Consumer complaint received 2023-03-01
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Struggling to pay your loan — Denied request to lower payments
Company: Consumer Portfolio Services, Inc. (PA)

I took a loan out about a year ago with Consumer Portfolio. I missed a couple of payments prior to heading to boot camp in XX/XX/XXXX. I am a XXXX who did not have access to my account, cell phone, landline or emails while at boot camp. While at boot camp the Consumer Portfolio stated that they were going to repo my car and started calling around to family members. My car is co-owned with another family member. While at boot camp in XX/XX/XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ) my family member informed them that she was contacting them to discuss options in regards to the XXXX as I was XXXX XXXX military. The company informed my co-signer that they were going to repo my vehicle to which my co-signer stated that under SCRA they needed a court order to repo the car. The company stated that they ran my name back in XXXX and that I did not come up XXXX XXXX and that being in boot camp does not count as XXXX XXXX. My family contacted the company on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX asking about SCRA and trying to get those protections for me. The company informed them that someone needed to make XXXX payment on the account or the account would be charged off. My family informed the company that they did not have access to my account and that once I graduated on XX/XX/XXXX they would have me contact them to make everything right. My family did not hear anything back and on XX/XX/XXXX Consumer Portfolio " charged off '' my account without any notice or court order. My family contacted Consumer Portfolio on XX/XX/XXXX to make them aware that I was out of boot camp and able to be contacted. My Aunt who is my POA also contacted the company in regards to updating my account. On XX/XX/XXXX I was finally contacted by XXXX XXXX and set up payments to make my account current. I paid XXXX back payments at that time. I was informed at that time that they could not take my account out of " charge off '' state even though I was XXXX XXXX and made XXXX payments. My Aunt who is my POA contacted Consumer Portfolio on XX/XX/XXXX informing them that the card that was used to set up my back payments was compromised and that I needed to set up my payment plan again but she wanted to make sure that the loan was going to be taken out of " charge off '' state. They informed her that they could not take it out of charge off and that once it went in it could not be removed and that it did not matter if I was XXXX XXXX or not. My XXXX asked to speak with a XXXX or someone who could discuss the SCRA. She was put on hold for an extended period of time before someone came on the line. She informed them that we wanted to exercise my SCRA rights and that we had been trying since the XXXX week of XX/XX/XXXX. They accessed my file and stated that they had not received my orders or proof of military service and that is why the account was " charged off ''. We were told to send the orders to XXXX and they would update my account to reflect XXXX XXXX. My XXXX specifically asked that once my orders were received if my account would be placed back in active status to which they confirmed. We also asked about 6 % interest cap as my loan is at 17 % interest. They informed us that the cap would be placed also. On XX/XX/XXXX we emailed a copy of my orders and asked to provide an update as to when the account would be active. On XX/XX/XXXX we sent an email asking for an update as we had not heard anything on the account. On XX/XX/XXXX we received an email stating that they needed additional information from us however it was too much and confusing to put in writing so they needed us to call them. My XXXX contacted the person on the email and he stated that the additional information they needed from us was the funding code associated with my military service and orders. My Aunt was not aware of what they were talking about and asked several times where that information could be found but was not given a specific answer. My XXXX looked through all my paperwork she had and the only other thing she could find other than my current orders were my original entry orders/papers. She sent that information back to XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX asking for confirmation that they received and when we could expect my loan to show active. On XX/XX/XXXX they contacted my XXXX to let her know that they were reviewing my paperwork. My XXXX emailed them back asking when the account would show active. At XXXX today ( XX/XX/XXXX ) the company called my XXXX to inform her that they were reviewing my paperwork but unfortunately they could not open the account back up as it was in " charge off '' and due to being in charge off status they could not update the interest rate to reflect the 6 % cap. The person that my XXXX has spoken with on several occasions keeps telling her that he was in training that he could not help out as he is new. She informed him that last week he stated the same thing and that he needed to have someone contact her that knows the SCRA regulations and could help. This company has violated my SCRA rights and refuses to make my account current and change my interest rate. They charged off my account without a court order, after we requested/informed them of my SCRA rights and are playing games about what information is needed. I am not trying to skip out on my debt I am trying to make it right, however this company is not trying to corporate. They keep denying my rights and protections