out and said my loan had been approved and asked me when I wanted to come in to sign the paperwork. We set up a time and when I showed up, I asked her how much I was approved for. She said something like {$3000.00} and I was shocked. For all the years I've had a loan with Heights, I don't think I've ever been approved for more than {$1000.00} at most. I told her I didn't " need that much '' and she said, " Well, take a little less and that way you can pull out more later. '' I thought about my situation and decided on roughly {$2500.00}. As we were going through the paperwork, she said, " Then when you come back at XXXX, I want your car. '' I looked at her and laughed and said, " NOOO. I'm already paying 19 % interest on my car with a $ XXXX payment. Why would I refinance with you for over 30 %?? '' She said, " No, at that point, it would all be secured and I could get you 19 % for the whole loan. '' I shrugged it off, knowing that I would never do a secured loan with them again, using my car as collateral. The thing was, I was only reaching out to them for {$500.00}, because my credit had jumped up to around XXXX and I wanted to pay off a few things in order to get my score to XXXX to obtain a loan with XXXX XXXX, who I had been with for years, and get a lower interest rate to pay off the rest of my debt. So I walked away with the check and when the payments were due, I started making payments. Just for context, I am 1. self-employed, 2. a single mom and 3. I homeschool my child. Just like other sole proprietors who have their own service-industry businesses, my business is seasonal, having busier times than others. I made a couple of payments on time, then made partial payments when I could. For years with Heights, I've always fell behind, caught back up, refinanced... It always balances out, but I've never been able to completely get away from them. For years, I've been paying ridiculous amounts of interest, because I can't get the balance paid off AND build a savings, which is what they want. They want me as a forever customer. It really didn't sit well with me that XXXX met me in person, saw my son with me, knew I was low income ( part of my income verification was a child support order ) and still tried to secure the next " visit '' with me to " get my car. '' When I looked up on her white board that day, in her office, I saw lots of high " sales goals '' and had a horrible feeling. I knew I shouldn't trust her, yet I told myself I would pay off my other balances then come back and pay off this one. Fast forward to XXXX of 2023. I had a business account that I barely used anymore - it was attached to an old business that no longer existed and the bank told me to let it " sit for another 30 days '' to make sure nothing else came out then I could close it. At one point, I must have used this account to make a payment on the website for Heights Finance. This was not an account I was trying to use again. I only used it for awhile last year when the debit card for my personal account was compromised and I was waiting on a new card to be sent. It was late in the month and I had fallen behind on payments with Heights. ( Sometimes I get slow around the holidays then make extra payments around tax time to get caught up. ) I knew Heights was trying to get a hold of me ( because they always did when I was behind ), but I learned not to take their calls, because what they do is either offer for you to " pay to defer, '' meaning you only make an interest only payment or they try to get you to refinance, etc. All I wanted to do was wait until I could at least make one payment to bring my account down 30 days or pay when I received my next child support payment. Imagine my surprise when I randomly checked my old business account one day and saw that I was in the negative over {$200.00}. It showed a pending charge from Heights Finance of {$200.00}, which I NEVER authorized. I quickly went to my account on their website and saw the pending charge there. Next to it, there was a button that said, " Cancel Payment, '' so I clicked it and I received an email saying the payment was canceled. I was relieved and gave them the benefit of the doubt that maybe someone called in and requested to make a payment over the phone and they clicked on my account by mistake. I waited a couple of days and saw that the charge was still pending and when I went back into my Heights account, the payment was initiated there again. I didn't call them because I don't TRUST them, especially when I saw a few days later that they initiated ANOTHER charge for {$250.00}. This is ILLEGAL. Even if they had taken me to court and my wages were garnished, taking {$450.00} in a matter of 4 days would NEVER be allowed. I only clear {$18000.00} a year with my business, which is rougly $ XXXX. Taking {$450.00} for ONE loan, when I had a {$600.00} car payment, as well as other bills, would never be allowed. Furthermore, I've been with Heights for years. I've always paid at some point. This is one reason why they kept giving me money. But NEVER had I had them just TAKE whatever they felt like from a bank account that they had on file. This is a violation and those two bold actions caused the account to overdraft for weeks until it finally closed at over $ XXXX. I DID submit a fraud claim to a branch of XXXX, but it was over the phone and the representative coded it incorrectly, making the institution think I was reporting a duplicate payment. I talked to them last week and she said to call the fraud department directly to submit another claim. In the meantime, Heights repeatedly sends me marketing material to refinance for LARGE amounts even though I'm now over 4 months behind, due to their theft. The latest letter said that I could take my current " unsecured loan of {$4800.00} '' and " turn it into '' a " new secured loan amount of {$12000.00}. Now why would a loan company approve a {$12000.00} loan to someone whose credit score dropped XXXX points after their last loan with them and hasn't paid on the current loan in 4 months? They are PREDATORS and I'm tired of dealing with them. I've never felt comfortable with them, but XXXX is a XXXX XXXXXXXX. And if she is the one who initiated those two payments to come out of my account, she should be fired and arrested. I am requesting a full investigation into Heights Finance, XXXX XXXX and the TWO charges that were fraudulently taken from my XXXX XXXX  account on XXXX as well as XXXX. I will not contact them or make payments until I know who did this and the issue with my bank account is resolved.