Consumer complaint received 2026-01-22 00:00:00
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Struggling to pay your loan — Denied request to lower payments
Company: RANDOLPH-BROOKS FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
Since XXXX, I have had a car loan with Randolph Brooks Federal Credit Union. I also had a checking/savings account and a credit card. 

Having financial difficulties so many years ago, I changed banks for my primary checking and savings accounts and carried a balance on the credit card that went into default. I still have a car loan with them, with a balance of {$15000.00}. However, since that credit card went into default in XXXX, they have denied me access to their online portal to make payments on the car loan. The only way I can pay the loan is by phone, mail, or in person. I have dealt with this inconvenience for the past XXXX years, but now it has become detrimental. 

The car in question needs major transmission work, which will cost {$5000.00}. I contacted the bank to let them know about the situation, and they were able to add a note to the account and make payment arrangements, but they said they could not move my payments to the end of the loan or make other arrangements over the phone. The only place I can do that is in their online portal. I reached out to the bank to see if I could access the online portal, but they said it would still be locked due to the credit card default and that I would have to pay the outstanding debt, which is over {$1000.00}, to access my online banking so I could request help with the car loan. 

When I spoke with the teller at the local branch, they informed me that this is the credit union 's policy to lock online access for accounts in collections. making it more difficult not only to complete payments on other loans but also to access tools that help during my current financial crisis. 

Making it difficult for me to continue making monthly payments on a car loan is one thing, but denying me access to the online portal to submit a loan modification application is highly deceptive. This XXXX situation is unheard of when banking with a bank or a credit card company like XXXX XXXX. This exact scenario occurred with that company as well. However, they never denied access to my online account, and I was still able to make payment arrangements on that car loan when I needed to without any hesitation. 

I have now reached out several times to the customer service line and the local branches, and have been told the same thing : they are unable or refuse to pass my issue higher up. If this is genuinely how they do business, I would never have opened any accounts with them. 
We can all experience financial hardship at times, and other financial institutions will help by changing due dates, waiving late fees, and even adjusting their policies to accommodate their customers. They have never resorted to tactics that include limiting the ability to pay online, to file for help on loans online, and then denying access to that online unless you pay collections. Randolph Brooks Federal Credit Union apparently does this regularly, since everyone I've talked to isn't surprised and is very open about the fact that they knowingly make it more difficult for paying customers with loans to make payments on their other existing loans. It is not disclosed openly, such as when signing up for new accounts or taking out car loans, and I feel deceived. For their internal collections department to use these types of tactics, such as limiting access to the online portal, which is the only way I can ask for assistance, and financial hardship applications This tactic, used by Randoulf-Brooks Federal Credit Union , violates 1006.22 Unfair or unconscionable means paragraph of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of XXXX. 

In good faith, I want to speak with someone at corporate headquarters to resolve this or receive a response regarding the use of this tactic.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation