Consumer complaint received 2017-10-16
Product: Debt collection — Other debt
Issue: Communication tactics — Frequent or repeated calls
Company: MARINER FINANCE, LLC (PA)

Im reaching out to the CFPB out of some major concerns about the predatory practices at Mariner Finance. Mariner has attempted to take advantage of me at every point of the process, from loan origination and through the servicing process as well. 

First, I am a fairly financially savvy individual with a great amount of knowledge with lending rules and regulations. I, however, in a weak moment, was foolish enough to accept a loan from Mariner Finance. Mariner mailed a check to my house which I was foolish enough to cash, thereby accepting the loan and agreeing to repay the debt at an absorbent interest rate. At the time I had just had a few unfortunate circumstances and was struggling to pay my bills. After receiving the loan, I did attempt to increase the loan amount, Mariner agreed to lend an additional {$500.00} and I was told I needed to go into the office to sign the paperwork. 

When I received the paperwork I was told I needed to list my assets on paper and was told by the manager to just put down a few high price items for the paperwork. Then, when I received the actual loan paperwork the monthly payment amount had significantly increased and the terms were extended even though the loan amount was only being increased by {$500.00}. When I reviewed the paperwork this was because Mariner took it upon themselves to add multiple options and insurances to the loan without even mentioning them to me. If I hadnt reviewed the paperwork I likely wouldnt have even realized what they attempted to do. Again, I am very familiar with lending having worked in the financial sector for the last ten years so I was fortunate enough to catch this. I feel that the majority of the customers Mariner has are financially uneducated and are being taken advantage of by Mariners deceptive practices such as this. When I requested to have the additional products removed from the loan the manager pushed back stating he would have to re-do the paperwork. They were eventually removed after I insisted.
The servicing of the loan has been even worse, admittedly I have made most of the payments a few days late, but have always been very careful never to pay more than 30 days late knowing this can be reported negatively to the credit bureaus. I consistently receive harassing and unprofessional letters from Mariner advising that my loan is in default and they are advising their attorney to proceed with taking legal action against me. This is all for a loan that is less than 30 days delinquent. Additionally, Mariner makes it extremely difficult to make payments. For approximately the first year that I had the loan I was unable to make payments via the website and being close to the 30 day late mark and not having the opportunity/time to mail a paper check, I had to pay over the phone. Mariner charged a {$6.00} convenience fee with each payment, I pay every one of my bills online and am absolutely certain it was Mariners site that was the issue and not my lack of computer knowledge. This is another example of how Mariner is taking unfair advantage of me by charging unnecessary and excessive fees. Even to make the payment online or on auto pay Mariner still charges a {$2.00} fee to make the payment. The only option to pay for free in XXXX is to mail a paper check or go to the branch to pay. All this on top of the excessively high interest rates they are already charging. 

The messages they have left me are even worse than the letters. The messages got so bad that for the last year I have left my voicemail full just because of them so that I dont receive any additional messages. This occurred after multiple harassing and sarcastic messages mainly from XXXX. The message on my voicemail advised to leave a message and I will call you back. XXXX felt it appropriate to leave me a messages in a sarcastic and ignorant tone advising something like shes doing what I ask but Im not doing what I say I will. 

More recently I was approximately 15 days past due and received a letter to call them and I could skip a payment. I decided to take advantage of this opportunity and called them to do this based on the instructions in the letter. The woman I spoke with took my information and advised me that she would call me back later that afternoon to confirm everything. I never received a return call and I foolishly assumed everything was updated. Then approximately 30 days after this, my cell phone was ringing non-stop one morning. My phone rang at least 10 times within a one hour period. I work in an area with a lot of secured information and we are not allowed to have cell phones on the floor, after noticing the amount of missed calls I thought it must be some sort of emergency and called the number back as soon as I had a chance. When I called back it was Mariner advising that my account was 45 days delinquent and they absolutely can not let the delinquency go into the next month. I was completely shocked and advised that cant be because they skipped the previous months payment. Mariner advised me they hadnt skipped that payment and I would have had to come into the office to sign paperwork for that. Never once in their letter to me or during the phone call request did they ever advise I would need to come into the office to complete the paperwork. I also never received any of the promised follow up from Mariner after I called to request the payment postponement. This is another way of how Mariner has taken advantage of me and I havent had the opportunity to pull my credit report yet, but if the delinquency was reported it was absolutely because of a servicing error by Mariner and needs to be retracted. Upon receiving that call I immediately paid both of the past due payments.