Consumer complaint received 2024-11-26 00:00:00
Product: Payday loan, title loan, personal loan, or advance loan — Installment loan
Issue: Charged fees or interest you didn't expect — 
Company: Aqua Finance, Inc.
State: NY

Complaint narrative:
XXXX XXXX and Aqua Finance Inc. have worked together to exploit customers, under the guise of providing affordable lending for home improvement projects. XXXX XXXX completed an assessment, counseling, drafted an agreement, and completed work to provide me with a new roof under the presumption that I would later pay back the worth of this product, that I had to borrow money to afford. Aqua Finance Inc. became the lender that I would eventually have to pay back for the new roof. While on the surface this seemed like a good transaction, it has revealed itself over the last year to me, as an otherwise foul profiteering scam, ensued by two businesses who wish to solely make money off of their customers while stating they have their best interests in mind. I have been doing research now into both of these companies and am absolutely appalled by the breadth of information I've found showing they both have engaged in foul and illegal business tactics for years. The XXXX  of XXXX XXXX have been found guilty of illegally applying for and accepting upwards of XXXX in unemployment funds, that they should've never received. Aqua Finance has been in a number of lawsuits and most recently had to pay out a multimillion dollar suit to a plethora of customers who they bamboozled and took advantage of ... the list goes on and on. I would have NEVER gone into business with either of these companies had I known any better at the time. I truly believed they were here to help me out ( because that's what they said and sold to me ) and instead, I have been met with the grief of learning that they are actually full of liars, cheats, and that they extort those who fall victim to their manipulative sales tactics. I now find myself after a year of paying down my loan from Aqua Finance Inc., to have made little to no progress in lowering my principle. This caused me to do the initial digging into my loan, contract, their services, etc. I've received no explanation to the terms of this contract in a way that was absorbable, have been lied to, have had calls dropped, have been met with dissuading tactics that allow them to avoid accountability, have experienced hostility from their customer representatives, have yet to receive information I requested in regards to the details of my contract, and so much more. I've been trying to renegotiate my loan terms, the abusive interest rates, and more with these companies to no avail. It is clear to me that the absurd business practices they've been found guilty of, continue to affect the lives of so many people. The amount of complaints about these companies is incredibly alarming and the fact that they are still allowed to exist and conduct business in this manner, is unethical and should cease immediately. I have no faith that these harmful lending companies or practices will end and instead work to try and report them in hopes it will shed light on these places, so that others may avoid falling into the same traps I have. I would have rather lived in my XXXX XXXX XXXX house with a leaking roof than be where I am today, stuck in this loan, with a company who clearly doesn't value or care about customers like me. I truly hope there can be a mutually responsible and ethical approach to reconciliation of the damages done to me and others by these deceptive companies, but am falling short on faith. My sincerest wish is that someone out there will see the harm done by them and hold them accountable for it, because it's been made utterly apparent that they feel like they can just do this with no remorse or fear. Which is sick, wrong, and shouldn't be allowed to persist.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation