Consumer complaint received 2026-01-11 00:00:00
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Lease
Issue: Managing the loan or lease — Billing problem
Company: HYUNDAI CAPITAL AMERICA
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
Quick Summary : Issues are with Hyundai XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) lease. I paid monthly lease payments in a lump sum up front. Hyundai confirmed this is ok, then charged me for additional non-contract compliant monthly payments 5 months later and then increased my buyout quote by ~ {$920.00} ( confirmed no missed payments/late fees ) and refused + can not tell me what it is for. 

Issues : 1. I was forced by Hyundai ( would be reported to all credit bureaus otherwise ) to make a payment that is out of contract. 
I made a front loaded payment near the beginning of my lease of {$25000.00}. Hyundai XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ), verbally confirmed the online portal will show {$0.00} due per month and refused to back up their words in writing for me ( email or physical letter ). After 5 months of {$0.00} due and no additional payments owed, Randomly in XXXX, the online portal showed I owe my monthly payment {$610.00}. I spoke with customer service and they gaslighted me and I was forced to make a payment under duress of retaliation for being reported to all 3 credit bureaus. This additional payment they are forcing me to make is not part of the contract. 

XXXX. In XXXX before I made payment, My buyout quote was {$25000.00}. In XXXX, My Buyout Quote was {$24000.00}. {$25000.00} - {$24000.00} = XXXX. My buyout quote amount arbitrarily increased {$920.00} between XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXX/XX/XXXX ( before the payment I was forced to make ). There were XXXX payments made between this time. So the quote should have remained stagnant between XXXXXXXX XXXXXX/XX/XXXX. Hyundai has been unable to justify this increase, despite the many people I spoke with. 

Details/Timeline : - XX/XX/XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  ) : Started New Lease with Hyundai XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) for XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. {$610.00} contractual payments for 36 month lease. 

Note : All Payments ( except XX/XX/XXXX ) are made while signed into my XXXX online portal - XX/XX/XXXX : Made initial monthly payment at the lease office - XX/XX/XXXX : Made online monthly payment - XX/XX/XXXX : Made an online payment of {$25000.00}. Originally was considering fully buying out the vehicle at the time. But decided against it for the time being. 
- Called Hyundai. Spoke extensively with XXXX from their Lease Department. He definitively confirmed with me that making the {$25000.00} up front payment was okay/not problematic. I conveyed the XXXX online portal shows {$0.00} due. Asked is this expected behavior? He said yes and confirmed it will show {$0.00} due each month for the duration of my lease because I paid {$25000.00}, covering all the monthly payments up front. I asked if he would confirm this in writing/via email. He refused and claimed it was not possible to back up his words in writing ( either email or physical letter ). 
- For the next 5 months, {$0.00} due was shown on my online portal, matching the behavior described by XXXX from their Lease Department. You may reference attached documents for payment history and evidence of {$0.00} due over the months. 
- * Issue # XXXX, XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  : I sign onto the XXXX portal and notice my online account shows I owe a full monthly payment of {$610.00}, due XX/XX/XXXX. So after 5 months of no activity ( {$0.00} due each month ), now all of the sudden it shows I owe a monthly payment. 
- XX/XX/XXXX : I called XXXX and spoke with XXXX regarding issue XXXX. Spoke with XXXX. Explained Issue 1. She advised I should be charged and something is incorrect. 

- XX/XX/XXXX : Spoke with Customer Service Supervisor XXXX, Employee ID : XXXX He advised me to not make an additional monthly payment, defying the amount due on XX/XX/XXXX shown on the XXXX portal. He essentially advised me not to pay the amount due on the XXXX portal because the money should draw down from the {$25000.00} I paid in XXXX. I expressed concern immediately. I asked him to be accountable and back up hat he verbally telling me by sending this in writing ( email or physical letter ). He refused and told me XXXX is not capable of sending things in writing. I asked him, if this problem drags on, what proof/evidence/footing do I have that you have advised and given me permission to miss payment? He could not answer my question. I asked, can he note the file confirming that I owe {$0.00} and do not need to pay? He said he would do that. I asked him if I dont pay, isn't it possible I could get reported to the credit bureaus? He said he can not say if it would happen or not. 

XXXX : Spoke with Supervisor XXXX, Employee ID : XXXX I asked her to search the notes for this. She confirmed with me he did not note the file about him telling me I owe {$0.00} and do not have to pay. He essentially lied to me on XX/XX/XXXX when he said he would note the file to back up what he told me. I asked XXXX if there exists any email for hyundai motor finance that I can send a letter to for this dispute, she told me no. I told her I am filing a dispute for my account and what is owed. 
* * Opened Case # XXXX XXXX XXXX, escalated to case Management. 
I need to wait 5 business days for the case manager to contact me. I explained that means she is going to contact me on the payment due date. I asked if there is a way to expedite this. I was told no. 

XXXX : I call XXXX and confirmed the physical mailing address and instructions on how to send them physical mail to be read by them regarding my account. I sent a physical letter via USPS. 

- XX/XX/XXXX, Case # XXXX Manager XXXX XXXX called me.

She confirmed the following on the phone call : A. Despite the portal showing I owe a payment due on XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, I do not need to make any additional payment, since my large payment already covers the entire monthly lease payments. 
B. As long as that large payment is in the account, monthly payments due will draw down from that amount automatically on the due date. Therefore, my payment would never be late. 
C. There is 0 risk of me being reported to credit bureaus for late payment while my large payment is in the account D. If somehow B fails, there is 10 days before a late fee is incurred E. Late/missed payment is not reported to any credit bureau until 30 calendar days after the date of the missed payment.

Note this is a Monday. She told me she will be out of office for the next week starting XX/XX/XXXX. I asked what am I supposed to do if what youve told me does not occur? She said well, we can look into it on XX/XX/XXXX, when she is back. So I waited 5 business days to talk to her. Then she suggested I wait another 5 on initial contact, with no help. I explained this does not seem ok and is a very time sensitive matter. She did not provide a back up person from the Case Management Team. She did give me her direct phone number to contact her for this specific issue. 

XXXX : My account shows past due. The advice XXXX gave did not hold true. 
I sent an email to XXXX advising of the issue and stated this needs to be corrected. 

- XX/XX/XXXX & XX/XX/XXXX : I think she called very early in the morning a single time. She did not leave a voicemail. A couple hours after her call ( which I did not hear ), I called her multiple times and left voicemails asking for calls back. She never called me back as of XX/XX/XXXX and appears to have just left me hanging. 

- Morning of XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  : Spoke with XXXX XXXX : She told me late payments are reported to the credit bureaus on the XXXX of every month. This is in direct conflict with what XXXX XXXX told me. XXXX told me it is reported 30 calendar days after a payment is missed. XXXX XXXX XXXX Opened a second case for me : XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX since my issue was time sensitive and I had not heard back from XXXX XXXX XXXX Asked for a response to the letter I sent on XX/XX/XXXX. I advised the tracking shows XXXX picked up my letter on XX/XX/XXXX. She was not aware of a letter. 

- On the night of XX/XX/XXXX, I made the online payment under duress because I didn't want to risk late fees and being reported to the credit bureaus for a missed payment, especially considering XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX have varying understandings of when missed payments are reported. 

- XX/XX/XXXX : Spoke with XXXX XXXX in Lease End Department.

I asked him why did my Lease Buyout Quote arbitrarily go up by {$920.00}? What is that attributed to? He said nobody on staff in any XXXX  department would be able to answer that for me and that I should ask an accountant. I advised him, if the reasoning for this buyout amount increase is not itemizable and is some mystery amount, why would an accountant have that answer for me? I told him, you are billing me, you should be accountable and capable of telling me what it is for. Why should someone make payment on some mystery charge? I asked him to transfer me to customer service. 

Spoke with XXXX XXXX Supervisor, Employee ID : XXXX Asked why my buyout quote went up {$920.00}. What is that attributed to? I explained, there must be a concrete reason for it, and I want to know what it is. She looked extensively at my account and told me I have no additional fees on my account and it makes no sense as to why my buyout amount increased so drastically. I also mentioned I have not received a response to my letter. She said she doesn't see anything about a letter in the account. She confirmed the mail address I sent it to is correct and that the way I sent it was correct. I asked if there is a way I can email it to her? She once again recanted that XXXX does not allow emailing exchange of any kind with customers, for any reason and that physical mail is the only way to reach them. I explained that is frustrating since my physical mail is being ignored. 

For Issue # XXXX, XXXX confirmed she saw the buyout quote difference I am talking about. The {$920.00}. In XXXX, my buyout quote was Buyout : {$24000.00} Sales Tax : {$4200.00}

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation