Consumer complaint received 2023-02-14
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: BMO Bank, N.A. (FL)

Financing agreement with XXXX XXXX XXXX, for an excavator, through Bank Of The West signed XX/XX/XXXX - for a finance amount of {$19000.00}, with 0 % interest for a term of XXXX  months. Contract # XXXX commenced on XX/XX/XXXX, with monthly payments in the amount of {$390.00} to begin XX/XX/XXXX. Between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX a total of {$3500.00} was paid on the loan principle { no interest }. The excavator was totaled during XXXX XXXX, and Bank Of The West was notified that an insurance claim would be paying the remaining principle, a XXXX  day payoff letter was requested on this day. We were not provided a XXXX  day letter, the letter was sent via email on XX/XX/XXXX, with an expiration date of XX/XX/XXXX. This was not seen as an issue with the insurance company as the financed amount carried no interest so the amount would not increase in the event the pay off was made after this expiration date. An insurance check for the amount in total { {$15000.00} } was issued on XX/XX/XXXX to Bank Of The West. This check was posted on XX/XX/XXXX. Between XX/XX/XXXX { Date Bank Of The West was notified of the insurance claim } and XX/XX/XXXX, The automatic payments through Bank Of The West were not canceled and XXXX additional payments of {$390.00} were deducted. It is important to mention that the customer web portal for account management for Bank Of The West was never working properly, as a customer, I was not ever able to view the correct information on payment history, balance, etc. Multiple calls to customer service over the length of the loan and was told on several occasions that their website was being " updated '' but that never happened. I was not able to turn automatic payments off myself. On XX/XX/XXXX, I placed a call to customer service to insist they turn the automatic payments off, issue me a paid in full letter, and refund the XXXX additional payments, and the representative refused. I reached out through email, and was contacted back via email on XX/XX/XXXX, from a customer service representative who stated the automatic payments were now turned off, and the request for the refund had been submitted. I was informed within this email, that I would receive a refund of exactly {$790.00}, I was also instructed to keep checking the website { which never updated } to look for the account to be marked as " paid in full '', and then I was to request the paid in full letter. It bears mentioning that by this time, the account had been paid in, with the overpayments as well, for a total of XXXX days already. On XX/XX/XXXX, the website still showed no update of the full payment, the account showed as open with payments due. I sent another email, and was told to check back in another week. On XX/XX/XXXX, still no update, and another email was sent to customer service. Their response was that their accounting department was a month behind, and they she { customer service representative } would follow up with me when she heard something. On XX/XX/XXXX, no update, another email sent to inquire about the requests. No one responded to this email. On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent another email, after seeing still no update either on the website or response from customer service. In this email, I informed the customer service representative that if I was not responded to within the same day that I would calling my bank to dispute the last XXXX payments, as well filing complaints with various consumer protection agencies. They did respond, however the email response only stated that a refund check in the amount of {$390.00} was issued on the same day and that the account was paid in full. No mention of the second overpayment, or the actual paid in full letter. I responded immediately, reminded the representative that she sent me an email confirmation stating that the refund amount was {$790.00}. I also sent an email to another representative that I had been in contact with in XXXX. Neither representative has responded to date, XX/XX/XXXX. Today, XX/XX/XXXX, I sent a final email to both representatives, informing them of my intent to file this complaint, and demanding they send me a full accounting of all payments they received with a running balance. This was not something I could ever access on their website, nor was I sent any statements via USPS mail. All I have is my own accounting.