Consumer complaint received 2026-05-18 00:00:00
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Repossession — Company communicating payment assistance or payment extension options
Company: Westlake Services, LLC
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
Emergency Regulatory Complaint Details Consumer Name : XXXX XXXX XXXX Lending Company : Westlake Financial Services Account Number : XXXX Vehicle : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( VIN Last XXXX : XXXX ) Repossession Company : XXXX XXXX XXXX : Emergency Complaint Against Westlake Financial Services Illegal Repossession, Deceptive Business Practices, and Notice Violations ( California Rees-Levering Act ) I am filing an emergency complaint against Westlake Financial Services regarding the repossession of my vehicle, a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX , in XXXX, California. XXXX XXXX and their contracted recovery agent, XXXX XXXX, I believe have committed multiple severe violations of California 's Rees-Levering Automobile Sales Finance Act, the California Unfair Competition Law ( UCL ), and federal consumer protection standards. 1. Deceptive Business Practices, Promissory Estoppel, and Breach of Good Faith : On XX/XX/XXXX, Westlake Financial sent me an official, written email explicitly offering to defer my past-due balance of {$560.00} and move those payments to the end of my loan. At this time I was 37 days past due on my loan status. The written offer explicitly stated it would remain good and did not expire until XX/XX/XXXX. Acting in good faith, I relied on this promissory offer. When I called Westlake on XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX full day before their own deadlineto accept the deferment, a representative informed me that XXXX XXXX had already repossessed my car at XXXX XXXX that morning. Westlake management flatly refused to honor their written offer. A manager stated the email " no longer applied '' to me because it was an email sent out to everyone with a loan. This constitutes a severe violation of California Business and Professions Code 17200 ( Deceptive Business Practices ) and a breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Westlake can not issue an official corporate offer with a strict deadline to induce consumer reliance, and then initiate an aggressive, punitive repossession 24 hours prior to that deadline. 2. Grossly Inflated Reinstatement Fees & Unlawful Penalties : My actual past-due balance to reinstate the loan under the Rees-Levering Act is {$560.00}. Over the phone, Westlake is demanding an unitemized total of {$3200.00} to release the vehicle, attributing {$2700.00} of that amount to " repossession fees '' passed down from XXXX XXXX. My vehicle was only physically in the XXXX XXXX repossession yard for one ( 1 ) day at the time of this demand of fees. Charging {$2700.00} for a single-day recovery grossly exceeds actual, reasonable, and customary third-party towing and storage costs in California. Under California law, lenders are prohibited from charging arbitrary, exorbitant fees as a financial barrier to block a consumer 's statutory right to reinstate. This unitemized demand constitutes an illegal, bad-faith penalty. 3. Statutory Notice & Timeline Violations : Over the phone, Westlake representatives informed me I had only 10 days to pay the {$3200.00} total get my car back before it will be sold. Concurrently, they admitted that my formal written Notice of Intent to Dispose ( NOI ) would take 5 to 10 days to arrive in the mail. Under Californias Rees-Levering Act, a lender must provide a strict 15-day written notice ( plus 5 days if mailed ) before an auction sale can occur. The statutory clock only begins when the notice is properly deposited in the mail. By threatening a 10-day sale window while failing to provide the physical notice, Westlake is actively attempting to illegally shorten my statutory right-to-reinstate window and executing an illegal sale timeline. Today is XX/XX/XXXX, and I still have not received the mandatory written NOI. Requested Remedy : I request that the CFPB and DFPI immediately intervene, investigate Westlake Financial, audit account number 3XXXX, and order an immediate freeze on my car. Furthermore, I request that Westlake honor their original deferment offer and remediated release my car to me as I did call within the time frame and before the expiration date of that offer. I am contacting Westlake again today to demand this itemized breakdown and am still waiting for the intent to sell letter in the mail. It has now been 6 days. I appreciate your time and attention to this matter. Thank you, XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation