Consumer complaint received 2026-06-17 00:00:00
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Problems at the end of the loan or lease — Unable to receive car title or other problem after the loan is paid off
Company: NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
Complaint Narrative Summary Lienholder : Navy Federal Credit Union Account Issue : Failure to properly execute vehicle loan termination documents, providing conflicting/contradictory account information, ongoing financial harm via duplicate state fees, and systemic administrative negligence regarding an Electronic Lien and Titling ( ELT ) record and legal name identity. Description of Incident : I successfully paid off my vehicle loan ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) with Navy Federal Credit Union. Navy Federal completely failed to provide an automatic written acknowledgment, " Paid in Full '' letter, or lien release documentation upon completion of the loan. When I contacted customer service via secure eMessaging to secure my title, front-line staff provided three completely contradictory directives over a 24-hour period ( Ref : Messages dated XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX ). They alternately claimed a paper title was being mailed by Texas, instructed me to go to the California DMV, and finally reverted to stating an unnamed DMV would mail it at an unknown date. This is the continuation of an abusive pattern of administrative negligence and financial exploitation regarding this specific loan. I originally purchased the vehicle in California, later moved to Texas, and have recently relocated back to California. Less than a year ago, I updated my legal name change to XXXX XXXX with Navy Federal. While the credit union updated my primary banking profile, they completely failed to update the backend Electronic Lien and Titling ( ELT ) record attached to my vehicle loan. Instead of updating the digital record they controlled, Navy Federal staff repeatedly deflected accountability, falsely claiming it was a DMV issue. Because of their internal incompetence, I was forced to incur out-of-pocket fees to legally transfer the electronic title record from California to Texas just to facilitate a name change that Navy Federal should have handled internally. Despite me paying these extra fees to correct their errors, Navy Federal still failed to sync the loan paperwork properly with my updated master profile. Navy Federal 's ongoing negligence is now causing me further direct financial harm. Because they failed to provide the lien release documentation in a timely, accurate manner, I am unable to complete a clean registration and title transfer simultaneously in California. As a direct result of their delays, I am being forced to pay DMV fees twice : once to register the vehicle now, and a second duplicate fee later to process the title transfer once Navy Federal finally releases my property. They completely botched my account management then, forced me to pay for their mistakes, and are actively inflating my out-of-pocket costs now by treating my title release like a guessing game. Because the vehicle is currently registered in California while the original electronic records rest in Texas, Navy Federals refusal to simply issue an accurate, direct, physical, notarized Lien Release Letter directly to my current address of record leaves me stranded between two state DMVs due entirely to their ongoing internal incompetence.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation