Consumer complaint received 2025-04-25 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: Westlake Services, LLC
State: MN

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX I made my monthly payment on my vehicle. My payments are due on the XXXX every month, with a 10 day grace period if I'm late. On XX/XX/XXXX, they repossessed my vehicle at XXXX without any warning, phone call, or letter. My boyfriend, XXXX XXXX, was the co-signer on this vehicle and he did not receive any form of communication that the vehicle was " behind '' on payments. 

Per MN Law, a XXXX letter is to be sent to us prior to taking action. The bank claims they sent a letter, but per my USPS portal and mail box ; it was never received. I also have mail forwarding service that is still active from my old address, so that can not be used as an excuse. 

Apparently I had missed by XXXX payment, but when I spoke to the representative on XX/XX/XXXX, they did not notify me of this. Thus, likely they applied my XXXX payment to the XXXX balance, causing me to be 2 months behind at the end of XXXX. My paychecks weren't aligning well with the due date, and I actually was going to pay for XXXX that 10-day grace period. Either way, repossession usually doesn't happen unless its 90+ days behind. 

I filed bankruptcy on XX/XX/XXXX, and even though the vehicle was not claimed on my bankruptcy, they treated my account as a bankruptcy account. They pulled all information from me so I could not view : payments made, balance owed, or statements. They also removed the option to pay online, which my bankruptcy lawyer sent them a demand letter to allow me to pay online without response or accommodating. Every phone payment costs an additional {$5.00} to " process ''. No statement has been sent to me in the entire 4 years I've had this account.

Back to the repossession- Without notice, my car was taken. This was settled and prior to XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. West Lake Financial said the only way to get my vehicle back was to settle my account and pay {$2500.00}. Which includes a {$620.00} repossession fees. As of XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, I owed {$1800.00} on the car. I was only able to see my balances was from a glitch in their app, I would have to screenshot it as fast as I could before it went away. We just dropped a {$6000.00} engine into the car as well. The repossession company that was subletted to get my car damaged it, and their staff was just peachy to deal with. The bank claimed XXXX was the main owner of the car, and he is not. I am, he is the co signer. They only allowed XXXX to sign for my car to pick up. They didn't give us a chance to look at it before signing the paperwork. I ended up finding damage on my passenger doors, along with scratches on every wheel. They also broke into my car to remove my belongings since " the cars go to auction quick and they want them cleaned out '' even though the payment was settled with the bank within 6 hours of it being taken. This entirely could have been avoided if a letter or call was sent to either XXXX or myself on the repossession in queue. 

Now fast forward to now, we are wondering where the title is to my car. XXXX called and West Lake told him the account is under review and we will receive a call within 24-72hrs. Within 30 minutes of said phone call, West Lake sent him an email " letter '' saying we have a new balance of {$1300.00} and a per diem of interest of {$0.00} will accumulate if they don't receive payment by XX/XX/XXXX. Confused, we call again and are told the account is under review by management. I told them I know for a fact I only owed {$1800.00} as of XXXX, I already paid the car off per your representative on XX/XX/XXXX, and we are not paying anything additional as the repossession was wrongful and illegal.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation