Consumer complaint received 2025-03-25 00:00:00
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease — Billing problem
Company: SANTANDER HOLDINGS USA, INC.
State: NV

Complaint narrative:
Last year in XXXX XX/XX/24 I went to autonation to purchase a vehicle and got approved financing through Santander consumer USA for {$XXXX}. This vehicle was used with approximately XXXX miles on it and priced at {$XXXX}. I was told to get a warranty that was added on at {$XXXX} and I made a down payment in cash of {$XXXX} at signing. The contract reads XXXX  % annual percent rate, amount charged for them lending me the loan {$XXXX}, my total payments that would have been made by end of contract at {$XXXX} and the total sales price with my down payment of {$XXXX} at {$XXXX}. My monthly payments are of {$XXXX} per the contract and its a simple interest loan. My issues is I have made XXXX early payments, I made XXXX payment XXXX  days within its grace period, and I missed a payment unconsciously in which I ended up doubling down on XXXX month a few days apart. Now I have checked all of my documentation and tracked my payments on my end and compared it to their summary sheet. Within the time Ive paid into this loan on time excluding that XXXX mishap on my on discord, I have given Santander about {$XXXX}. Out of this large amount, they have managed to put only {$XXXX} towards my principal balance and have charged me random miscellaneous fees and repeated late fees that dont add up with the tracking of how I made my payments. An even bigger concern for me is when I did call them to understand why they werent applying anything towards my principal I was told its standard for a loan company to first put it towards the taxes because they accumulate daily and thats why my balance is so high because I need to be making payments earlier. I stood my ground and recited its within my right to have my payment allocated properly to both as this isnt my first car loan and Ive never seen allocation done like this. She gets defensive and then tells me yes they put the money in both places but the interest gets paid first and whatevers left goes to the principal. As I asked her why only {$XXXX} went to the principal balance even if they did it that way, she got upset and I politely ended it with I will be following up after thorough research and had her send me an amortized payment summary which when I reviewed it didnt make more sense .heres why : this is a used vehicle and most used vehicles have an XXXX of XXXX %, mines is double /triple that number .As per XXXX XXXX laws interest is capped to XXXX  % on a loans under $ XXXX. I want to make sure this XXXX XXXX violating standards under TILA subconsciously as per Unconscionable XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) : A XXXX  % XXXX on a {$XXXX} vehicle violates XXXX XXXX on credit transactions that are unfair or deceptive.I feel the payment allocation is illegal ; seeing how my early payments are going 100 % towards interest violating the interest first rule ( interest should only cover the days in between payments made and the random late fees theyve added is inflating my principal constantly. Example between XX/XX/24 ( contract start ) and ( first payment date ) XX/XX/24 ( XXXX  days ) should be : {$XXXX} XXXX  % XXXX XXXX = ~ $ XXXX, my {$XXXX} down payment should have reduced the principal to {$XXXX}, lowering daily interest to $ XXXX. This to me has me a little concerned about the potential of improper accounting. I feel they maybe potentially loan packing because the {$XXXX} VPP increased my loan-to-value ratio to XXXX  % ( {$XXXX} vs. {$XXXX} car value ). 

The math in my opinion just shows so many discrepancies being - Total Paid : {$XXXX} - Principal Reduction : {$XXXX} ( XXXX  % of payments ) - Interest/Fees : {$XXXX} ( XXXX  % of payments ) - After XXXX  year, my remaining balance is ( {$XXXX} ) which is XXXX  % of the original loan despite paying down $ XXXX. At this rate, XXXX end up paying $ XXXX total for a $ XXXX car. 

As I have taken more steps to try to find resolve per sending out a letter to their corporate office to the direct department I am seeking attention from. I hope we can work together to figure this out. Thank you

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation