Consumer complaint received 2015-05-27
Product: Consumer Loan — Vehicle lease
Issue: Managing the loan or lease — 
Company: ALLY FINANCIAL INC. (PA)

In XXXX XXXX, I entered into a " Smart Buy '' auto lease agreement with GMAC for a XXXX Cadillac CTS. The car was returned at the end of the lease term and the account was closed with a {$0.00} balance in XXXX XXXX. 
I am extremely diligent about keeping records of my credit reporting and have a monthly subscription that tracks my credit and alerts me to any changes as soon as they occur. For many years, this account has been reported as " closed XXXX XXXX, XXXX '' with " {$0.00} balance. '' When my wife and I decided to purchase a new home in the fall, our mortgage lender pulled a tri-merged credit report through XXXX XXXX XXXX on XXXX XXXX, XXXX and this account appeared twice on the report as XXXX separate entries, both listed as being closed in XXXX XXXX with " {$0.00} balance & {$0.00} past due '' ( XXXX. XXXX ). 
Prior to my Cadillac " Smart Buy '' account, in XXXX XXXX, my wife and I entered into a joint " Smart Buy '' with GMAC for a XXXX Saturn Ion. The car was returned at the end of the lease term and the account was closed in XXXX XXXX. Due to excessive wear and tear, there was a balance of {$3500.00} on the account. The account went to collections and eventually resulted in a judgment which was paid in full and satisfied in XXXX XXXX. 
XX/XX/XXXX, my wife and I both received letters from GMAC for these accounts stating that they had balances of {$10000.00} ( Cadillac ) and {$940.00} ( Saturn ) respectively. On XXXX XXXX, XXXX at XXXX, I called the number listed. Despite the letterhead being XXXX, I was routed to Ally Financial ( whom apparently took over GMAC in XX/XX/XXXX ). I spoke with XXXX and was advised of the following : 1. Ally Financial upgraded and changed to a new system. This process caused a " glitch '' in the system. 
2. Because of the " glitch, '' letters/bills were inadvertently sent out to customers who previously had " Smart Buy '' accounts. 
3. Please disregard the letters as they are not accurate. 
4. The inaccurate balances will not be reported to any credit bureaus nor forwarded to any XXXX party XXXX. 
5. Letters of apology would be sent out at an unknown date. 
On XXXX XXXX, XXXX, my mortgage lender had to re-pull the credit prior to making an offer on a home ( it had been more than 30 days so a new report was required ). This time on the credit report, the Cadillac account appeared to have a {$10000.00} past due balance out of nowhere and the Saturn account had a balance of {$940.00} ( Fig. XXXX ) Because the Saturn account had gone to collections and eventually ended up as a judgment that we paid off in full in XXXX, XXXX, I knew for a fact these bills were definitely a mistake and a result of some sort of GMAC/Ally error. When we returned the Cadillac, I never once received a bill, a phone call, it never resulted in any kind of collection account, nor was there ever a judgment issued as there was for the Saturn account. If I had a legitimate {$10000.00} balance, would n't GMAC have followed the same procedure to collect the money as they did with the Saturn account? Even more confusing is that the account had a high balance of {$27000.00}. I had the car for a total of 53 months XXXX XXXX XXXX - XXXX XXXX ) at a payment of {$580.00} each month. That is a total of {$30000.00} that I paid ( the overages being late charges and additional interest on the late fees ). How did GMAC even end up at a {$10000.00} balance for a car that only cost {$27000.00} and I had for the full term? How can I owe nearly 38 % of the total price of the car if I fulfilled the life of the lease agreement? All of these points confirmed that this issue was truly a result of a system error on GMAC. Despite recurrent calls to GMAC/Ally where they repeatedly tell me this was a result of a glitch in their system and disputes with the credit bureaus, I have been unsuccessful in resolving the matter and it has prevented my from buying a new home.