Consumer complaint received 2025-03-31 00:00:00
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease — Problem with additional products or services purchased with the loan
Company: PENTAGON FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: FL

Complaint narrative:
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX  


My spouse was XXXX sick at the time but was begging for a new truck and being that he was filing bankruptcy he couldnt buy a new truck himself. So he was at the  dealership looking at trucks and told the dealer this, the dealer  encouraged him to get financing under someone else since he wouldnt qualify. He told the dealer I would maybe do it as I have good credit but wouldnt feel secure unless he was also on the title. Dealer then encourages him to talk to me about applying to get a loan with penfed because they always allow two people on title even if only one is on the loan. So he tells me only way to get a truck is if i apply with penfed for an auto loan since  they advertise that they would allow my spouse to go on the title too and  not have to be on financing/loan. On the credit application with penfed it asked me if there was anyone else being added to the title, I filled in all of his info and submit the application. I wouldve never ever submit a credit application or taken out a loan had the dealer not recommended this financial institution and had they not asked on credit application for second person  info  to be put on the title. 

After submitting I even called penfed and a representative confirmed it would be BOTH  of us on title with right of survivorship and on her recorded line she affirmed the info I entered FOR MY SPOUSE. Who we then await the check to come in the mail from penfed for over a week. In the meantime  My spouse is declining in his health rapidly. He called the salesmen at the dealer and told him he didnt think we should proceed with purchasing at this time due to his health. The salesmen assured him that if we purchase and anything happens during the first couple of months after purchasing then the dealership would make sure to buy the truck back for what we paid & assured him that with the rebates being so large they would make sure the loan is paid off too as arent going to do anyone wrong. So we kept our plan to proceed with buying as soon as the check arrived we planned to go finish everything up at dealership. 
Check finally comes and Dealer calls my spouse and of course he is very sick and cant drive all the way to the dealer to sign paperwork dealer offers to deliver the truck and paperwork and says I personally dont have to sign anything at all. Salesmen came  to our home and had my spouse sign everything and told him again that I had nothing to sign which was weird to me like how is that possible  but I didnt worry about it at the time because its my spouses  truck Im just here helping because his credit wont allow him to do it himself and dealer recommended this great idea to use penfed and put both on the title so I felt secure. But a few weeks later upon checking with DMV they confirmed  only I WAS ON on titlE. I tried to contact penfed and made 6-7 contacts but nobody ever responded to me with any details or answers about why. Frustrated and worried because now there is a truck in my name ONLY that I have a loan for that I only proceeded with because I felt secure knowing my spouse would be on the title with me since it is 100% his vehicle and not mine and he was declining in his health and dealer had also assured us we would both be on title and never even got my
Signatures in paperwork and only my spouses and yet put me solely ????? I also didnt have insurance on the vehicle either because  my spouse  did. After penfed completely ignored me on numerous attempts to get answers  and then all of a sudden my spouse PASSING AWAY JUST WEEKS LATER I was furious. I couldnt take  this risk anymore without him on the title I contacted dealership to undo the deal but they wouldnt do it. Claimed they never agreed to take care of the situation or do the right thing if something happened to my spouse.   Trying to say Id have to pay XXXX out of my own pocket and they would then buy the truck back. 
I shopped around a little with different dealers and eventually just sold it to the dealer who would give the most for it. But I still had  to pay almost  XXXX to get out of the truck because it was now used and not new and the original selling dealer lied and said whatever they could to make the sale. But I had no other choice I couldnt get stuck with HIS TRUCK debt and get in trouble from the dmv for no insurnace  because hes the only one driving it and insuring it yet im required to insure it etc. I was lied to by penfed in order to obtain my business initially, they didnt do what was expected and what I signed up for, which put  me in a panicked and worrisome situation that I tried to get resolved with NO RESPONSES from penfed and no updates, NOTHING. They didnt do what was promised and were too afraid to admit it so ignored me and caused me to make decisions to proceed with undoing the entire purchase and it costed me XXXX.I wouldve never been in this situation had penfed  not  baited me and switched me and had the dealer not pushed  me into a straw purchase. 

Additionally, I bought gap insurance on the truck. Well, it took over a week for penfeds check to
Arrive so my spouse had to wait to get his truck over a week. Then when he finally got the truck and did  all the paperwork it was  XXXX. 

The dealer then agreed to buy it back on XXXX XXXX but for almost XXXX less than the loan amount owed still   so I write a check completely draining my savings because penfed isnt doing what PENFED PROMISED  which their promise was the main influencer in buying this truck to begin with, PENFEDS PROMISE was a lie .i wouldve never bought this truck if I wouldve known pen fed baited me and had no intentions of keeping their word and putting us both on the title. 
When I sold the truck to the dealer XXXX the dealer sent penfed a check to pay off the loan, so I keep waiting for my wait for  my gap refund to go into my  account because the penfed website states it gets reimbursed upon loan payoff  yet nothing ever comesso I see on website they also mention if it isnt reimbursed to upload a signed request asking to cancel it, so I do that part, I wait, nothing. Finally I reach out to penfed  and  inquire and am told the request was filed in my member file but nothing done with it. XXXX with concerned management team  tells me I am going to get you your gap refund I will make some calls and call you back. He calls me back and proceeds to now tell me that pen fed is denying my refund because I owned the truck more than XXXX months total. Extremely livid at this point because pen feds lies cost me almost XXXX and now they are let giving me my gap refund!????!!!!! It was literally XXXX when my spouse signed paperwork and took delivery and XXXX when the deal was made at the dealer to sell the truck back  So I started looking at everything later and I dont have copies of paperwork from dealer showing date of purchase because I never signed anything ever with the dealership!!!! However, my spouse has a text from dealer on XXXX  saying they are gonna bring him paperwork to our  house to sign  so not sure what the date is used on the purchase paperwork that I never signed (they didnt even have me sign the  penfed check), which was weird . But I did the sale with the dealer to buy there truck back finally on XXXX So exactly XXXX months and  penfed was  claiming I cant get my gap refunded because apparently they started counting the day I applied for a loan?????? I applied for a loan that I didnt get what was promised and that I never signed one paper for with the dealer! A straw purchase! Not only did the dealer engage in deception but penfed  didnt hold up their  of the bargain FORCING ME TO HAVR TO GET RID OF A TRUCK. I didnt even sign one document with dealership  not titlework, not the penfed check, NOTHING! Literally  signed a loan document online where PENFED allowed me to fill in my second owner information for my spouse  period. . I want explanation why I was LIED TO BY PENFED, and who signed all the documents with the dealer to authorize a purchase and why did the dealer even proceed with allowing  cashing a check I didnt sign why and how can this be only my truck with no paperwork showing I even took delivery of the truck  ????? Obviously my spouse got the truck and signed the paperwork, but I sure didnt so point is that dealer and penfed together have screwed up and costed me quite a bit by the false promises and deception and then for penfed to tell me Im not getting a gap refund???? 60 days exactly from day the truck delivered to our house to day the dealer agrees to buy the truck 
Now my spouse is DEAD and this is matter  that couldve been dealt with probate but his name was left off of everything despite him clearly signing EVERYTHING and none of this is MY ISSUE ! Dealer encouraged straw purchase . Assuring us if my spouse DIED they wouldnt screw me over and would buy truck back, and now penfed denying my gap refund when we had only taken delivery  and had possession for 60 days exactly!!!!!! 



 Dealer should be reprimanded for pushing a DISABLED DYING VULNERABLE MAN into a purchase, pushing a straw purchase . Deception and lies to close the deal knowing he is DYING assuring theyll have both 
Of us on title with word or between and ultimately they allowed my spouse to sign everything for me (forge my signature) THEN THE LENDER MISSTATING ON CREDIT APPLICATION THAT TWO PEOPLE JOINTLY WILL BE ON TITLE AND ME CONFIRMING BY CALLING AFTER SUBMITTING AND BEING ASSURED WE BOTH WOULD BE then lender refusing to refund my gap insurance after between lender and dealer I just lost THAT MUCH MONEY!!!!!

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief