Consumer complaint received 2023-03-18
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease — Problem with fees charged
Company: BMO Bank, N.A. (CA)

I submitted a complaint on XX/XX/XXXX regarding Bank of the Wests handling of the loan processing for a motorhome I purchased from an individual. I stated I purchased the motorhome around the end of XXXX or first of XX/XX/XXXX. Bank of the West responded by saying this was incorrect as I signed the installment agreement on XX/XX/XXXX. This may be a matter of opinion but the first of XXXX was not a specific date but a statement of the general timeframe. The date the loan was funded is irrelevant and not in dispute. The handling of the process from that point forward including the response to my original complaint is unacceptable. The loan was funded in XXXX of XXXX and the transfer of title/registration was not completed until XX/XX/XXXX. This was not because of a power of attorney that was submitted incorrectly. Paperwork was requested before the loan was actually funded as well as the title that was sent to the previous owner. The previous owner made copies of all paperwork and the original title before sending to Bank of the West in a return envelope they provided. I was told on one of the many customer service calls that I made it appeared the paperwork was lost by Bank of the West because the loan had not yet been funded and therefore had no where to go as they could not match the paperwork with an existing account. This is only one example of the gross negligence and incompetency of Bank of the West. We were sent paperwork to take to the DMV to have the VIN certified and we were told we had to take the motorhome to the DMV to do this. We drove 30 minutes away on 2 separate days after getting an appointment at the DMV only to be told the motorhome was titled in CA originally and did not need any other certification from the DMV to move forward. According to the DMV that process is only for vehicles that were not previously titled in the state of CA. I took time off from work to take care of this unnecessary request. As a bank processing loans in the state of CA someone should have known the process before requesting paperwork that wasnt needed. I called regarding this XXXX up as well. There are numerous documented phone calls from myself and my wife attempting to get some sort of action on this process. Each time we called we were given a different reason for the delay. At no point did anyone from Bank of the West inform me the delay was a result of incorrect paperwork. We even provided documentation requested through email and still did not receive a response. This process was delayed over the course of 9 months through no fault of our own and is a direct result of the mishandling and improper practices of Bank of the West. I do not dispute that a retail installment contract was signed or the responsibility to pay. I dispute the statement from Bank of the West that they will not reimburse me for payments made on a motorhome that I was unable to use or move because of their negligence. I do not dispute that insurance is required. I dispute the response by Bank of the West that they should not have to reimburse any part of payments made even though I was not able to drive the motorhome through their negligence. If Bank of the West actually looked into this matter as they claimed then they would have found records of the numerous phone calls that were made by myself and my wife trying to rectify this situation. I even went in person to the local Bank of the West in XXXX, Ca and still could not get anyone to help me. I can assure you if we were told a power of attorney was the only thing needed it would have been provided right away. The original registration expired during this long and tedious process preventing us from using the motorhome in any capacity. Once again I can assure you if we had been able to fix the issue as simply as providing the POA we would have done so. Instead we had to continually make payments for something that we did not legally own. The title as well as the registration remained in the previous owners name and therefore Bank of the West was collecting payments for a loan that they never completely processed. The registration was finally received XX/XX/XXXX and instead of a normal registration period it only covers the remaining months of the original registration. So not only could I not drive or use the motorhome now i will have to pay for the renewal in a matter of a few months instead of the year we should have received. At the very least the late fees as well as the fee for the shortened renewal should have been covered by Bank of the West. Instead the only resolution offered was to review the bills I received for the 2 storage spots I was forced to pay for as I was unable to move the motorhome to the closer storage facility with expired registration. I respectfully decline to take your ludicrous response to a very valid complaint at face value. Nothing in this process was a result of my negligence or failure to provide requested or accurate documentation. Everything related to this is a direct result of the incompetence of Bank of the West. They should be ashamed at the way they treat hard working people who are the whole reason they can conduct business in the first place. I will be consulting an attorney and filing a complaint with the XXXX XXXX XXXX