Consumer complaint received 2025-12-06 00:00:00
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Getting a loan or lease — Changes in terms mid-deal or after closing
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: GA

Complaint narrative:
FORMAL DISPUTE NOTICE This correspondence constitutes my formal written dispute of the auto loan agreement assigned to Fifth Third Bank under the Truth in Lending Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq. ), Regulation Z ( 12 CFR Part 1026 ), and the Fair Credit Billing Act. 

My consent to purchase and finance the vehicle was based exclusively on the executed signed price worksheet and the representations made by the dealership at the time of execution. 



XXXX. Material Misrepresentation of Financing & Add-On Products During negotiation, the dealerships finance representative informed me that : My {$4500.00} trade-in equity could NOT be used as a down payment ; Unless I paid additional cash, my transaction had to be structured as a XXXX-DOWN PAYMENT loan ; My monthly payment and APR were calculated strictly under a XXXX-down loan structure ; XXXX additional items were presented as mandatory and not optional products : XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX {$1900.00} At no time was I told these products were optional. 

Had proper disclosure occurred, I would have declined all optional add-ons. 

Based on these representations : I affirmatively selected XXXX-DOWN financing I did not authorize any down payment I did not consent to applying any trade equity as cash I would not have purchased any optional products if told the truth XXXX. Unauthorized Contract Alteration & Concealment After execution of the loan documents, I discovered multiple material changes were made without my knowledge or authorization : A. Unauthorized Use of Trade-In Equity Trade-in equity only becomes down payment when consumer authorizes its application as such. 

Despite my express choice of XXXX-DOWN financing, my {$4500.00} positive trade equity was applied as a cash down payment in the final Retail Installment Sales Contract, entirely without disclosure or consent. 

These funds were never returned to me. 



B. Mandatory Products Sold Then Deleted The {$1900.00} XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

Were charged to me as mandatory items at signing, Were falsely represented as not optional, And were later secretly removed from the final contract without notice, with the dealership subsequently telling me I had not purchased those products at all. 

C. Undisclosed Inflation of Vehicle Base Price Signed worksheet : Vehicle price : {$29000.00} Final contract : Vehicle price : {$32000.00} Instead of properly disclosing refund or cancellation of those products, the dealership : Removed the add-ons without notice Artificially inflated the taxable sale price Maintained the same total payment figure to mislead me into signing the altered contract This was a deliberate deception designed to disguise the unauthorized transaction changes and obtain my signature through concealment. 



XXXX. Legal Violations These actions constitute violations of : Truth in Lending Act / Regulation Z Failure to accurately disclose the true : Cash down payment ( 15 U.S.C. 1638 ( a ) ( 2 ), ( 3 ) ) Amount financed and applied credits ( 12 CFR 1026.18 ( b ), ( c ) ) Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices ( UDAP ) Including : Misrepresentation of financing options Nondisclosure of optional product rights Forced sale of add-on products Concealment of contract alterations Unauthorized reclassification of vehicle pricing Improper application of consumer funds XXXX. Consumer Harm As a result : My loan was priced using a XXXX-down APR while my trade-in cash equity of {$4500.00} were unlawfully applied as cash down ; My total financed balance and taxes were inflated through fraudulently modified vehicle pricing ; I sustained tangible financial losses and emotional distress.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation