Consumer complaint received 2021-03-15
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Struggling to pay your loan — Denied request to lower payments
Company: Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. (NY)

The NYS Attorney General has sent me here for this matter. In late XX/XX/XXXX, I went to a XXXX dealership in XXXX NY to apply for a loan on a XXXX XXXX XXXX. At first they stated that I was approved for payments around {$450.00} a month. then after agreeing they came back and said they made a mistake somewhere and my payments would actually be {$660.00} a month. I was a young and uneducated on certain laws and did not read the contract in full and singed a loan agreement with Santander Consumer USA. I fought tooth and nail with this sub-prime bank the entire time I had the loan. I was unable to make these ridiculous payments with an extremely high interest rate and began missing full payments. They would call my phone sometimes up to 5 times a day and harassing me about paying even when I explained I was at work, and would keep asking when I'd have the money and keep calling. For a while I was doing promise to pay where I told them I could say pay {$300.00} on this date, and I always kept my word. Eventually in early XXXX before Covid shutdowns and mask mandates began they used scare tactics and said someone is out looking to take my truck and asked me to just tell them where it is. I had asked if there was any way I could get assistance to move my late payments and fees to the end of the loan because there was no way I could pay it 100 % current, I would just continue to fall further behind. They said if I payed a certain amount that I could call and talk to the department that handles assistance. On XX/XX/XXXX I made a payment of {$660.00} dollars which I borrowed mostly from a family member to try to get current and on XX/XX/XXXX I payed {$580.00}, which both payments went directly into interest of the car and none on the principle which I saw on the statement online. When I spoke to the assistance department to see if there was anything I could do they said I did not qualify for any assistance and to make a full on time payment for XXXX and try again. This was very frustrating, because I would still remain delinquent for the same amount of time. Then I got a letter in the mail that was dated XX/XX/XXXX stating " Based upon review it appears we may have an assistance program available that may help you bring your account current '' This frustrated me even more considering how much I just paid and was told I don't qualify. From there Covid took it's toll and my pay was docked 15 %. I could certainly not afford the vehicle and began slowing down and limiting the payments. I made a {$350.00} dollar payment in May and a {$650.00} dollar payment in XXXX. Because Of Covid they could not repo. On XX/XX/XXXX my mother said people showed up to the house asking for me saying they were there to " serve me papers '' and harassed my mother to figure out where me and the truck were. She did not know. They somehow found out where my boyfriend lives ( I assume by asking police or a tracking device, I am unsure ). I saw them outside picking my truck up. About 2 weeks later I got the letter for how much I owed to get it back and couldn't afford it. They sold it at a private auction on XX/XX/XXXX and said my remaining balance was {$9900.00}. On XX/XX/XXXX I got a letter for a limited time settlement offer of {$3500.00} yet the the full balance changed to {$9900.00}. I did not have that kind of money and began looking into my legal rights and possible bankruptcy. They posted to the credit bureaus that the account was closed as a charge off on XX/XX/XXXX yet did not post it until they repossessed the car, so I was not aware of them closing my account when I was making payments to try to keep it in XXXX and XXXX. Even on their website it says " past due '' with my monthly payment amount. I came across their {$550.00} XXXX dollar lawsuit that I knew nothing about. I looked into if I qualified to get a 1099c, and based on their cut off date of XX/XX/XXXX I wouldn't. However in that lawsuit it said Santander used internal scores to approve people for loans with very high interest rates that they would most likely not be able to pay and would default on. As well as dealerships fudging income numbers and amount of bills. I strongly believe I was was wrongfully approved. They also have my name spelled wrong on everything which in turn put a wrong spelling ( other known as name XXXX on my credit reports which I am still working on getting deleted. I have been harassed and lied to by this bank.