Consumer complaint received 2020-12-23
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease — Billing problem
Company: American Credit Acceptance, LLC (NC)

American Credit Acceptance is a predatory auto-lender that offers high interest auto loans to consumers with low credit scores, with the intention of them defaulting and then charging excessive penalties and interest. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, I was literally recovering from being homeless. I had finally resumed work, and needed a vehicle to get to and from work. Although I knew that the 20 % interest auto loan was predatory, I was told I only needed to make timely payments, and then I could refinance at a lower rate. After several months of perfect payment history, I called and requested a chance to refinance. I was told the company simply " doesn't refinance. '' Because of the predatory interest rate, I already had negative equity in the vehicle, and finding another lender to underwrite an auto with negative interest while trying to rebuild my credit was not possible. 

I continued to make timely payments until XX/XX/XXXX, when the Coronavirus pandemic hit. Due to my family situation ( I remained employed, but my family which I support, did not ) I called and requested assistance from American Credit Acceptance. I was told I would have to mail in a request. When I told them that I resided in a county and state which was currently under mandatory stay-at-home order, and thus could not visit a printing store to send printed letter, and instead requested the ability to file a request by telephone, email, or other electronic means. I was told they wouldn't accept any emails, that a paper letter was the only request they would accept. Unable to do so because of the coronavirus and other world events, I simply had to accept their predatory behavior. 

Unfortunately, they used the coronavirus pandemic as a means to extort me as a consumer. Despite my calls and requests for assistance, they pursued collection actions. In XX/XX/XXXX, On the day my payment was due, I walked outside to see that they had repossessed my vehicle in the middle of the night. I got an email at XXXX that morning, saying that I should contact them immediately because the car was in danger of repossession. Since the car was already repossessed, they clearly contacted a towing company ahead of time to take the vehicle on the day the payment was due, BEFORE sending the warning. During the time leading up to the repossession, they did not send a single email, letter, or make a telephone call. I contacted ACA to attempt to retain my vehicle, and was astonished to understand that they had a " Vehicle Recovery '' Department, suggesting that quick and illegal repossessions are course of business for them, so they can charge exploitative fees. I was subjected to over {$2000.00} in fees ( fees for the repossession charged by ACA, a " research '' fee, a reinstatement fee, and then had to pay additional fees to the tow company ). I paid all of these fees, including the past due balance, and was able to take back custody of my vehicle. 

However, the next month, ACA continued to add fees related to the repossession. They add these fees to your principal balance, which means any new payments you make, you are constantly behind payments, which they use to continue to threaten another repossession, in addition to dinging your credit for " past due '' payments, so you are unable to seek help with another lender. They simply have you trapped. 

I implore the CFPB for any assistance they can provide to me, and to warn other consumers of these exploitative and predatory tactics.